Seedlings already available

duajones · January 19, 2007

at most of the local nurseries, Home Depot and Lowes. The nurseries plants look pretty good and are nice and warm in their protected green houses. Lowes and Home Depot didnt even try to protect theirs from the bad weather we have experienced lately as all of theirs are dead. What a shame.

bydsign · January 19, 2007

Those folks at Home Depot and Lowe's don't care about
those plants like WE do! It's such a shame.

Besides... they can just get a credit from the vendor, which
is another reason why they treat those plants any ol' way.

TheDens · January 19, 2007

In many cases, the vendor takes care of the plants anyway. Home Depot employees have no control over where plants from certain vendors are kept, how they're displayed, when they arrive for the season, or how they're cared for. The vendors send out reps to do all of that.
Now, a department manager can raise some hell if a particular vendor's shoddy display or neglect is making his/her department look bad, and that usually gets conditions improved, but they have to know/care first. Some don't.
(Incidentally, for a long time I was under the impression that it was Home Depot employees giving me the cold shoulder and 'don't talk to me' looks when I shopped in the garden center. It was actually vendor reps taking care of their plants).

feldon30 · January 19, 2007

I talked to the owner of a nursery on 249 which is next door to the Home Depot, he confirmed the ideas being expressed here.

Essentially, Home Depot is just a consignment store for plants. Vendors bring them in, and Home Depot waters them because they have to, not because they want to nor because they really have any vested interest in the plants.

I was really surprised to see tomato transplants a full 2 months before it is time for planting. And they were huge too. I saw 12" plants in 1 gallon pots. Of course none were varieties I am interested in growing except, I think, Big Beef. The rest were the typical vars like Celebrity, Roma VF..., etc. I guess if someone wants to try their hand at greenhouse growing, but then those folks would generally grow their own plants anyway and wouldn't be buying transplants.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a few Junebearing strawberry plants. Over and over I have read articles written by TAMU and other organizations recommending against everbearing (so-called NEVERbearing) strawberry plants for S.E. Texas because they never have a chance to produce decent fruit as most of the time the plants are in heat shock.

Junebearing strawberry plants are strongly recommended for Texas and that is why I bought a bundle of 25 crowns of Chandler strawberries (which you will never see in a Texas nursery) and planted them in late September. Almost all are healthy and have good leaves. I covered them with blankets during our latest cold snap and will need to do so again next week. Meanwhile the warm spells we have had confuse the plants and they put out flowers, which I pick off. I won't leave flowers on the plants until early February.

Incidentially the owner of that nursery I mentioned grew out some heirloom tomato transplants and made them available in his store about 3 years ago but they hardly sold, so he hasn't repeated the experiment. I gave him some advice about plant tags and advertising but doubt he'll try again.

travis · January 19, 2007

Last year a couple of places started selling little transplants ...
like 3 - 4 inches tall ... about a month or so too early
for setting out around here.

That was great! They were in 6-packs, were really cheap,
and included some varieties that I normally wouldn't start from seed.
But some of my friends and neighbors already had said they wanted Big Boys, Better Boys, Jet Stars, Pink Girls, Early Girls, etc., so I bought one or two six-packs of several varieties for like 1.59 each and potted them up to 4" pots.

It worked out just fine. After I sent some to my friends
and neighbors, a lot of the spares went to kids at an Earth Day event.
This proved to be very economical as the 6-packs were priced
so that it was a lot easier and probably cheaper when you consider
some F1 seeds are 25c each, and then starter trays,
starter mix, shop lights, blah, blah, blah.

And all I had to do with the little six-pack seedlings was pot them up
in recycled 4-inch pots in a little extra pottin mix,
put them in recycled trays, set them out during the day,
and drag them in on cold nights. A month later
they were big healthy transplants and those kids
really got a kick out of'm.

PV

January 19, 2007	#1
duajones Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Corpus Christi,Texas Z9 Posts: 1,996	Seedlings already available at most of the local nurseries, Home Depot and Lowes. The nurseries plants look pretty good and are nice and warm in their protected green houses. Lowes and Home Depot didnt even try to protect theirs from the bad weather we have experienced lately as all of theirs are dead. What a shame.

