I feel like a gardener no matter what. I have grown from seeds, cuttings, bare roots, bulbs, tubers, cromes, grafts, and plugs. It doesn’t matter. You still have to keep it all alive, and it’s all still cathartic
I used to buy transplants. Some of the garden was transplants like celery tomatoes and peppers but everything else I grew from seed. I just moved onto my 5 acre homestead and started all my plants from seed. It's such a rewarding feeling to be able to see my hard work pay off. I also don't care if someone thinks I'm a "real" gardener or not. Nor do I care if it's a transplanted or grown myself from seed. All that matters is that I have food growing. When harvest comes that's what counts.
Yeah, the plants you mentioned need longer and in places like here (Michigan), you really have to start them early. Until very recently, I didn't have a place to start them that wouldn't be destroyed by children or animals. If I wanted to grow them, I had to buy transplants! I do prefer to get them from private parties or plant shows, rather than to get them from big box stores, but that's mostly because of the difference in cost. ❤
@@Crazychickenlady448Children and pets depend on you to know right from wrong. It's your job to teach them to leave things alone that they have no business touching. I absolutely cannot stand adults who always blame children when it's literally your job to show them the right way, at all times, in all cases.
@@AmysAttitude Wait, my comment on saying it's ok to buy transplants suddenly turned into an accusation of me being a bad mother? Ok, fine, bad mother I am then. I don't blame kids fir being kids, nor do I blame my cats for being curious klutzes. I was simply pointing out that it was difficult to start plants from seed successfully.
Amy certainly does have an attitude.... sometimes the space that children and animals take up leaves little room for shelves of seedlings... not everyone is as gloriously perfect as you.@@AmysAttitude
I used transplants this year as well as had seedlings in my greenhouse planted around Mother’s Day. I do container gardening. I have more seedlings almost ready to plant in my greenhouse.
I don’t have any space to grow from seed and I’m in zone 7. So I have to buy transplants. I’m proud to support a local business and still grow food in my garden 🪴.
I use to live in a zone 4, with 3 roomates. From my small bedroom I could grow about 30-60 plants. I then offer them to my mother for her garden and keep only 10 of them. If there's a will, there's a way. I did it with Kratky method, so almost no manipulation and no watering. 100% easy success!
I'm an advocate for "rescuing" plants from the garden centers at stores. I saw some pepper plants starting to get attacked by aphids at my grocery store. I rescued them and took care of the aphids. One pepper plant is loaded with peppers. The Habanero plant is taking a bit longer to put on fruit but the hot ones are usually slow growers in my experience. People buying plants from the stores aren't cheating, they are rescuing plants from a horrible demise of neglect and becoming stunted from living in a tiny pot.
Almost every plant I ever get from a chain store is rootbound. I'm new to vegetable gardening though and noticed the tomato plants from Walmart seem to be diseased or something, I'm trying to salvage them though
I also am a plant rescuer! I rescued an orchid plant from Walmart clearance section last year and it just bloomed today! So rewarding! I always have several "patients" recovering in my plant hospital in my kitchen window.
Me too. I bought a sad looking chocolate crackles tomoto. Put in 70ltre bag of tomotoe mix, buried up to leaf tops. Now it's a picture of health and producing the most delicious black cherry size tomotoe in grape-like bunches. And they are delicious!
I too, am a rescuer. My best one was a W. mart tomato plant that I knew if it did not find a home and soon it was going to get root bound and just wither away. I got it to the counter and I knew this was a $16 plant but she was beautiful and needed a bigger pot of she was going to stay in a container. I get there and there is no barcode to ring her up. The manager was super frustrated ( apparently this is a common problem in the garden center of that w. Mart) she went searching for the tomato on their system and could only find the small started plant....this plant was about five foot tall and fruiting heavily. I told her the price and she gave it to me for the price of the small starter ($3.99) That plant produced well past the end of summer into late fall and earned the name Audrey ( little shop of horrors joke in the house) and then we found volunteer tomatoes around the potting site the next spring ( Audrey 2 lol). She was the gift that kept giving once she got room to stretch her roots more
I get my seedlings from an Amish nursery down the street from my home. They are super cheap, hardy/healthy, and they have a huge selection! I buy them in the 4 and 6 packs.
Some of us simply don’t have the space in our homes, and the extra money, to start seedlings indoors. In Texas we get a warm early spring, so I just started my seeds outdoors. Then the wind came up…
I am not an experienced gardener, but enjoy seeing what can grow. I have started my seeds indoors for a few years. I use empty water bottles cut in half, put some potting soil in, then seeds and then some more potting soil. I put the top half of the bottle back on and tape the sides so if it gets knocked over, there isn't such a big mess. I take a piece of scrap paper and label the bottles. Take the water bottle top off, then put them in the window. If you have a double pane window it helps to create a hot house/greenhouse. I have also started seeds on my dining room table. Plant the seeds then take a clear container, like a storage container for food, clothes, etc. and put it on top. The seeds started at about the same time as the ones in the window. Hope this helps and happy gardening. ❤❤❤
I was about an hour away from going to the garden center to buy my plants, feeling guilty, when I saw your video. Constructing my new raised beds and filling them took quite a lot longer than I expected and I hadn't started seeds as yet. But your advise was a great help and I'm looking forward to filling up the beds with lots of new plants, no guilt!
I look for extras. Something else to add, if buying herbs. In the garden center at Walmart they were selling one basil plant for $4.89(?), I went to the produce section and in the pots there, there were a good 10 plants and they were $3 and change.
I live in an apartment and if I have any dirt in my apartment to grow seeds in or potting soil, these little bugs come in and get it and everything. I bought lettuce plants and I’ve been enjoying fresh lettuce for two months now.❤
I do both - growing from seeds, and transplants. We are Canadians who spend the winter in Florida. By the time we get back North, it is too late to start a number of veggies from seeds. So I am very happy to do transplants for those. I start the the faster growing ones from seeds. It works for me. I feel I have the best of both worlds.
I have tricky clay soil and have only been officially gardening a few years. Transplants have helped a lot. This year I did get brave and started seeds inside - so far lettuce, peas and marigolds are now growing in the garden. I did buy tomatoes and sweet potatoes so wish me luck!
Real gardeners only grow from seeds, hand water, raise their own chickens, carp, and kelp for fertilizer, turn their own compost, and hand till the soil. ! Gardeners come in all types. IMHO, if you do somewhat more than visit the grocery store for all your produce/fruit, and a shop for cut flowers then you're a real gardener! Plus maybe the occasional dirty hands or gloves are a good sign.
😂You're funny. If what you said about being a" real gardener" is true, I don't want to be one😂 I like getting plants from kitchen scraps they are the real free plants. You just eat the food than plant.😂😂
Definitely gloves... I got an infection in my finger from a poke that was so slight that I barely noticed it & it didn't even bleed, so I thought that it didn't break the skin.
OmG you are so right. The "oh...you're not using seeds?" When I'm in the garden center, nursery or box store is a real thing. I live in the DC metro area and winter told Spring to "hold my beer" and the last known frost was frosting waaaaaaay past mid April. So I did start seeds indoors but I also bought some multi-packs of some Spring items to help me get my garden going. My attitude is, I'm the one tending it so it's all good. If anyone has an issue? I ask, so how about that late frost we had?? And they slink their judgy butts away. It's gardening! Enjoy it!! Sheesh! *steps off soapbox, struts away*
loved your post, "Winter told Spring."🤣 Here in Ohio, there was a week when Winter, Spring and Summer all showed up to the Garden Party. One at a time please!
I love a variety of Cherry Tomato called Husky Cherry Red. I find them at Home Depot and I look at each container and I can usually find a few that have extra plants growing in them😁 This year one container had 3 plants in it and the other had two so I didn’t feel quite as bad paying $5 per container❤️
i like that you asked about "taboo" or "snobbery" for seeds vs transplants. i think most of us try our best to start from seed. it is a pride issue. we want to do it. but if you aren't a full time stay at home gardener, sometimes you revert to transplants. in my honest opinion, what i find lacking is teaching videos on where things failed! because they will. i am not a full time stay at home gardener, so i appreciate tips and tricks from those who are, and also see what failed, because if they failed, chances are i might too. i am less discouraged to try then. i will take more chances growing a 100 seed packet at cost of $1 seed vs a $5 plant. it is a good feeling to grow and care for something you wanted and you will use and eat and enjoy. that is the most important thing. you can do it, but you will fail sometimes. important to teach yourself why things went wrong
I will admit to buying 6 packs, my first year. The wife volunteered me to start "our" garden. But in my second year I came to the conclusion I would go broke with the size of garden I wanted. As a budget gardener it just made sense to get some led shop lights and some seeds. I will say that it is a wonderful thing to see little seedlings pop up in Feb-March when there is snow on the ground outside. That alone would be enough to start from seed.
