To buy veg plants or veg seeds ?

[wetwalnut]

I have just found a good supplier of most veg plants that are reasonably priced.

Iam going to consider buying all my veg for the lottie as plants instead of buying seeds.

I have been working long hours and been unable to tend to seed sown plants az much as I should.

I do realise that the varieties are limited but from what I've seen available as plants seem worth the money.

What do you all do ?

[Two_Sheds]

I grow from seed, but it is a lot of work. 8am-8pm at the moment

[smallblueplanet]

From seed, but have bought veg plants. Do what's best for you and enjoy it...then you'll carry on with it.

[cptncrackoff]

I personally prefer seed, I have never tried buying plants, although i'm not going to rule it out, it would probably feel like eating a fish that someone else caught!!

[Germinater]

I. Do a little of both as don't really have space or time to grow everything from seed don't think there's a big difference in price .saves money on shopping and a much better flavour witch is exactly the reasons I grow my own so I'm happy .should never feel like your cheating cos youl still be spending a lot of time looking after them as they grow anyway

[SarzWix]

I grow most stuff from seed, but, if I forget to sow something, or discover that I have more space than I thought I had, then I'm quite happy to buy plants. It might work out a bit more expensive than buying the seed, but, a) you don't have to buy compost, pots, trays etc, and b) it's still a lot cheaper than buying the veg in shops, and fresher. I bought a dozen iceberg plants yesterday for £2 and just one fully grown costs £1 in the supermarket. So yeah, go for plants if that's what suits you

[bearded bloke]

I only started this grow your own lark comparatively last year,by the time my veg patch was ready (early summer) my only option was to buy plants,even so I saved more than was spent This year I have a better idea & have planned ahead somewhat, planting seeds accordingly ,any seeds that fail will be replaced by seedlings from local garden centre. If time is consistently your biggest constraint buy seedlings/plants of whatever veggies you like to eat & enjoy your time tending them

[gillian62]

Last year I did a mixture, mostly seeds, but bought cheap little plants that were reduced in B&Q, or from car boot sales.

This year it is all seeds so far, apart from 5 pepper plants I bought at 10p each in B&Q about a month ago.

[JamesM]

i have bought the odd plant (having said that i think just lettuce) namely because i prefer it and it's feasable for me to do. If it isn't and plants suit, and you've obviously looked at the costs etc, then go for it

[Aberdeenplotter]

I grow my veg plants from seed simply because there is so much satisfaction in taking something from seed to plate but if at a car boot sale or similar I will buy plants if they look healthy. I also prefer to take my flower plants from seed but if I see plug plants at Tesco reduced to 30p to clear just because the sell by date has been reached I'll fill my trolley. It does rather put pressure on greenhouse space though.

[solway cropper]

It's seeds for me as well. I couldn't afford to buy plants, even at car boot prices. I saw some weedy looking toms at a boot sale last Sunday at £1 each. One packet of seeds can give me enough tomato plants for three years. When we moved into this house I didn't have time to get much seed sown so I did buy quite a few plants but that was out of necessity rather than preference.

[Potstubsdustbins]

I grow from seed because I enjoy it. It can some times be disappointing but usually the highs out weigh the lows.

The only thing about buying in plants especially edible ones from say super markets is you just don't know what they have been sprayed with, if anything.

Colin

[SarzWix]

If you buy them from B&Q, or the Gardener's Kitchen range, then you know they haven't been sprayed with pesticides - the GK ones say so, and the B&Q ones are grown organically.

I wouldn't recommend buying brassicas from anything other than a reputable company though, and especially not field-grown ones, because you don't know if you might be importing club-root problems...

[bearded bloke]

I wouldn't recommend buying brassicas from anything other than a reputable company though, and especially not field-grown ones, because you don't know if you might be importing club-root problems...

Good point regarding club root Sarz,I can remember the nightmare of my dad's cabbages having that & how hard it was to eradicate

[Kristen]

It takes about a month from seed sowing to having a plant big enough to plant out - so if you buy plants you will save a month.

Also, they are a month ahead of the weeds (compared to sowing seed direct where weed & seed start out at the same time), which may help.

I only buy plants for things where I have had failures (or forgot to sow seed on time!)