Buyer Beware Bonnie Plants

[peebee]

So I'm browsing the tomato plants at my local big box store, when my eyes catch these 2 rows of plants side by side w/ the same name. This isn't a case is someone switching tags, as all the plants in the 2 flats had them and I also checked out the rest in the entire tomato section. What saddens me is that someone might save seeds from the wrong one and share

[peebee]

I brought these to the attention of 2 staff members who were totally not interested (surprise!). Told me my best option was to email corporate, link on back of receipt. Of course I didn't buy any tomatoes.

[Scooty]

Pretty sure someone is going to get a surprise this year either way. Bonnie has a predetermined list every year and a handful of them are bush dets, so it can only be one of a few possibilities.

Random guess - Bush Early Girl.

[AlittleSalt]

Peebee, that could very well happen. What would be even worse is if all the German Queen plants in that bin are crosses. It's possible.

[Scooty]

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

Peebee, that could very well happen. What would be even worse is if all the German Queen plants in that bin are crosses. It's possible.

I mean I know most of us don't have much faith in Bonnie staff to tell a Celebrity from a Big Beef... but I really hate to think that little of them.... I assume they'd have the minimum quality control to know which ones should be dets and indets.

[AlittleSalt]

Originally Posted by Scooty

I mean I know most of us don't have much faith in Bonnie staff to tell a Celebrity from a Big Beef... but I really hate to think that little of them.... I assume they'd have the minimum quality control to know which ones should be dets and indets.

It's a good thing I deleted out what I think about our society now.

[Scooty]

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

It's a good thing I deleted out what I think about our society now.

Ouch.

[xellos99]

Join tomato growing facebook groups for your area and you will probably find several people giving away surplus tomato plants. I would not buy them in a shop unless they were like $1 each

[ContainerTed]

Around here, some roadside sellers go to Grainger County and get flats of tomato plants very inexpensively. I don't know how much the guy I use pays for his plants, but he sells 4 packs of 12"-16" ready to plant out plants for $1.50, and he still makes a profit. I can get 24"-30" plants with some fruit set and lots of blooms in gallon nursery pots - 2/$5.00. Add in that he has to drive about 100 miles round trip. I usually buy 6-10 of those for early tomatoes. I supply all the plants to my extended family - 5 households plus mine.

This year, got Cherokee Purple, Big Boy, Black Prince, Empire, Carolina Gold, Brandywine Pink, Golden Jubilee, and German Johnson varieties, There was also, red and yellow cherries, Mr. Stripey (beefsteak size), and several other OP and a bunch of other Hybrids.

Now, about Bonnie Plants, I watched a driver off-load more than a dozen flats of tomato plants which had an obvious bad case of Bacterial Spec. The employees don't seem to have any botanical training at all. Those German Queen plants above are two different varieties. The one on the left looks more like a Dwarf Rugose leaf. The plant on the right has the best chance to be correct. German Queen should have Potato Leaf foliage.

Bonnie Plants tomatoes should never be used for saving seeds. Buy from them only to have some tomatoes for that season. Whether or not the tag has the actual correct name on it is a crap shoot at best.

[slugworth]

the plant I got is diseased,I am keeping it in the house to try to recover.
a patio plant that was labeled correctly.

[PaulF]

If anyone has visited a plant "factory" it is very apparent that there is no such thing as quality control. Multi hundreds of rows upon rows of plants that get a plant tag stuffed into a pot which may or may not be in the row it is supposed to be in. The workers just put tags in until they are out of tags and then start with the next set in whatever row they are in.

[ginger2778]

Bonnie uses growth inhibitors to keep the plants from out growing the shelves in the stores. So you get your growth inhibited plant home and , well, what's wrong with that picture?

[Cole_Robbie]

Common garden varieties like Big Beef are $1.50 per 6 pack at my market. Flats of 60 go for $15. If you want a good deal on plants, check out your local farmer's market. Many of us are selling the leftovers from what we plant for ourselves, so we have every incentive to produce good plants. Businesses like Bonnie that sell only plants do not have the same incentives for quality.

[SteveP]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

Common garden varieties like Big Beef are $1.50 per 6 pack at my market. Flats of 60 go for $15. If you want a good deal on plants, check out your local farmer's market. Many of us are selling the leftovers from what we plant for ourselves, so we have every incentive to produce good plants. Businesses like Bonnie that sell only plants do not have the same incentives for quality.

Cole, I went to my local farmers market and was disappointed to find leggy 15-18" tomato plants for $4 each. They needed to be planted. I know they sold a few of the probably 400 plants they brought, but they took probably 85% home. She was a very nice lady and I visited with her for a few minutes and told her about T'ville. Hopefully she will join.

[peebee]

I grow my own vegetables from seed and on rare occasions have bought from a trusted farmers market vendor. I would never buy from a big box store but a nursery is fine.