I have been gardening for 45 years always trying to learn and improve. I live in the PNW and contending with slugs, snails, and birds can be daunting. Some things I buy transplants and for others I grow from seed. Presently, I work in the nursery at my local Coastal store and I am constantly gleaning from my customers. No shame either way. Just get your hands dirty!
Yup. I absolutely love growing from seed but I will never grow strawberries, lavender or rosemary from seed again. It’s just not worth my time. 😏 Ps. I lived in Seattle until 2013. I miss it so much!
I really enjoy your videos. I know this video is almost 2 years old, but it's still pertinent today. I live in a retirement community, and I've had to grow my tomatoes in fabric grow bags . Last year, I did extremely well! BUT, I didn't have a seed starting station setup at that time and was forced to buy my plants from starts at the local big box stores. I ended up buying around 15 starts at an average cost of about $8 each for the plants I put in my grow bag garden last year!! That's $120 for my plants! Yhis year I got smart and put together a small indoor seed starting station. With everything I needed, grow lights plant trays, and a nice 4 foot adjustable steel shelf unit I'm into everything about $200. Yes, more than I spent for starts last year, but when I spread it out of several years I'll be much less expensive. Plus I'm planning on selling some starts to help recoup some of my initial outlay! I'll also be able to start 100's of plants to share with family and friends, and my cost each year will be to buy a few packages of seeds, and those seeds will remain viable for at least a few years. I really appreciate all the tips and tricks that you and others have taught me about seed starting here on TH-cam. 😊
Some of my favorite spring plants are the volunteers. I get a lot of them here in zone 9a. I even have a tomato that started itself last year and it's still producing.
More and more nurseries are having fewer and fewer six packs. They sure know how to make $$$. I sometimes get live basil from the grocery store and seperate, also, when they get taller I’ll cut them back, remove most leaves and put in water to root. I totally agree with you on going smaller with 6 packs. They actually grow way better for me than the bigger 4-6 inch pots
I love seeing your videos. I’ve been gardening since childhood. I gained my love of dirt through 3 of my grandparents & my dad. Now my children & grandchildren have the passion too, along with all my siblings. I love changing my tactics & methods with new things I learn & I thank you for that.
I see it this way: If I start waaaay too many tomatoes and peppers and give the extras to a few fellow gardeners because I ran out of space to keep them, thats fine. I'm one step removed from a professional nursery. The only difference is that nurseries/stores get money for the same thing, I get a plate of cookies for payment.
Great video! I mainly do transplants due to time and space, however I almost never buy from Lowe’s or Home Depot. I buy from a local family-owned nursery that offers A LOT of variety! Much cheaper than the big box stores and my yield has been off the charts! Plus I’m supporting a small business and that’s always a goal of mine. I definitely want to get started with doing more seedlings though. Just need to get the right setup so I have the space and the time to take care of them. 🙌🏼🙌🏼♥️
I go to the local farm market and buy some plants from them. They have (like you said), multiple plants in the packs.. I started some seeds inside and put them next to the sliding door window. They are doing great too.. Although, sometimes my cats get into mischief and will play and throw the dirt all over the floor in my kitchen.. Plants survived.!! It’s all good.
The other reason I buy starts - small garden, just me, and I don't NEED a whole bunch of anything. 1 or 2 of just about anything I am wanting to grow is plenty. But I will look for and separate those pots with multiples!
I buy from garden centers and start from seeds. The variety available at garden centers is very limited. I have 4 types of tomatoes I started from seed. Varieties not available at a garden center. Plus your videos on how to do this have helped me along the way, tremendous help! The fertilizer you recommended is amazing!
I started growing from seed last year because I needed 150 petunias, and the cost would have been prohibited if I had to buy transplants. Also could not find eggplants or okra transplants. OMG everything grew!! I only have 4 shelves w heating mats that I have in my dining room ( which now looks like botanic gardens) This year I also started more veggies. Again germination was 90+%!! I do need to adjust when I start seeds because some things got too big, too fast. But I have found friends who also start from seed and now share. Love your show. From Denver...
I started all my tomatoes and peppers from seed and I was so proud at how well they did! 2 days after I moved them out to my high tunnel, the rooster scratched them all up! Ack! Luckily I had the money to replace the destroyed plants with starts from Lowes. Phew. Crisis averted! Cost me $130, but i learned a couple of good lessons. 😊
Thank you so much Brian! As a third year gardener I really need the specific instructions (separating the seedlings!!) the more detail the better for me you have helped me so much! Love from 9b sonoma.
This was the first time I started all my seeds. It was so much fun and gave me something to do late winter and early spring. Not sure my husband appreciated plants all over the house for so long. But he will when he eats everything ! Lol
I too am glad you are talking about this topic. Not everyone has the space or time to do a seed starting station. I’m teaching my DD with special needs to garden, and even when we do start seeds, she wants immediate results and transplants help with this. Shopping for deals is so rewarding.
I used the core of the cabbage put it in water suspenders with toothpicks in core 1”water until you have roots divided your core by plant and roots put in ground I got 5 plants 1 core
I'm still going through the growing pains of learning to start some plants from seed, but at the big box stores here plants were 4.50 per plant for say tomatoes each so i went to an Amish farm and got 36 plants for $20 and a few other things next week i will make a trip back to get herb plants for my wife's inside herb "garden" until i get better at raising my own from seed and maybe i will let some go to seed so i don't have to buy so many seeds, great tips on getting transplants from a garden center
Growing from seed is a labor of love and not for the faint of heart. I love it personally (I find it life affirming/optimistic 🥰) but I’ve also seen a lot of pro-seed-only channels poo poo nursery starts without considering that not everybody has the kind of extra time and attention is takes to grow from seed.
I'm glad you broached this topic! I usually start all of my own veggies, but found 6 packs of various hot peppers for sale at .29c per 6 pack,as well as cabbage and other things I didn't start on my own. Felt a little sheepish, but 29c for 6 Habanero? Yes! I bought many and felt I was 'saving them' as it was end of June so would hqve hit the compost! Also found a Tradescantia Zebrina for 29c which is now a houseplant and has been propegated indoors into 4 new plants! I prefer to grow from seed, but there is no shame in buying good quality seedlings! 💚 Have an awesome weekend! 🌻
I consider myself a Gardener, simply because I’ve gardened for 40 years in Oregon, and now am expanding my knowledge in my new home ( & creating all new garden beds) in SE Texas. I’ve failed many times, lost plants to environmental and personal error, completely redesigned large OR yard three times over the decades. Experienced yes, great gardener no but determined! Also haven’t been very successful (yet) with seeds but I keep trying! Love your videos, Thanks! JT
Yes, I’ve felt a little embarrassed to start with transplants instead of seeds. Multiple health problems caused me to start too late for seeds this year, but I really wanted to start a garden and begin learning, so I did transplants into containers. I didn’t know how easy it was to divide, or I could have gotten a little more bang for my buck. Great tips. Thank you!
Never thought about putting them in water to separate the roots. Brillante. I can do that for some of the annual flowers I buy. Also never thought of adding potting soil to the soil to help them get a better start, that makes sense. As always, thanks for the great tips.
I start many things, especially veggies, from seeds. Such a pleasure looking through the seed catalogues and imagining my garden full of flowers and veggies! Because my garden is small, though, I look for smaller version of veggies and try not to overdo things. But there's no denying the guilty pleasure of going to the nursery and checking out the beautiful displays of flowers and spending too much money.
I buy transplants, to have an instant garden, and then I plant seeds to fill in the gaps. Last year I bought a 6-pack of leeks and after very carefully seperating them I ended up with 47. Its been leek-a-mania this spring. I have dried them, powdered them, given them away and my husband has taken them to work (he is a chef). I have basil in a pot, I have rooted cuttings and replanted and then added seeds to have more plants.
Thank you for the tips! I started my seeds late so I bought a few transplants for my vertical planter to get some earlier tomatoes and peppers. I really liked the idea of separating the seedlings in water to make it easier to get them apart, and the ways to save money.
I struggled with seeds at first then found a few years of success with transplants and that allowed me to learn about my plants’ needs and growing habits! Now I start almost everything with winter sowing, and I hardly ever buy transplants. But I love your list of why they’re so useful.
I had an incident and needed to start from scratch. I thought about buying from a store (and wouldn't judge anyone who would) but I had some really special plants I was growing and I was extremely excited to have the final product so I started over from seed. Bonnie is considered a local company where I'm at so I can usually find pots with multiple plants in them and I definitely look for them but I definitely understand where the 1 plant for like 7$ isn't worth it.
