Vegetable plants? Buy plant or grow from seed? (growing, strawberries, containers)
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I'm thinking of planting a vegetable garden this year and am wondering what plants are best to buy at a garden center and which are best to start from seed?
I kind of like the idea of seeing how vigorous the plant is before I buy.
Carrots, lettuce, radishes, corn, herbs, etc. can be started from seed with no trouble by sowing them directly in the garden. Planting other vegetables from seed will give you a wider choice of varieties, but would need to be started indoors or a greenhouse before planting in your garden. If you are new to gardening, stick with established plants and maybe try one vegetable from seed to see if you can be successful at it.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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I do both. Currently I have peas, lettuce, kale and spinach growing from starts bought at the garden center. Indoors, since it's too cold yet outside, I planted seeds just yesterday for beans, corn, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers and squash. In early My I'll buy some more tomatoes and squash from the garden center that are ahead of mine.
Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, onions and strawberries have been the best bets for me when it comes to buying seedlings. Their root structures are tough enough to withstand transplanting with minimal shock. I've never experienced transplant shock and I'm not the most gentle with roots. Herbs also transplant particularly well, as does lettuce/spinach (although I tend to direct sow greens).
Personally, I won't purchase transplants for cucumbers, melons, squash, zucchini (all members of the cucurbit family) anymore. While they transplant well enough, my experience is that they normally set into a bit of shock and don't do a whole lot for a week or two until they become acclimated to their new space (if they ever do). The roots of these plants do not like to be disturbed. Direct sowing is easier and the plants usually grow faster and are more robust. In many cases, cucurbits started as direct-sown seed will readily outgrow and outperform transplants that are weeks older.
Starting carrots, radishes, beets, turnips, rutabaga, etc. couldn't be easier and all do equally as well in large enough containers as they do in the ground. I've always started from seed, but I've seen people transplant them carefully. They're not really worth transplanting, IMO, but to each their own.
Now that I've got a few years of purchasing seedlings under my belt, I'm going all-out this year and starting 100% of my garden from seed. It's been an investment, for sure, in both money and time, but I've had just the best time with it all. There is SO much to learn!
Have fun with whatever you decide, Neosec! There's not a lot that's as rewarding as growing your own food, whether you start your own plants or purchase them from someone else!
I'm thinking of planting a vegetable garden this year and am wondering what plants are best to buy at a garden center and which are best to start from seed?
I kind of like the idea of seeing how vigorous the plant is before I buy.
If this is your first vegetable garden, I suggest you buy the plants at a good garden center. Look for stout, sturdy plants. Very often, our first crack at growing from seed can be a disappointment because the plants get over- or under watered, don't get enough light, don't have the right temperatures, etc. Save that for the next time.
Also, read up on how to care for each plant and what pests or diseases might be involved. If you want to grow cucumbers, for example, you need to decide if it's worth it to deal with the inevitable cucumber beetle, and the same goes for squash vine borer if you want to grow squash. By the way, take into account how huge come plants get. One head of cabbage takes up at least a square yard, and you can buy that head of cabbage for one or two dollars at the grocery store.
Some things are dead easy to start from seed. Beans and greens like lettuce and spinach are very easy. Your leafies will peter out once the real heat sets in, and stagger your bean plantings so they don't all come at once. Plant every two weeks for a continuous harvest. Have fun, and good luck!
Tina makes excellent points about how big plants can get. When they are little and cute, they are very deceiving! Squash plants, too, can get absolutely huge. In-ground, they can easily exceed 6' wide by 4' tall. Since I grow in containers, mine stay a bit smaller, but they're still 3-4' wide with leaves the size of a computer screen or larger. I had to adjust a few containers last season because of that. You won't be so lucky if they're not spaced properly in-ground..
A neighbor girl and I grew a cabbage plant for her school science project several years ago. I offered a spot on one of our berms because her folks hadn't any vegetable plots prepared. We named the cabbage "Clara".
The following year when I was looking at an updated Google Earth image of our property, I was wondering what that big whitish spot was in our new shrub berm. So I zoomed in...and laughed.
It was Clara -- visible from space. That cabbage weighed 12 pounds!
a neighbor girl and i grew a cabbage plant for her school science project several years ago. I offered a spot on one of our berms because her folks hadn't any vegetable plots prepared. We named the cabbage "clara".
The following year when i was looking at an updated google earth image of our property, i was wondering what that big whitish spot was in our new shrub berm. So i zoomed in...and laughed.
It was clara -- visible from space. That cabbage weighed 12 pounds!
Do both, experiment. That's half the fun. When buying plants from the garden center, don't buy the $10 a pot huge tomatoes, but the 99 cent four pack. They will get just as big as the expensive ones in a few weeks.
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Direct sowing is easier and the plants usually grow faster and are more robust. In many cases, cucurbits started as direct-sown seed will readily outgrow and outperform transplants that are weeks older.
