Is anyone else tired of the plants at large retailers?

[nematode]

I don't know if it is just me or what but it seems like in the last 10 years the trays and flats for sale will simply not perform. I can plant a seed right next to a plant that has been started and the one from seed will always take over the transplanted one.

It just seems like they get abused and stunted and they never return. It feels like a waste of time at the end of the season.

What do you think?

 

[Chuck]

I don't know if it is just me or what but it seems like in the last 10 years the trays and flats for sale will simply not perform. I can plant a seed right next to a plant that has been started and the one from seed will always take over the transplanted one.

It just seems like they get abused and stunted and they never return. It feels like a waste of time at the end of the season.

What do you think?

I quit buying vegetable plants from the big box stores about 6 years ago just because of that very thing. I don't know for sure why it is but I suspect it is because they become root bound. They are always planted in those little peat pot things. Sure, the roots will eventually grow through the sides and bottom of the things but it takes time. And yes you can tear off the bottom or the sides but when you do you invariably remove some of the roots as well. Just my opinion, no proof. Seeds are the way to go. With seeds you know positively what you will end up with. With the store bought plants it is like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get for sure...You also don't know what they have been sprayed with either. Many are sprayed with toxins fatal to bees. And seeds are a LOT cheaper

 

[marlingardener]

I do buy starts of Calwonder peppers and Celebrity tomatoes, but I get them from a local nursery that starts them in-house. I don't have room to start all the seeds I need to, so I buy the ones that are easily available and start the ones that aren't common.
Like Chuck, I gave up on big box stores for starts. The plants are abused more than cared for--neglected until they wilt then given a torrent of water, set out in the high wind, moved around from sun to shade with no thought of what the plant needs, and customers pick up a tag, read it and stick it back in another flat.

 

[headfullofbees]

Well one issue is that you have disinterested min wage workers who probably hate their employers, looking after them.
I have always grown as much as possible from seed; the rewards and the satisfaction are huge.

 

[Meowmie]

I no longer get plants from big box stores unless I am very desperate for a variety I can't find elsewhere, but mostly I grow everything from seed.

I think being mass produced they are not really looked at. Watered at certain times, lights on an off at certain times, replanted at a specific time, regardless of the plants condition. There is no real care put into these plants, IMO, and it shows.

 

[LIcenter]

Not sure about other parts of the country/world, but here on Long Island the majority of plants are supplied by local growers, with the exception of veggie starts. Every big box store here carries Bonnie veggie starts, that are grown, and distributed from Florida. I would never buy one of those plants as the quality control is terrible in this company. A few years back they shipped tomato plants loaded with a airborne fungus, that just about wiped out everyones tomatoes around here, regardless if you bought local starts, or grew your own from seed. There has since been a crack down on that company, and yet I still wouldn't trust them.

 

[CanadianLori]

Last year I bought one pea plant and it grew up to be a tomato.

Guess somebody was playing checkers with the labels!

 

[galmal]

I, too, hate to get my plants from the big box stores. You can tell just by looking that the employees don't have a clue. There will a table full of plants and when you look at them, one will be water logged but the one next to it will be so dry that it hardly weighs anything when you pick it up. I've seen them put the ferns and other shade loving plants out in the full sun, yet the veggies and sun loving plants are in the shade.

Unfortunately, I live out in the middle of nowhere and the nearest nursery is over 30 miles away. And it's a small one without a good selection. I really miss the beautiful nursery we had at my last home.

I've thought about trying seeds, but I just don't have very good luck with them - oh well, I'm on a tight budget this year, so I guess I'll give seeds a try once more.

 

[Cereus]

I only get flowers from big box stores these days. Everything else I pick up at nurseries or get from seed. The comment about low wage workers is right. They only do the bare necessity their jobs require and then go home. I can't blame them per say since I've worked in retail because hard work is not rewarded in that environment. People only care about their jobs as long as they themselves are cared for. If there's no further incentive then they have no reason to try better. That being said, big box stores also go through a ton of customers who also end up abusing plants because they're shuffling stuff around.

 

[kevinkimers]

The quality of the plants you get from retailers has gone down hill significantly along with the fact that many of the plants the retailers are selling are pretreated with chemicals to ward of pest and kill bees. I wont buy pre-grown plants anymore because of this. I buy the seeds from trusted places or from the veggies and fruits I buy at the store and germinate them myself. That way I KNOW what goes on them and how they are grown.

 

[Rosyrain]

I try not to buy plants at major retailers whenever I can help it. They just don't look healthy and for the pesticide reasons that you mentioned. There are a couple of local nurseries around me and I like to go there. Not only do I know that the plants are going to be natural, but they have experts should I have any questions when I purchase the plant or later down the road.

 

[marlingardener]

Galmal, starting seeds isn't difficult nor is it necessarily expensive. Just remember--root vegetables don't transplant well, those that set fruit above ground generally do, with the exception of corn.
Cheap styrofoam cups with small holes punched in the bottom make good starter containers; for water trays you can use any sort of plastic or styrofoam tray (the plastic clam shells from the grocery or the styrofoam trays meat comes in work just fine) ;a heat mat made for human aches and pains can help with germination when placed under a seed tray; and if you have a south facing window the light will be sufficient for your seedlings, although you'll have to turn them around frequently so they don't lean to the light too much.
Let us know what you want to plant, and in what quantity, and we'll probably be able to help you have lots of starts for your garden at a minimal cost.

 

[kevinkimers]

LMAO last year we used beer cans and soda bottles!

 

[LouisFerdinand]

Have you noticed that sometimes the flowers need to be watered?

 

[Susan BBPM]

Since the pandemic I've noticed a HUGE drop in the standard of plants on sale in Scotland. From supermarkets to garden centers - they all look half dead. I used to feel tempted to buy plants wherever I went - shelves full of lovely, healthy looking bedding plants. But now they're all dry and half dead. It started with the lockdowns but they've never got their act together since. Maybe they just don't have the staff to keep them watered?

I grow all my own from seed now.