I brought a 6 pack of mangetout and got 18 seedlings from over seeding, what a bonus, they are all lovely and growing well too. I hope you get your garden going again before the film crew comes in! Such a shame you have had issues but it's fantastic to be able to learn how to deal with the various issues
@@anneramirez9577 that's really interesting, im beginning to find we have a lot of our own terms and names for things in the UK! It's like with Zucchini I had to look that one up we call them Courgettes 😅
At age 56 - I finally figured out how to make my own transplants ! 1st the prices of everything is going up daily / weekly - Thank goodness i purchased all my heat mats & led lights in December 2021 - Now i have varities of all kinds of veggies - Not just like 2 or 3 tomatoes or 4 peppers - I even had a plant sale ( gave alot away to help my community ) It made me feel so good - Here in Montgomery County, Texas Even Gas is at $4.39 A dozen of eggs at aldis was $2.47 ( we are looking into getting chickens soon ) Im 56 - my husband is 58 and he is still working - Thank goodness we almost have our home paid off as food alone is truly hurting us ... God bless you all and i pray everyone starts GROWING ..... Mrs Josette Tharp Texas 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
@@gb9276 a fellow sufferer here in SoCal. Outrageous prices. Not sure how young newly employed are surging this storm I live too far from Costco to make their lower price for gas work. Grrrrrrrrr
Yep, I've felt a bit embarrassed buying starts but I've gotten over it if I find a great deal or "just can't wait". Thanks again for your great tips and for giving us permission to garden the way we want to. God Bless you.
I start from seeds, bulbs and starts. I went to a store that carries everything. I was shocked and saw several racks of free plants. I got several of them. Some were flowers and others were vegetables. Some were near death. Some ended up saving some. Some didn’t make it. I don’t mind transplants. Sometimes I don’t have time to get seeds started.
I replanted my seed 3 times! Fungus gnats were my problem. So I bit the bullet and got cheap 6 packs of peppers. $2.49 a 6 pack so not bad. But we m frugal, that’s my main motivator for seeding. Second is pride.
Making cuttings from the right types of plants are also a way to extend the purchase. Some root really well just in soil and some in a jar of water. Can add rootone hormone at the cut bottom tip to aid in root growing but not all things require that.
I have about 200 sq ft of veggie garden but have no good indoor space to start seeds (I have done so in the past for plants I can't find locally). So I generally buy plants such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplant which gives me more variety than I could get with seeds. I still direct seed in the garden things like beans, squash, chard, etc. For transplants, I used to find 6-packs, then they went to 4-packs for the same price. Now ONE plant is the same price or more!!! And a packet of seeds for $2.99 or more! I do look for containers with more than one plant when possible; however, I have seen nothing as lush and healthy as those you show here. I've purchased annuals and house plants from the "almost dead" discount rack at Lowes, which is always feels like victory! Gardening used to be for poor people, now, with plants, soil amendments, a truck-load of compost, irrigation, etc. we are growing the six hundred dollar tomato!
I have zero shame getting transplants. It saves me time and I learned to overwinter my favorite plants so I can get many years out of them. Mostly blueberry and tobacco peppers.
I use both transplants and seeds. Love them both and don’t care hearing anything from anyone with a problem from that. It works for me and that is all I care about. You do you and I’ll do me I say. Keep up the good work.
One of the things I picked up was anti garden centers due to that taking away from mom and pop shops who can’t afford to sell so cheap AND small shops have better options that are healthy and catered too. Garden centers really do kill so much.
Freakin' great tips! I never thought about using a bucket of water to tease the starts apart! I can't believe I never thought of it either. 🤣 Thank you so much!
I'm in Southern Ontario, Canada, and on Victoria Day weekend (aka May 2-4) our local Horticultural Society holds a plant sale annually. It usually has perennials split from the members gardens, but they had a few veggies too. I almost had a polite canadian fight for the last tomatoes! I had to replace some damaged/dead seedlings of mine. But I also found a few things for my flower garden. But I do have a couple of veggie gaps left I'll go to the center for. Happy Spring Gardening!
save seeds from your veggies and fruits/put them in envelope (refrigerate, esp cherry seeds)/mark them and date/plant for free. Been doing this for fifty years. Over winter if veggies going bad, throw them into flowerbeds/ volunteers come up early and are hardy. plant fruit trees from seeds too. chestnuts/ black walnuts/etc. works well.
You’re on spot, Brian. WHERE you buy plants is important. My tomatoes, lettuce and green beans from Rogers Garden in Newport Beach, CA, are growing well because they only sell quality healthy plants. I love Home Depot but their vegetable plants haven’t met my expectations.
My Dad buys the 6 packs and ALWAYS looks for multiples. And the water bucket separation, so simple but hadn't thought of it. I dumped a bunch of basil seeds in a single area by mistake and I'll be separating them with the water bucket in a few weeks.
I'm in my forth year of veg gardening and I have figured out some plants do better from plugs, and others from seed, and this varies depending on the time of year. Also, if you only want to grow a few of one thing but don't want to use up limited time and space with seed trays, sometimes better to get plugs.
We can't plant until early to mid-June. I buy both garden center items and I plant seeds. I have seen a lot of the push on TH-cam videos to grow your own from seed like you mentioned, but your views are the ones I pay most attention to!
This time of year... go check your grocery store produce dept... basil inside was like 2.99 for 12 little plants like you showed...vs the bonnie plant outside the same size pot was 5.98! My kids told me I was genius when I showed them... as we were talking about it a lady heard me talking and grabbed one and thanked me for my "knowledge" lol
I have picked that up too. I always used to buy my transplant because I worked full time 12 hour shifts. Now I’m retired and have time for the fun of starting my own. It’s still gardening. We pit way too much pressure on ourselves. I say garden however you can and need to!
Seedlings are so much work; care, time, watering. Don’t expect to cover your costs and time, it’s dedication, and the pleasure of giving beautiful green bushy seedlings 🌱to friends 🌶 Also, you have the patience of an angel, I would’ve planted that whole rootbound basil in the same hole! 😄
While I started most of my spring plants from seed for the varieties and the gardener growth challenge, I find no shame in buying starts. I started 8 varieties of tomatoes from seed but purchased 2 new varieties as starts because they we're beautiful plants, cost friendly and they helped me get a jump on my succession planting. I also purchased strawberry starts because I failed at starting them from bare root. I'm excited to see you shopped at my favorite San Diego local nursery Walter Anderson's. I can't say enough about the support and service they offer to gardeners of all levels plus free garden classes.
We’ve done both. Especially in years where we were too busy (young kids), we bought transplants. In 2019, we had some tomatoes and peppers that we bought that really did poorly, so I decided to go back to grow them from seeds. So I had seeds for the garden going into the pandemic. We often buy annual flowers instead of growing them from seed as we only have so much room to start plants.
I agree with what you said about starting from seeds to get the variety you want. When you go to the garden store, the choices that they offer are basically the most common that people buy. What is offered is pretty much the same. What’cha get is what they got.
I had a bad gardening year last year. (I live in the north Florida sandbox! It's taking years to build actual soil, so discouraging!) I bought transplants this year, and made self watering bin planters, just to get an early start. It's been encouraging being able to harvest some greens a couple of weeks after I planted them. It's giving me a hope of early fruits (tomatos and zuccini) while I wait for my seeds to sprout and grow to maturity! The tomato plant I bought was very large and very expensive,but from cutting the suckers and rooting them I now have six tomato plants so far, instead of just two!
I do a bit of both~ I wanted to have some transplants to harvest earlier, and to supplement any seedlings that failed. Seems like a very smart thing to do. Turns out, it wasn't really necessary, but it made me feel safer. It's my first year of serious gardening, and everything is doing amazing..minus my peppers. Somehow they got blight, but nothing else has. Yet.
Have you ever grown ASTURIAN Tree Cabbage? It’s an incredibly prolific plant with GIANT healthy leaves, all from a tiny seed. It can live for up to two years so I sew a bed of it and we eat it all through the year. I also ferment the leaves with our onions and carrots. I haven’t had any problems with diseases or pests like cabbage whites etc. It is amazing!
This is the first year I've gone totally seeds. For economy. So far so good and it's teaching me some things I took for granted. Thanks for the video Next Level.
Whether you grow from seed or buy plants very much depends on where you live and the size of your space. When I had a large veggie garden (75 x 100') I grew everything from seed because I either canned or froze all the veggies we ate each year. I looked forward to spending my winter going over a seed catalogue deciding what to buy for the next planting season. I now live in a condo and although I have a tiny garden space I don't have room in the house to start seeds. That and I only have room for 1 tomato plant so there would be no reason to buy a pack of seeds. No-one should feel bad about buying plants at the garden centre. I really liked your tips on getting "free" plants.
