You don't have to tend to them after they've been planted. However, I believe you have to visit the plant each day after it's been planted to ensure it grows that day. They grow up into something that looks sort of like a cornstalk, but with a green bulb on the top. When mature, the bulb opens to reveal a food or item that automatically gets transferred into your refrigerator or treasure chest. Each type of built-in seed can give you three different foods/items. Which one of the three foods/items you get is random. There's also a random chance the plant could die before it matures.