Before You Buy Those Garden Plants
Kevin Felts 02.15.18
Spring is around the corner and all kinds of stores will be getting their garden plants in stock. Customers will be able to find everything from herbs to watermelons already sprouted and ready to plant.
However, some types of plants grow better when planted as seeds directly into the soil. This is called “sowing” the seeds.
Other types of plants do fine being sprouted in trays, and then transplanted.
Before someone buys garden plants, how do they know if the plants will do well being transplanted? Let’s take a few minutes and talk about it.
Types To Sow
Any member of the melon family should not be transplanted.
Examples include:
- Cucumbers
- Yellow Squash
- Zucchini
- Watermelons
- Pumpkins
Besides those, okra, corn, beans, and peas should not be transplanted as sprouts.
The types of plants listed above are susceptible to shock when being transplanted. As crazy as it sounds, plants can go into shock and their growth will be stunted.
Don’t take my word for it, here it is straight from Texas A&M.
Q. I transplanted some okra I purchased at a local nursery. It is stunted and not growing. What should I do?
A. Please, don’t waste your garden dollars! Always plant crops such as beans, beets, cantaloupe, carrots, chard, collards, corn, cucumbers, kale, mustard, okra, peas, radishes, squash, turnips and watermelons from seed.
These plants are difficult to transplant and transplanting offers no advantage over seeding directly in the garden.
Types To Transplant
- Onions
- Herbs
- Tomatoes
- Peppers
Anything from that list does well being sprouted in containers, and then transplanted.
Onions are super easy to transplant. Bulbs should be available in the stores starting in December.
Most tomatoes and some peppers on the market are hybrids. So it would be difficult to plant them from seed to start with.
When you go to a store and see a bunch of sprouts that look ready to plant? Ask yourself, is the plant a member of the melon family, beans, peas, okra or corn? If so, buy seed instead.