I start my seeds. I get more enjoyment from doing this than buying seedlings. I had to buy a few hot peppers last year, because my first planting failed. But, I planted more seeds and they actually were better producers than the seedlings I bought. Today, I noticed my beans sprouting. Great feeling. I started having a little garden when I was eight years old way back in 1959. Still love it.
I started seeds for everything last year for the first time ever. I’m learning what I will and won’t start from seed. I appreciate a healthy start now for sure! I try to buy from the privately owned nursery (small business owner) when I purchase 😊
I focus mostly on vegetables when it comes to starting my seeds and while I do start some flowers I really find it more convenient to just buy the starts, especially for variety. Not to mention I have a tendency to forget to plant my bulbs in the fall. Lavender is another I have no shame in buying as I just don't have patience to wait for it to grow.
Separating the seedings under water? What a great tip! I grow all my vegetables from seed but every May 24th weekend my daughter and I go plant shopping at the local nursery, i grow some flowers from seed but I just don't have enough space to grow everything that I want. I live in Ontario and most things have to be started indoors. I did buy some tomatoes at the nursery a few years ago. A late unexpected frost came through and even though I put protection over them several of my tomatoes died. It was heartbreaking to see my babies all wilted and limp. I tried to recover them, but they were gone. I was thankful for the nursery that day.
Brian, just wanted to say how much I have appreciated your informative, inspiring and incredibly useful videos and how beneficial they’ve been in helping me in my gardening journey. When I started out a a gardening newbie 3 years ago when the pandemic hit, your video content were the ones I watched the most and learnt a lot from. Fast forward to today, I’m a more savvy gardener now (though no expert) with a vegetable and herb garden to call my own, and grow everything from seed or cuttings. It is a very rewarding and satisfying experience indeed having come thus far and I owe some of my tomato and chilli growing success to you. 🤩👍 While I agree that there shouldn’t be any shame from buying transplants as everyone’s gardening journey is different and that what matters is that we are growing our own food in the end, its so good that you are also advising others on alternate options to be more cost effective and get more value from their buck which is what home sustainable gardening is about. Thanks so much for helping and inspiring so many people including myself with our gardening journey and that we can take it to the ‘Next Level’ in our own way. 🙏🤩😍
I didn’t pick that up on TH-cam. But I’m going to tell you what you do you want to start your plants from seeds. Then after you start them you want to start another group 2 weeks behind them. So then you have plants no matter what. Then you can gift people with plants. Or heck sell them and make quite a bit of money at a flea market or farmers market. But here is really what you want is a grow closet. I have a duplex and I knocked out the wall between one unit and another in a closet. I made a big grow closet. Oh my goodness I grew the most beautiful plants because of the lighting and all.
I’ve always bought transplants, that’s how I learned and got started. So it’s normal for me. But I noticed it’s getting expensive so I might try seeds. Thank you for your TH-cam channel
Lots of great advice, as always :) I"ve never thought to soak clumped seedlings in water to better separate. cool tip. I am happy to buy seedlings when necessary, and so do a mix of raising my own by seed, planting seed direct (peas, beans, raddish, carrot, parsnip, beetroot for example) and shop bought seedlings.
I always buy 2-3 tomato plants, usually hybrid dwarf variety, which I'm potting and moving around depending on the weather: at night in the breezeway, outside during sunny days. They'll give me an early crop while my own tomatoes, that I'm growing from seed, are still in flower. I'm buying a full set of aromatic plants for cooking, and I'm also growing some from seed as companion plants
I totally agree that it is very satisfying to grow from seeds. But when I was younger and had a full time job, I got all my seedlings from the garden centre. Now that I am retired, I keep saving my own seeds from heirloom dark cherry tomatoes, English cucumbers, three different kinds of lettuce. These seeds are very reliable. I still buy seeds for pole beans, sugar snap peas, kohlrabi, radishes and kale. This year, the only seedlings I ended up buying from the garden centre were zucchini and cauliflower. Two years ago, I bought some fresh, locally grown hard neck garlic in the produce department of my grocery store and ever since, I have been saving enough cloves to plant directly into the ground in the middle of October. The garlic survives our harsh winters, in zone 5, without any blanket of mulch. I just cover it with chicken wire mesh so the critters would not dig it out when there is nothing else for them to eat.
@@catriamou If you don't harvest the lettuce as soon as it has formed a head, it will start bolting. That means that it will start growing tall with smaller leaves that don't taste very well. Eventually, at the end of the tall stalk, it will produce small flowers. These flowers will get pollinated and when the flowers dry up, you will see little pouches of seeds. Different lettuces have different colour seeds. Some varieties produce pale seeds, some dark brown. Pick the seeds and get rid of all the fluff from the dried up flowers. Spread the seeds on a clean dry sheet of paper and let them dry indoors for a week or two at room temperature before storing them. I make small envelopes of aluminum foil and label them with the name of the plant and the year when I picked and saved the seeds. If you were lucky enough to find seedlings of real English cucumbers and they grew well in your garden, allow 2 of those cucumbers over grow while still attached to the vine. By the end of summer, when they get big, fat, and yellow and the leaves and the vine start drying up, before the first frost, pick the matured cucumber, score it lengthwise to open it carefully. You don't want to damage the matured seeds. Scoop out the seeds and put them in a sieve. Rub the seeds gently to get rid of the jelly like sack while rinsing then under running cool water. Lay the clean seeds on a large sheet of parchment paper in a single layer with a bit of room between each seed. Let them dry for a week. Check if they got stuck to the paper. If so, get them unstuck carefully. Continue drying them at room temperature for another week or two and then store them in the labeled envelope. Tomatoes: pick the best fully ripened tomato and score it to open it. Pick out the seeds and rub off the jelly like sacks. Continue the same process as for the cucumber seeds. Some people recommend that you ferment the tomato seeds. I did an experiment where I did one bunch of tomato seeds using my own method as described above and one bunch using the fermenting method. When I planted the seeds the following spring there was absolutely no difference in the germination time, and no difference in development or quality of the plants. From that time on, I don't bother with the fermentation. Last summer, I saved seeds from tall variety of snap dragon flowers. When the seeds are ripe, you just shake them out of the pod and they will fall out freely into your hand or paper cup. I also saved lavender seeds the same way. If you shake a pod that is still partially green, the seeds will not come out. If you shake a totally dry pod and nothing comes out, it is possible that the seeds have already dropped out onto the ground. These two plants are perennial. Depending on the climate, the seeds that dropped out may germinate and grow next spring wherever they landed. I suggest that you take photos of your flower plants so when the plants seed themselves out and start growing as tiny plants, you will be able to identify them by their leaves and you will not mistake them for weeds. When the new plants have a few leaves on them, they can be transplanted or left where they are. If there are too many of them too close together, you will need to thin them out to give them more room to grow and get strong. Another very easy perennial flower is Black Eye Susan. It seeds itself. I don't need to save its seeds. All the above flowers love all day sun and regular watering. If you still need any advice, let me know what seeds you'd like to start saving from your current plants. And let me know what growing zone you live in. My growing zone is 5. We get very cold winters and pretty late spring.
@@JS-jl1yj oh my goodness gracious what a fabulous reply. THANK YOU! It’s midnight here so I will read it thoroughly tomorrow. You have no idea how grateful I am and deeply touched you spent such time helping me. I am new to this and hoping I learn well. I only have room for pots. The ground area is taken unless I can plant anything between the roses. I’m beginning to understand my late father’s love of gardening and wish I had more space!!! I truly cannot thank you enough for your kindness!!!
@@catriamou This week, I learned from a friend who lives in Central Europe, that having lavender in between rose bushes deters aphids. Early this spring, I planted a new rose bush. So I will see if my lavender really works or not. There is a variety of lavender species. Not sure if all of them act as aphid deterrent.
I had a hard time getting peppers to germinate, so I bought a couple 6 packs for $1.97 each (jalapeños & habaneros). I finally got some seeds to get going. My seed jalapeños definitely look better than the starts I bought, and I also ended up with a mystery pepper plant with the jalapeños 😂. It’s not the first time I purchased pepper X and ended up with pepper Y in the garden. It’s all fun, and I enjoy the guessing game in the garden (I have a few tomatoes that I’m not sure what they are yet since they got mixed up when my toddler tried to help). I will definitely check for root bound plants from now on. Great tip. Thanks 👍🏼
We moved from a sticks-and-bricks to fulltime RVing a few years ago. We simply don't have the room to start indoors anymore, so I did transplants this year. You are right, I definitely felt awkward about it.
