Buy Plug Plants or Seeds?

To purchase plants through the internet has not really been easier now that plug plants are just so widely accessible. Yet what exactly should you be taking into consideration whenever buying plants on line and will the plants when received require any sort of additional care and attention.

Plants by post is not new. There have been plants for sale through publications for a long time. Mail order plants used to be mailed at the start of the season as immature plants with the roots packed in moist newsprint and thoroughly protected in cardboard boxes. Drenched in a bucketful of water for several hours and planted out into a garden bed they quickly established.

The thing that has improved is the technology with regard to reliable packaging materials and a Personal computer or Notebook computer in a great many homes. Getting plants using the web includes an excellent choice of perennial plants together with the younger and more low-priced forms possibly best referred to as plug plants. And even trees and shrubs can be bought over the internet for home delivery. Not very long ago roses were supplied bare rooted which usually meant planting right at the end of winter or perhaps early spring. You can still purchase bare rooted roses that are cheaper to buy nevertheless most people doing shopping at a garden centre or perhaps nursery will likely invest in a rose already established in a container.

On the other hand what is the alternative should you not desire to buy established plants and do not own the suitable facilities to grow your own annuals and perennials from seeds? Whenever raising hardy annuals perhaps you may of course wait till the soil has warmed and direct sow. That is certainly just fine when you have the garden soil free however individuals with smaller gardens do not always have that luxury.

This can be one example when plug plants come to the rescue. Modern day technologies as well as recent packaging materials allow growers to market plants which may be sent out safely and securely and at a reasonable price.

After you have obtained the plug plants over the internet precisely what should you plan to do after the plants are supplied?

Remove the trays of plug plants from the cardboard packet. Should you have obtained established plug plants they could be in plastic root trainers and not trays. The procedure is identical; make certain that the compost has not dried up. Having the young plants in dried out compost for too much time will at the very least get them to find it difficult to become nice healthy plants but there is however a possibility they might not stay alive. They really are your babes and therefore are totally reliant on you and the treatment you provide them. Sit the tray in a shallow dish of water or even carefully mist them. Once the compost is saturated leave it be to drain out and keep the plug plants in a well illuminated as well as draft free situation.

At the earliest opportunity pot on the plugs, evenly spacing them in seed trays full of good compost as you might whenever sowing from seed and pricking out, or maybe straight into individual pots of appropriate potting compost. Water in, drain and do not water again til the compost is more or less dry. Young plants like plugs hate finding their feet soaking in water, the roots will almost certainly rot and perish. A word to the wise, you should never pot on the plug plants in the event their compost is extremely dry. For the best chance of a good result water the plugs 1 to 2 hours prior to potting up.

Position the potted on plants somewhere where they will not reside in a cool draft. A greenhouse is perfect, a cold frame good and a windowsill okay although for those who have a sizable sill where it is feasible to close up the window curtains do not ever leave the plants in between the shut drape and the glass. They would be in a situation through the night, that should it go chilly, they would be badly chilled by cold trapped air.

After 3 to 4 weeks your plants really should be sizeable enough to plant in the garden however do not do so till all risk of frost has passed. And before planting out harden off the plants. Achieve this by leaving the greenhouse entrance door open in the daytime, cold frame cover open through the day, or perhaps positioning them out of doors in the day and bringing them in at the end of the day. You should soon see a big difference in the plants which will possess a stouter physical appearance as opposed to looking very soft stemmed.

So is it really better to acquire seeds and sow them yourself or simply buy plug plants? Both of these alternatives are fine and both of these rely on the gardener to provide adequate care and attention to produce first-class plants for the garden or flowerbed. In fact, whether or not a gardener possesses the amenities to germinate seed and a greenhouse to grow the plants on, it will be worthwhile for the gardener to grow specific plant varieties from seed and buy plug plants supplied ready to grow on for an outstanding summer bedding show.