Garden Centre Prices

[treepixie]

Went to a garden centre today, and they were selling modules of 6 with potatoes growing in them all for the bargain price of £5.99!!!!

They also had pots with just 1 potato a purple variety for £3.99!! and people where buying them.

You can buy a whole bag of seed potatoes for less than that.

Which I did for £1.99 reduced.

[rustylady]

Yes, that's how they make huge profits.

[JoeDaStudd]

I suppose the same for pretty much any plant they sell, the seeds are always a lot cheap.
Some people either don't know how easy most plants are to grow from seed, don't have the time/space or just can't be bothered.

There is always money in lazy people.

[Olorin2001]

a fool and his money are soon parted.

[Linzy]

Carboots cant beat them 12 gazanias £1.50 garden centres are such a rip off.

[Nes]

Module packs of peas for sale at our local GC. Only just germinated - less that 1cm tall, so not even ready to plant out. It does make you wonder...

[bearded bloke]

Sticks head in noose .................. If they were that bad they would go out of business,as they are omnipresent there must be a demand for the services/products they supply

[Olorin2001]

I know many who buy all their stuff in such places, convienence, is what they offer - at a price.
Maybe I am just a mean, tight fisted old git.
If your money rich and time poor, then I can see the attraction.
Being time rich and money poorish, I have other priorities.

[Snadger]

I suppose the growing season is quite short so they needto make a profit on plants before they turn the place into Santa's grotto..............

As BB says...........supply and demand!

[veggiechicken]

If you want to grow one cucumber and 3 different tomatoes, it can make sense to buy them from a GC as the cost of the seeds and the effort of growing them on out of season may be the same as buying a few plants. Not everyone wants to grow dozens of toms or has a greenhouse.
So GC plants fill a need, and if that gets someone hooked on growing more next year - we shouldn't knock it

[sammy_roser]

Yep I bought a tomato plant for £1.99 even though I had the seeds as I didn't originally plan to grow them.

I agree though those potato prices are very expensive.

[gardenpassion]

We have an amazing local garden centre in Grange over Sands... all very healthy and cheap, packs of brassicas, leeks, lettuce all for £1.10, plus chilli, toms, courgette all the same, £1.10. I have ended up buying a few toms to supplement my poor (very behind specimens). there is (in my humble opinion) unending satisfaction in nurturing the plants from seed, but now and again, I succumb to the garden centre, which is no bad thing. It keeps a local shop in business. HOWEVER, I have been appalled at the prices in B and Q, homebase and some of the larger garden centres. It is just daylight robbery, and the quality is rubbish, (again in my opinion) . In my next life I am doing a degree in horticulture and setting myself up with a garden centre of good value!!!!

[Kinkdom]

Some people ... don't have the time/space ... There is always money in lazy people.

Contradiction much?

I have little space, and just starting out. I'm trying a range of seeds in my little growhouse and limited windowseal space, and it's a great sense of achievement. But some things are either cheaper to buy plug plants of (as in some case I only have space for one or two so a whole pack of seeds isn't cost effective) or I am trying seed of say cabbage to learn but buying young brocolli plants to get me going.

[Kinkdom]

Good example, I am growing 5 varities of tomato (three vine toms in a growhouse, a bush tom in a raised bed (square foot gardening) and a tumbling tom in a hanging basket). Grown one variety from seed (black cherry) and raised a dozen in different ways, keeping most successful and learnt for next year. Other four varities I bought single plants for 99p each.

[SarzWix]

The potato plants are a terrible rip off, but most of the other plug plants still work out cheaper than buying the full grown veg in the supermarket. And as VC and others have said, if it gets people into GYOing, then hurrah! Eventually people feel brave enough to embark on the seed-sowing too. I've been running an after-school gardening group for parents and children, and have encouraged them to buy a few plug plants too while they're still on the learning curve. It can be a real boost to confidence to harvest something, anything! when you first start out