I feel like a gardener no matter what. I have grown from seeds, cuttings, bare roots, bulbs, tubers, cromes, grafts, and plugs. It doesn’t matter. You still have to keep it all alive, and it’s all still cathartic
We hit the jackpot at Lowes, neglected plants for .25 each vs $4.98. All are healthy and beautiful
I always hit that section at Lowe's, sometimes finding perennials whose only fault is being past spring bloom.
Depends on your Lowe’s. Ours wouldn’t sell me the dying plants I wanted to buy to revive. Said they had to send back to the nursery for credit.
I had a lot of success with that clearance aisle myself. All sorts of plants that I had nursed back to health and now are adorning my home.
@@Flying_Doodle_Homestead
Lowe's always has a discount section in the back with lots of dying plants they don't even bother to water anymore.
I’ve bought roses and strawberry plants that were near death. I saved them and they are blossoming now. 😊
I’ve never heard “you’re not a gardener, if …” from anywhere. I believe gardening is gardening, regardless how you start.
Totally agree.
If you can put a seed in the ground and it grows into a plant, you are a gardener 😂❤
I used to buy transplants. Some of the garden was transplants like celery tomatoes and peppers but everything else I grew from seed. I just moved onto my 5 acre homestead and started all my plants from seed. It's such a rewarding feeling to be able to see my hard work pay off. I also don't care if someone thinks I'm a "real" gardener or not. Nor do I care if it's a transplanted or grown myself from seed. All that matters is that I have food growing. When harvest comes that's what counts.
Yeah, the plants you mentioned need longer and in places like here (Michigan), you really have to start them early. Until very recently, I didn't have a place to start them that wouldn't be destroyed by children or animals. If I wanted to grow them, I had to buy transplants! I do prefer to get them from private parties or plant shows, rather than to get them from big box stores, but that's mostly because of the difference in cost. ❤
@@Crazychickenlady448Children and pets depend on you to know right from wrong. It's your job to teach them to leave things alone that they have no business touching. I absolutely cannot stand adults who always blame children when it's literally your job to show them the right way, at all times, in all cases.
@@AmysAttitude Wait, my comment on saying it's ok to buy transplants suddenly turned into an accusation of me being a bad mother? Ok, fine, bad mother I am then. I don't blame kids fir being kids, nor do I blame my cats for being curious klutzes. I was simply pointing out that it was difficult to start plants from seed successfully.
Amy certainly does have an attitude.... sometimes the space that children and animals take up leaves little room for shelves of seedlings... not everyone is as gloriously perfect as you.@@AmysAttitude
I used transplants this year as well as had seedlings in my greenhouse planted around Mother’s Day. I do container gardening. I have more seedlings almost ready to plant in my greenhouse.
I don’t have any space to grow from seed and I’m in zone 7. So I have to buy transplants. I’m proud to support a local business and still grow food in my garden 🪴.
I use to live in a zone 4, with 3 roomates. From my small bedroom I could grow about 30-60 plants. I then offer them to my mother for her garden and keep only 10 of them.
If there's a will, there's a way. I did it with Kratky method, so almost no manipulation and no watering. 100% easy success!
I'm an advocate for "rescuing" plants from the garden centers at stores. I saw some pepper plants starting to get attacked by aphids at my grocery store. I rescued them and took care of the aphids. One pepper plant is loaded with peppers. The Habanero plant is taking a bit longer to put on fruit but the hot ones are usually slow growers in my experience. People buying plants from the stores aren't cheating, they are rescuing plants from a horrible demise of neglect and becoming stunted from living in a tiny pot.
Almost every plant I ever get from a chain store is rootbound. I'm new to vegetable gardening though and noticed the tomato plants from Walmart seem to be diseased or something, I'm trying to salvage them though
I also am a plant rescuer! I rescued an orchid plant from Walmart clearance section last year and it just bloomed today! So rewarding! I always have several "patients" recovering in my plant hospital in my kitchen window.
Me too. I bought a sad looking chocolate crackles tomoto. Put in 70ltre bag of tomotoe mix, buried up to leaf tops. Now it's a picture of health and producing the most delicious black cherry size tomotoe in grape-like bunches. And they are delicious!
Yep all my plants are rescues and they are beautifully healthy now.
I too, am a rescuer. My best one was a W. mart tomato plant that I knew if it did not find a home and soon it was going to get root bound and just wither away. I got it to the counter and I knew this was a $16 plant but she was beautiful and needed a bigger pot of she was going to stay in a container. I get there and there is no barcode to ring her up. The manager was super frustrated ( apparently this is a common problem in the garden center of that w. Mart) she went searching for the tomato on their system and could only find the small started plant....this plant was about five foot tall and fruiting heavily. I told her the price and she gave it to me for the price of the small starter ($3.99)
That plant produced well past the end of summer into late fall and earned the name Audrey ( little shop of horrors joke in the house) and then we found volunteer tomatoes around the potting site the next spring ( Audrey 2 lol). She was the gift that kept giving once she got room to stretch her roots more
I get my seedlings from an Amish nursery down the street from my home. They are super cheap, hardy/healthy, and they have a huge selection! I buy them in the 4 and 6 packs.
Some of us simply don’t have the space in our homes, and the extra money, to start seedlings indoors. In Texas we get a warm early spring, so I just started my seeds outdoors. Then the wind came up…
My problem too, up in Oklahoma. Our locals said wait til at least Easter to harden off... and that's when tornado season started 😂
I am not an experienced gardener, but enjoy seeing what can grow. I have started my seeds indoors for a few years. I use empty water bottles cut in half, put some potting soil in, then seeds and then some more potting soil. I put the top half of the bottle back on and tape the sides so if it gets knocked over, there isn't such a big mess. I take a piece of scrap paper and label the bottles. Take the water bottle top off, then put them in the window. If you have a double pane window it helps to create a hot house/greenhouse. I have also started seeds on my dining room table. Plant the seeds then take a clear container, like a storage container for food, clothes, etc. and put it on top. The seeds started at about the same time as the ones in the window. Hope this helps and happy gardening. ❤❤❤
I was about an hour away from going to the garden center to buy my plants, feeling guilty, when I saw your video. Constructing my new raised beds and filling them took quite a lot longer than I expected and I hadn't started seeds as yet. But your advise was a great help and I'm looking forward to filling up the beds with lots of new plants, no guilt!
I look for extras. Something else to add, if buying herbs. In the garden center at Walmart they were selling one basil plant for $4.89(?), I went to the produce section and in the pots there, there were a good 10 plants and they were $3 and change.
Crazy, ain't it? Good to know that sometimes, the better deal on a plant is in the GROCERY section.
That's what I did last year I had a couple of basil plants that I bought in the produce section and put them in one big pot outside.
Im glad people helped people. 🎉😮
I live in an apartment and if I have any dirt in my apartment to grow seeds in or potting soil, these little bugs come in and get it and everything. I bought lettuce plants and I’ve been enjoying fresh lettuce for two months now.❤
I do both - growing from seeds, and transplants. We are Canadians who spend the winter in Florida. By the time we get back North, it is too late to start a number of veggies from seeds. So I am very happy to do transplants for those. I start the the faster growing ones from seeds. It works for me. I feel I have the best of both worlds.
I have tricky clay soil and have only been officially gardening a few years. Transplants have helped a lot. This year I did get brave and started seeds inside - so far lettuce, peas and marigolds are now growing in the garden. I did buy tomatoes and sweet potatoes so wish me luck!
Excellent info. My grandfather was a farmer all his life. What he grew he grew by seed. Except one veggie. He always bought tomato plants.
Real gardeners only grow from seeds, hand water, raise their own chickens, carp, and kelp for fertilizer, turn their own compost, and hand till the soil. ! Gardeners come in all types. IMHO, if you do somewhat more than visit the grocery store for all your produce/fruit, and a shop for cut flowers then you're a real gardener! Plus maybe the occasional dirty hands or gloves are a good sign.
😂You're funny. If what you said about being a" real gardener" is true, I don't want to be one😂 I like getting plants from kitchen scraps they are the real free plants. You just eat the food than plant.😂😂
Definitely gloves... I got an infection in my finger from a poke that was so slight that I barely noticed it & it didn't even bleed, so I thought that it didn't break the skin.