January 19, 2007	#2
bydsign Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Zone 10 - South Florida Posts: 91	Those folks at Home Depot and Lowe's don't care about those plants like WE do! It's such a shame. Besides... they can just get a credit from the vendor, which is another reason why they treat those plants any ol' way. __________________ Darlette

January 19, 2007	#4
feldon30 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 5,346	I talked to the owner of a nursery on 249 which is next door to the Home Depot, he confirmed the ideas being expressed here. Essentially, Home Depot is just a consignment store for plants. Vendors bring them in, and Home Depot waters them because they have to, not because they want to nor because they really have any vested interest in the plants. I was really surprised to see tomato transplants a full 2 months before it is time for planting. And they were huge too. I saw 12" plants in 1 gallon pots. Of course none were varieties I am interested in growing except, I think, Big Beef. The rest were the typical vars like Celebrity, Roma VF..., etc. I guess if someone wants to try their hand at greenhouse growing, but then those folks would generally grow their own plants anyway and wouldn't be buying transplants. I was pleasantly surprised to see a few Junebearing strawberry plants. Over and over I have read articles written by TAMU and other organizations recommending against everbearing (so-called NEVERbearing) strawberry plants for S.E. Texas because they never have a chance to produce decent fruit as most of the time the plants are in heat shock. Junebearing strawberry plants are strongly recommended for Texas and that is why I bought a bundle of 25 crowns of Chandler strawberries (which you will never see in a Texas nursery) and planted them in late September. Almost all are healthy and have good leaves. I covered them with blankets during our latest cold snap and will need to do so again next week. Meanwhile the warm spells we have had confuse the plants and they put out flowers, which I pick off. I won't leave flowers on the plants until early February. Incidentially the owner of that nursery I mentioned grew out some heirloom tomato transplants and made them available in his store about 3 years ago but they hardly sold, so he hasn't repeated the experiment. I gave him some advice about plant tags and advertising but doubt he'll try again. __________________ [SIZE="3"]I've relaunched my gardening website -- [B]TheUnconventionalTomato.com[/B][/SIZE] * [I][SIZE="1"]*I'm not allowed to post weblinks so you'll have to copy-paste it manually.[/SIZE][/I]

January 19, 2007	#3
TheDens Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Georgia (Zone 7b) Posts: 233	In many cases, the vendor takes care of the plants anyway. Home Depot employees have no control over where plants from certain vendors are kept, how they're displayed, when they arrive for the season, or how they're cared for. The vendors send out reps to do all of that. Now, a department manager can raise some hell if a particular vendor's shoddy display or neglect is making his/her department look bad, and that usually gets conditions improved, but they have to know/care first. Some don't. (Incidentally, for a long time I was under the impression that it was Home Depot employees giving me the cold shoulder and 'don't talk to me' looks when I shopped in the garden center. It was actually vendor reps taking care of their plants).

January 19, 2007	#5
travis Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Evansville, IN Posts: 2,984	Last year a couple of places started selling little transplants ... like 3 - 4 inches tall ... about a month or so too early for setting out around here. That was great! They were in 6-packs, were really cheap, and included some varieties that I normally wouldn't start from seed. But some of my friends and neighbors already had said they wanted Big Boys, Better Boys, Jet Stars, Pink Girls, Early Girls, etc., so I bought one or two six-packs of several varieties for like 1.59 each and potted them up to 4" pots. It worked out just fine. After I sent some to my friends and neighbors, a lot of the spares went to kids at an Earth Day event. This proved to be very economical as the 6-packs were priced so that it was a lot easier and probably cheaper when you consider some F1 seeds are 25c each, and then starter trays, starter mix, shop lights, blah, blah, blah. And all I had to do with the little six-pack seedlings was pot them up in recycled 4-inch pots in a little extra pottin mix, put them in recycled trays, set them out during the day, and drag them in on cold nights. A month later they were big healthy transplants and those kids really got a kick out of'm. PV