Trust stuff from garden centers?

[haza1981]

Hi guys,

So I see a lot of plants(fruit and veg) in places like homebase and B&Q. Mhy question is...is it better to grow from seed yourself or better to buy from these places. I mean some of the plants look really good and some look feeble. Has anyone had any bad experiences they would like to share? or even good ones?

[piskieinboots]

'These' places tend to put the delicate little plants out way before the end of potential frost, to ensure they get maximum sale time - but potentially catching out newbies who will then think 'I can't grow stuff' when they fail

Growing from seed yourself is way cheaper - but if you don't have the confidence/space/conditions to bring on seed then buying plants isn't a bad option - provided you can ensure the plants have been brung up proper like

[Guttata]

It is about space to me. If you only want a few plants for container growing on say a balcony or a patio for example, or a small veg patch in your garden then it may be better to buy them. After all not everyone has the space to start some plants from seed even more so it they need extra warmth. This is veg wise.

As to fruit it depends what you mean. Most are best bought as you are getting a known variety, close to fruiting stage, on a possibility resistant root stock. After all you would not want to grow an apple from seed, apparently the US grape root stock is more resistant to those lovely little darlings called vine weevil compared to our EU root stocks. In these cases you are paying for the time, care and expertise it took to produce the plant for sale.

It depends entirely on what you are after.

[CaroltheCarrot]

I must admit to buying some ,especially if its something I have never done before, i lack a lot of faith in myself

[supraflyguy]

I agree with what everyone has said so far. Me personally I grow from seed purely because I want to be involved in the growing of the plant right from the start, and I get more satisfaction out of that

[womble]

I've never ever seen a plant I could buy, as good as I grow them, never.
Growing from seed has advantages of cost, you control the treatment it is given, variety, you can't buy most...if not all probably.. varieties I grow of stuff in Garden centres as plants.

But it takes a little bit of skill and experience, but by doing it, you gain more experience all the time.
It also takes space and usually a little give and take from the other persons who live in the same house.

I've bought plants in the past (not for a few years though I think) and won't knock anyone who does, but you are missing out on some great varieties.

[Suky]

I occasionally will buy seedlings this way, this year 2 strawberries from Homebase, way advanced to mine and an aubergine plant at the local GC 'cos I only wanted one to try. I would recomend that you look in local papers etc. for plant sales put on by local garden and allotment societies for inexpensive plants usually well grown.

[coreopsis]

I'll back up Guttata-it's about the space to me.Every year I have some bedding plants-some of them bought from GC,some raised by me from seed.Lobelia Crystal Palace is a "must have"to me-it always performs well,regardless to amount of sunshine here.I raised it from seeds once(so it's not difficult)but I didn't have any veg on the go at the time.Today I asked people what flowers could be planted at the end of the season to come up in the spring.I got a few answers.
Now I'm back to veg growing,so every inch of south and west facing windowsill is priceless to me-I'd rather squeeze 20 chillies on 1 windowsill(the varieties I want) than plant lobelia that I can buy in GC for 3.5£/12 cells tray.
As for raising from seeds-I'd go for veg(you know what you eat) and perennial flowers-yes,you have to wait 2 years to get the flowers but 2£ for a packet of seeds is still less than £5(cheapest version) per pot with 1 plant in it.

[Helgalush]

In the past I have bought plants that were ready to go as I figured my 'only' responsibility then was to keep them alive!!! Someone else had done the hard part (ie germination, potting on etc).

This year I think I have jumped in the deep end and must be growing 20 different things from seed. This has meant that I can choose the varieties I want and which suit my gardening method (container growing) and also it is far cheaper as I will get more plants, and have plenty of seeds left for successional sowing or sowing next year.

The downside is the time it takes (and amount of little pots!) to keep on top of everything as it grows, but this has been where the buzz has come for me - I have made those things germinate/sprout/grow etc and I am learning all the time. I've had a fair bit of control over how they have been grown and when I pick those veggies/fruits I know its my hard work thats got them there (plus a bit of sun and the like!).

I have however, just bought some strawberry plants and a variety of thyme that I wanted, partly because I am now addicted and cant help myself, and partly because they were varieties that I didnt have.

[Sanjo]

The plants you see for sale in places such as Homebase, Wilkinsons, supermarkets etc are grown by professionals - not the store selling them, they buy them in. Some of these places seem totally incapable of looking after their plants. They either have no water or they are on solid shelving that shade the plants underneath and at the back. I bought 12 healthy looking, but dry, strawberry plants from Lidls a couple of months back. They are growing well. However, I pointed out to the girl in the store that I had chosen the best and if she didn't get down there with a watering can they would be dumping them.
I might have been talking Mandarin for all the interest shown.
There is nothing wrong with buying plugs. All the pros and cons above apply.
A couple of years ago I impulse bought a couple of cucumber plants. My greenhouse was usually obsolete in the summer and it suddenly occurred to me that I could make use of it. They were reasonably successful and it spurred me on.
I now sow my own seed and produce my own plants and have cucumber all through the summer. Because the greenhouse is now used in the summer I also grow melons and a few greenhouse toms.
Without those plug plants I wouldn't have thought of any of it.
Brassicas are a bit different though because of the possibility of introducing club root to your soil.

[Two_Sheds]

I like B&Q: I can pick up a tray of bedding plants for 20p or so - usually all they need is a good watering.

[FionaH]

I work at an independant garden centre. And I quite often have bought bedding plants from there but I grow most of my veg from seed for the reasons given above.
Although we were selling bedding from the beginning of May we also had large signs, (in red) saying tender plants, beware of frost!

I think the quality of plants and advice depends on where you shop.

[Alison]

B&Q / Homebase etc aren't garden centres and often don't have anybody there who is able to care for the plants. In addition, you won't get much variety in comparison to what you can get from seed. That said, they can be very handy for a tray of bedding plants to brighten up the garden. Some proper garden centres will sell decent veg plants that have been properly looked after and have proper instructions for use but you will pay for the priveledge.

Personally I grow all my veg from seed so I can chose unusual varieties and save seed from year to year. It's cheaper and more satifying but does fill the house somewhat. Am really looking forward to filling the polytunnel and getting the conservatory back to normal.

[Nykied]

I have grown most of mine from seed but I bought my strawberry plants, both as plants and cold bare root runners. They're still alive, apart from one, but some of them don't seem to be getting any flowers at all. So mixed reviews for those.

I also bought 6 bell pepper plants from Wilkinsons at the weekend, as I was promised seeds from a friend but when I got them, it was too late to sow them. The plants needed potting on immediately but they seem lovely and healthy.

[Rabidbun]

I'd say seed, even though half of my kitchen work surface as well as the window ledge was lost to the durned things this month! I like having unusual varieties though, and unusual types of herbs and veggies, and I just can't get most of those in plant form.

Having said that, I did look at the veggie plants and buy some this year in Homebase. Reasons being that either they were things I have had trouble this year (or in general) growing from seed, that I hadn't anticipated having space to plant and that my son wanted an extra veggie pot with some beans and a tumbling tomato in it.

Edit: Forgot to mention that most of the tomatoes in the garden centre had heavy frost damage, many of the lettuces and a fair few other things looked like they'd struggled to stay alive despite the conditions and other things were fine till transplanting and had a rather nasty shock (the basil in particular hasn't come back from this).