Incorrect. REAL gardeners raise their own fish to turn into fertiliser. 😄
@@TheChardygirl007 In the pond that you dug yourself, of course. By hand 😂
@@dscully7725 stop peeking over my fence! 🤣
OmG you are so right. The "oh...you're not using seeds?" When I'm in the garden center, nursery or box store is a real thing. I live in the DC metro area and winter told Spring to "hold my beer" and the last known frost was frosting waaaaaaay past mid April. So I did start seeds indoors but I also bought some multi-packs of some Spring items to help me get my garden going.
My attitude is, I'm the one tending it so it's all good. If anyone has an issue? I ask, so how about that late frost we had?? And they slink their judgy butts away.
It's gardening! Enjoy it!!
Sheesh!
*steps off soapbox, struts away*
Live in the NYC metro area it feels like we didn't have a spring.
loved your post, "Winter told Spring."🤣 Here in Ohio, there was a week when Winter, Spring and Summer all showed up to the Garden Party. One at a time please!
😂
You are hilarious I love your spirit
@@MessodyKadosh I know! What was up with that!?
I love a variety of Cherry Tomato called Husky Cherry Red. I find them at Home Depot and I look at each container and I can usually find a few that have extra plants growing in them😁 This year one container had 3 plants in it and the other had two so I didn’t feel quite as bad paying $5 per container❤️
Thank you Brian. I never thought about dunking the multiple transplants in water to separate them. Perfect. No damaging the roots.
Love that way to separate them
i like that you asked about "taboo" or "snobbery" for seeds vs transplants. i think most of us try our best to start from seed. it is a pride issue. we want to do it. but if you aren't a full time stay at home gardener, sometimes you revert to transplants. in my honest opinion, what i find lacking is teaching videos on where things failed! because they will. i am not a full time stay at home gardener, so i appreciate tips and tricks from those who are, and also see what failed, because if they failed, chances are i might too. i am less discouraged to try then. i will take more chances growing a 100 seed packet at cost of $1 seed vs a $5 plant. it is a good feeling to grow and care for something you wanted and you will use and eat and enjoy. that is the most important thing. you can do it, but you will fail sometimes. important to teach yourself why things went wrong
I will admit to buying 6 packs, my first year. The wife volunteered me to start "our" garden. But in my second year I came to the conclusion I would go broke with the size of garden I wanted. As a budget gardener it just made sense to get some led shop lights and some seeds. I will say that it is a wonderful thing to see little seedlings pop up in Feb-March when there is snow on the ground outside. That alone would be enough to start from seed.
Just saw my local farmer's market has transplants for 5 bucks and under. I think I'll pick some up this weekend to fill out my yard.
I have been gardening for 45 years always trying to learn and improve. I live in the PNW and contending with slugs, snails, and birds can be daunting. Some things I buy transplants and for others I grow from seed. Presently, I work in the nursery at my local Coastal store and I am constantly gleaning from my customers. No shame either way. Just get your hands dirty!
Yakima girl here!
Yup. I absolutely love growing from seed but I will never grow strawberries, lavender or rosemary from seed again. It’s just not worth my time. 😏
Ps. I lived in Seattle until 2013. I miss it so much!
Oregon here, the snails and slugs are ridiculous this year!! I have an over abundance of both! Lol.
Slugs hate marigolds. Use those for a border around your garden. Deters slugs & attracts polinators
Absolutely ❤
I really enjoy your videos. I know this video is almost 2 years old, but it's still pertinent today. I live in a retirement community, and I've had to grow my tomatoes in fabric grow bags . Last year, I did extremely well! BUT, I didn't have a seed starting station setup at that time and was forced to buy my plants from starts at the local big box stores. I ended up buying around 15 starts at an average cost of about $8 each for the plants I put in my grow bag garden last year!! That's $120 for my plants! Yhis year I got smart and put together a small indoor seed starting station. With everything I needed, grow lights plant trays, and a nice 4 foot adjustable steel shelf unit I'm into everything about $200. Yes, more than I spent for starts last year, but when I spread it out of several years I'll be much less expensive. Plus I'm planning on selling some starts to help recoup some of my initial outlay! I'll also be able to start 100's of plants to share with family and friends, and my cost each year will be to buy a few packages of seeds, and those seeds will remain viable for at least a few years. I really appreciate all the tips and tricks that you and others have taught me about seed starting here on TH-cam. 😊
You can take a small sucker stem off tomato and transplant that in dirt or start in water. Can get several sucker stems off one tomato plants
@@jrae6608 Did not know that, thanks!
A German here, did i just hear Sauerkraut? Thats so stereotypical of you, i love it :-D Great Channel btw
I didn’t know about that technique for separating plants!! Brilliant!
Some of my favorite spring plants are the volunteers. I get a lot of them here in zone 9a. I even have a tomato that started itself last year and it's still producing.
More and more nurseries are having fewer and fewer six packs. They sure know how to make $$$. I sometimes get live basil from the grocery store and seperate, also, when they get taller I’ll cut them back, remove most leaves and put in water to root. I totally agree with you on going smaller with 6 packs. They actually grow way better for me than the bigger 4-6 inch pots
I love seeing your videos. I’ve been gardening since childhood. I gained my love of dirt through 3 of my grandparents & my dad. Now my children & grandchildren have the passion too, along with all my siblings. I love changing my tactics & methods with new things I learn & I thank you for that.
I see it this way: If I start waaaay too many tomatoes and peppers and give the extras to a few fellow gardeners because I ran out of space to keep them, thats fine. I'm one step removed from a professional nursery. The only difference is that nurseries/stores get money for the same thing, I get a plate of cookies for payment.
Great video! I mainly do transplants due to time and space, however I almost never buy from Lowe’s or Home Depot. I buy from a local family-owned nursery that offers A LOT of variety! Much cheaper than the big box stores and my yield has been off the charts! Plus I’m supporting a small business and that’s always a goal of mine. I definitely want to get started with doing more seedlings though. Just need to get the right setup so I have the space and the time to take care of them. 🙌🏼🙌🏼♥️
I go to the local farm market and buy some plants from them. They have (like you said), multiple plants in the packs.. I started some seeds inside and put them next to the sliding door window. They are doing great too.. Although, sometimes my cats get into mischief and will play and throw the dirt all over the floor in my kitchen.. Plants survived.!! It’s all good.
I love the seed starting process! Makes me almost instantly proud of our progress!! ♥️♥️
The other reason I buy starts - small garden, just me, and I don't NEED a whole bunch of anything. 1 or 2 of just about anything I am wanting to grow is plenty. But I will look for and separate those pots with multiples!
I buy from garden centers and start from seeds. The variety available at garden centers is very limited. I have 4 types of tomatoes I started from seed. Varieties not available at a garden center. Plus your videos on how to do this have helped me along the way, tremendous help! The fertilizer you recommended is amazing!
I started growing from seed last year because I needed 150 petunias, and the cost would have been prohibited if I had to buy transplants. Also could not find eggplants or okra transplants. OMG everything grew!! I only have 4 shelves w heating mats that I have in my dining room ( which now looks like botanic gardens) This year I also started more veggies. Again germination was 90+%!! I do need to adjust when I start seeds because some things got too big, too fast. But I have found friends who also start from seed and now share. Love your show. From Denver...
I started all my tomatoes and peppers from seed and I was so proud at how well they did! 2 days after I moved them out to my high tunnel, the rooster scratched them all up! Ack! Luckily I had the money to replace the destroyed plants with starts from Lowes. Phew. Crisis averted! Cost me $130, but i learned a couple of good lessons. 😊
Thank you so much Brian! As a third year gardener I really need the specific instructions (separating the seedlings!!) the more detail the better for me you have helped me so much! Love from 9b sonoma.
This was the first time I started all my seeds. It was so much fun and gave me something to do late winter and early spring. Not sure my husband appreciated plants all over the house for so long. But he will when he eats everything ! Lol
I never knew you could put them in water to loosen them. Always learning something new!!
I too am glad you are talking about this topic. Not everyone has the space or time to do a seed starting station. I’m teaching my DD with special needs to garden, and even when we do start seeds, she wants immediate results and transplants help with this. Shopping for deals is so rewarding.
I used the core of the cabbage put it in water suspenders with toothpicks in core 1”water until you have roots divided your core by plant and roots put in ground I got 5 plants 1 core
I'm still going through the growing pains of learning to start some plants from seed, but at the big box stores here plants were 4.50 per plant for say tomatoes each so i went to an Amish farm and got 36 plants for $20 and a few other things next week i will make a trip back to get herb plants for my wife's inside herb "garden" until i get better at raising my own from seed and maybe i will let some go to seed so i don't have to buy so many seeds, great tips on getting transplants from a garden center
Growing from seed is a labor of love and not for the faint of heart. I love it personally (I find it life affirming/optimistic 🥰) but I’ve also seen a lot of pro-seed-only channels poo poo nursery starts without considering that not everybody has the kind of extra time and attention is takes to grow from seed.
I'm glad you broached this topic! I usually start all of my own veggies, but found 6 packs of various hot peppers for sale at .29c per 6 pack,as well as cabbage and other things I didn't start on my own. Felt a little sheepish, but 29c for 6 Habanero? Yes! I bought many and felt I was 'saving them' as it was end of June so would hqve hit the compost! Also found a Tradescantia Zebrina for 29c which is now a houseplant and has been propegated indoors into 4 new plants! I prefer to grow from seed, but there is no shame in buying good quality seedlings! 💚 Have an awesome weekend! 🌻
Yes, thank you much! I really don't have space to start seeds.
Where on earth can you find plants for 0.29 cents?
👍🏼😃
@@juneramirez8580 yes yes yesss please share.
I also did a video on smart shopping tips when buying plants. He is right on
I consider myself a Gardener, simply because I’ve gardened for 40 years in Oregon, and now am expanding my knowledge in my new home ( & creating all new garden beds) in SE Texas. I’ve failed many times, lost plants to environmental and personal error, completely redesigned large OR yard three times over the decades. Experienced yes, great gardener no but determined! Also haven’t been very successful (yet) with seeds but I keep trying! Love your videos, Thanks! JT
Yes, I’ve felt a little embarrassed to start with transplants instead of seeds. Multiple health problems caused me to start too late for seeds this year, but I really wanted to start a garden and begin learning, so I did transplants into containers. I didn’t know how easy it was to divide, or I could have gotten a little more bang for my buck. Great tips. Thank you!
Hope you're doing better
I am. Thank you.
If you leave a few of each plant to go to seed, you’ll be able to collect it and have seed for next season.
Keep on growing honey !!!! You are doing great !!!
Never thought about putting them in water to separate the roots. Brillante. I can do that for some of the annual flowers I buy. Also never thought of adding potting soil to the soil to help them get a better start, that makes sense. As always, thanks for the great tips.
Yes. I have picked that up on TH-cam. Most TH-camrs act like everything must come from seeds and/or special seeds you have sought out or with a story.
I start many things, especially veggies, from seeds. Such a pleasure looking through the seed catalogues and imagining my garden full of flowers and veggies! Because my garden is small, though, I look for smaller version of veggies and try not to overdo things. But there's no denying the guilty pleasure of going to the nursery and checking out the beautiful displays of flowers and spending too much money.
I buy transplants, to have an instant garden, and then I plant seeds to fill in the gaps. Last year I bought a 6-pack of leeks and after very carefully seperating them I ended up with 47. Its been leek-a-mania this spring. I have dried them, powdered them, given them away and my husband has taken them to work (he is a chef). I have basil in a pot, I have rooted cuttings and replanted and then added seeds to have more plants.
Thank you for the tips! I started my seeds late so I bought a few transplants for my vertical planter to get some earlier tomatoes and peppers. I really liked the idea of separating the seedlings in water to make it easier to get them apart, and the ways to save money.
I struggled with seeds at first then found a few years of success with transplants and that allowed me to learn about my plants’ needs and growing habits! Now I start almost everything with winter sowing, and I hardly ever buy transplants. But I love your list of why they’re so useful.
I had an incident and needed to start from scratch. I thought about buying from a store (and wouldn't judge anyone who would) but I had some really special plants I was growing and I was extremely excited to have the final product so I started over from seed. Bonnie is considered a local company where I'm at so I can usually find pots with multiple plants in them and I definitely look for them but I definitely understand where the 1 plant for like 7$ isn't worth it.
I brought a 6 pack of mangetout and got 18 seedlings from over seeding, what a bonus, they are all lovely and growing well too.
I hope you get your garden going again before the film crew comes in! Such a shame you have had issues but it's fantastic to be able to learn how to deal with the various issues
Mangetout! I had to look it up! We call them snow peas.
@@anneramirez9577 that's really interesting, im beginning to find we have a lot of our own terms and names for things in the UK! It's like with Zucchini I had to look that one up we call them Courgettes 😅
At age 56 - I finally figured out how to make my own transplants ! 1st the prices of everything is going up daily / weekly -
Thank goodness i purchased all my heat mats & led lights in December 2021 -
Now i have varities of all kinds of veggies -
Not just like 2 or 3 tomatoes or 4 peppers -
I even had a plant sale ( gave alot away to help my community )
It made me feel so good -
Here in Montgomery County, Texas
Even Gas is at $4.39
A dozen of eggs at aldis was $2.47 ( we are looking into getting chickens soon )
Im 56 - my husband is 58 and he is still working -
Thank goodness we almost have our home paid off as food alone is truly hurting us ...
God bless you all and i pray everyone starts GROWING .....
Mrs Josette Tharp
Texas 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Here in SoCal dozen brown eggs is at $6.00 and a gallon of gas is at $6.69. Thanks, Brandon!😡
@@gb9276 a fellow sufferer here in SoCal. Outrageous prices. Not sure how young newly employed are surging this storm I live too far from Costco to make their lower price for gas work. Grrrrrrrrr
Yep, I've felt a bit embarrassed buying starts but I've gotten over it if I find a great deal or "just can't wait". Thanks again for your great tips and for giving us permission to garden the way we want to. God Bless you.
You sound so good I wish we can be friends
I start from seeds, bulbs and starts. I went to a store that carries everything. I was shocked and saw several racks of free plants. I got several of them. Some were flowers and others were vegetables. Some were near death. Some ended up saving some. Some didn’t make it. I don’t mind transplants. Sometimes I don’t have time to get seeds started.
I replanted my seed 3 times! Fungus gnats were my problem. So I bit the bullet and got cheap 6 packs of peppers. $2.49 a 6 pack so not bad. But we m frugal, that’s my main motivator for seeding. Second is pride.
Making cuttings from the right types of plants are also a way to extend the purchase. Some root really well just in soil and some in a jar of water. Can add rootone hormone at the cut bottom tip to aid in root growing but not all things require that.
Excellent advice.
Yes, ive done this with tomatoes.
Every sucker I take off my tomatoes gets potted up and shared with friends.
@@annienewman8312 same
I have about 200 sq ft of veggie garden but have no good indoor space to start seeds (I have done so in the past for plants I can't find locally). So I generally buy plants such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplant which gives me more variety than I could get with seeds. I still direct seed in the garden things like beans, squash, chard, etc. For transplants, I used to find 6-packs, then they went to 4-packs for the same price. Now ONE plant is the same price or more!!! And a packet of seeds for $2.99 or more! I do look for containers with more than one plant when possible; however, I have seen nothing as lush and healthy as those you show here. I've purchased annuals and house plants from the "almost dead" discount rack at Lowes, which is always feels like victory! Gardening used to be for poor people, now, with plants, soil amendments, a truck-load of compost, irrigation, etc. we are growing the six hundred dollar tomato!
I have zero shame getting transplants. It saves me time and I learned to overwinter my favorite plants so I can get many years out of them. Mostly blueberry and tobacco peppers.
I use both transplants and seeds. Love them both and don’t care hearing anything from anyone with a problem from that. It works for me and that is all I care about. You do you and I’ll do me I say. Keep up the good work.
One of the things I picked up was anti garden centers due to that taking away from mom and pop shops who can’t afford to sell so cheap AND small shops have better options that are healthy and catered too. Garden centers really do kill so much.
Freakin' great tips! I never thought about using a bucket of water to tease the starts apart! I can't believe I never thought of it either. 🤣 Thank you so much!
You're welcome! They practically fall apart
Yeah I thought that was genius and why I didn't think of that lol
@@rawwillpower4408 - Right?!? 😝
Same! Super smart!
I'm in Southern Ontario, Canada, and on Victoria Day weekend (aka May 2-4) our local Horticultural Society holds a plant sale annually. It usually has perennials split from the members gardens, but they had a few veggies too. I almost had a polite canadian fight for the last tomatoes! I had to replace some damaged/dead seedlings of mine. But I also found a few things for my flower garden. But I do have a couple of veggie gaps left I'll go to the center for.
Happy Spring Gardening!
Love the tip about putting plant in water to gently nudge the seedlings apart. That has always been such an issue for me. Thanks!
save seeds from your veggies and fruits/put them in envelope (refrigerate, esp cherry seeds)/mark them and date/plant for free. Been doing this for fifty years. Over winter if veggies going bad, throw them into flowerbeds/ volunteers come up early and are hardy. plant fruit trees from seeds too. chestnuts/ black walnuts/etc. works well.
Good tips. I’ve separated plants before but you taught me something today to dip it in water to help separate the roots. Thank you
You’re on spot, Brian. WHERE you buy plants is important. My tomatoes, lettuce and green beans from Rogers Garden in Newport Beach, CA, are growing well because they only sell quality healthy plants. I love Home Depot but their vegetable plants haven’t met my expectations.
OMG ! Dunk the seedlings in water to remove the dirt and separate the roots !!!!!!! Best tip for me at the moment.. Thankyou !
My Dad buys the 6 packs and ALWAYS looks for multiples. And the water bucket separation, so simple but hadn't thought of it. I dumped a bunch of basil seeds in a single area by mistake and I'll be separating them with the water bucket in a few weeks.
Pesto!
I'm in my forth year of veg gardening and I have figured out some plants do better from plugs, and others from seed, and this varies depending on the time of year. Also, if you only want to grow a few of one thing but don't want to use up limited time and space with seed trays, sometimes better to get plugs.
We can't plant until early to mid-June. I buy both garden center items and I plant seeds. I have seen a lot of the push on TH-cam videos to grow your own from seed like you mentioned, but your views are the ones I pay most attention to!
This time of year... go check your grocery store produce dept... basil inside was like 2.99 for 12 little plants like you showed...vs the bonnie plant outside the same size pot was 5.98! My kids told me I was genius when I showed them... as we were talking about it a lady heard me talking and grabbed one and thanked me for my "knowledge" lol
I have picked that up too. I always used to buy my transplant because I worked full time 12 hour shifts. Now I’m retired and have time for the fun of starting my own. It’s still gardening. We pit way too much pressure on ourselves. I say garden however you can and need to!
Seedlings are so much work; care, time, watering. Don’t expect to cover your costs and time, it’s dedication, and the pleasure of giving beautiful green bushy seedlings 🌱to friends 🌶 Also, you have the patience of an angel, I would’ve planted that whole rootbound basil in the same hole! 😄
While I started most of my spring plants from seed for the varieties and the gardener growth challenge, I find no shame in buying starts. I started 8 varieties of tomatoes from seed but purchased 2 new varieties as starts because they we're beautiful plants, cost friendly and they helped me get a jump on my succession planting. I also purchased strawberry starts because I failed at starting them from bare root.
I'm excited to see you shopped at my favorite San Diego local nursery Walter Anderson's. I can't say enough about the support and service they offer to gardeners of all levels plus free garden classes.
We’ve done both. Especially in years where we were too busy (young kids), we bought transplants. In 2019, we had some tomatoes and peppers that we bought that really did poorly, so I decided to go back to grow them from seeds. So I had seeds for the garden going into the pandemic. We often buy annual flowers instead of growing them from seed as we only have so much room to start plants.
I agree with what you said about starting from seeds to get the variety you want. When you go to the garden store, the choices that they offer are basically the most common that people buy. What is offered is pretty much the same. What’cha get is what they got.
I had a bad gardening year last year. (I live in the north Florida sandbox! It's taking years to build actual soil, so discouraging!) I bought transplants this year, and made self watering bin planters, just to get an early start. It's been encouraging being able to harvest some greens a couple of weeks after I planted them. It's giving me a hope of early fruits (tomatos and zuccini) while I wait for my seeds to sprout and grow to maturity!
The tomato plant I bought was very large and very expensive,but from cutting the suckers and rooting them I now have six tomato plants so far, instead of just two!
I do a bit of both~ I wanted to have some transplants to harvest earlier, and to supplement any seedlings that failed. Seems like a very smart thing to do. Turns out, it wasn't really necessary, but it made me feel safer. It's my first year of serious gardening, and everything is doing amazing..minus my peppers. Somehow they got blight, but nothing else has. Yet.
Have you ever grown ASTURIAN Tree Cabbage? It’s an incredibly prolific plant with GIANT healthy leaves, all from a tiny seed. It can live for up to two years so I sew a bed of it and we eat it all through the year. I also ferment the leaves with our onions and carrots. I haven’t had any problems with diseases or pests like cabbage whites etc. It is amazing!
This is the first year I've gone totally seeds. For economy. So far so good and it's teaching me some things I took for granted. Thanks for the video Next Level.
Whether you grow from seed or buy plants very much depends on where you live and the size of your space. When I had a large veggie garden (75 x 100') I grew everything from seed because I either canned or froze all the veggies we ate each year. I looked forward to spending my winter going over a seed catalogue deciding what to buy for the next planting season. I now live in a condo and although I have a tiny garden space I don't have room in the house to start seeds. That and I only have room for 1 tomato plant so there would be no reason to buy a pack of seeds. No-one should feel bad about buying plants at the garden centre. I really liked your tips on getting "free" plants.
I start my seeds. I get more enjoyment from doing this than buying seedlings. I had to buy a few hot peppers last year, because my first planting failed. But, I planted more seeds and they actually were better producers than the seedlings I bought. Today, I noticed my beans sprouting. Great feeling.
I started having a little garden when I was eight years old way back in 1959. Still love it.
Happy you have figured out your compost problem, and sounds like it should be a quick fix!!
I started seeds for everything last year for the first time ever. I’m learning what I will and won’t start from seed. I appreciate a healthy start now for sure! I try to buy from the privately owned nursery (small business owner) when I purchase 😊
What’s your favorite plants you grow on your garden
I focus mostly on vegetables when it comes to starting my seeds and while I do start some flowers I really find it more convenient to just buy the starts, especially for variety. Not to mention I have a tendency to forget to plant my bulbs in the fall. Lavender is another I have no shame in buying as I just don't have patience to wait for it to grow.
Loved your work with the basil plants. I had no idea and usually planted the entire clump together. Thanks!!! Rod. Peoria, AZ
Separating the seedings under water? What a great tip! I grow all my vegetables from seed but every May 24th weekend my daughter and I go plant shopping at the local nursery, i grow some flowers from seed but I just don't have enough space to grow everything that I want. I live in Ontario and most things have to be started indoors. I did buy some tomatoes at the nursery a few years ago. A late unexpected frost came through and even though I put protection over them several of my tomatoes died. It was heartbreaking to see my babies all wilted and limp. I tried to recover them, but they were gone. I was thankful for the nursery that day.
Brian, just wanted to say how much I have appreciated your informative, inspiring and incredibly useful videos and how beneficial they’ve been in helping me in my gardening journey. When I started out a a gardening newbie 3 years ago when the pandemic hit, your video content were the ones I watched the most and learnt a lot from. Fast forward to today, I’m a more savvy gardener now (though no expert) with a vegetable and herb garden to call my own, and grow everything from seed or cuttings. It is a very rewarding and satisfying experience indeed having come thus far and I owe some of my tomato and chilli growing success to you. 🤩👍 While I agree that there shouldn’t be any shame from buying transplants as everyone’s gardening journey is different and that what matters is that we are growing our own food in the end, its so good that you are also advising others on alternate options to be more cost effective and get more value from their buck which is what home sustainable gardening is about. Thanks so much for helping and inspiring so many people including myself with our gardening journey and that we can take it to the ‘Next Level’ in our own way. 🙏🤩😍
I didn’t pick that up on TH-cam. But I’m going to tell you what you do you want to start your plants from seeds. Then after you start them you want to start another group 2 weeks behind them. So then you have plants no matter what. Then you can gift people with plants. Or heck sell them and make quite a bit of money at a flea market or farmers market. But here is really what you want is a grow closet. I have a duplex and I knocked out the wall between one unit and another in a closet. I made a big grow closet. Oh my goodness I grew the most beautiful plants because of the lighting and all.
I’ve always bought transplants, that’s how I learned and got started. So it’s normal for me. But I noticed it’s getting expensive so I might try seeds.
Thank you for your TH-cam channel
Lots of great advice, as always :) I"ve never thought to soak clumped seedlings in water to better separate. cool tip. I am happy to buy seedlings when necessary, and so do a mix of raising my own by seed, planting seed direct (peas, beans, raddish, carrot, parsnip, beetroot for example) and shop bought seedlings.
I always buy 2-3 tomato plants, usually hybrid dwarf variety, which I'm potting and moving around depending on the weather: at night in the breezeway, outside during sunny days. They'll give me an early crop while my own tomatoes, that I'm growing from seed, are still in flower. I'm buying a full set of aromatic plants for cooking, and I'm also growing some from seed as companion plants
I totally agree that it is very satisfying to grow from seeds. But when I was younger and had a full time job, I got all my seedlings from the garden centre. Now that I am retired, I keep saving my own seeds from heirloom dark cherry tomatoes, English cucumbers, three different kinds of lettuce. These seeds are very reliable. I still buy seeds for pole beans, sugar snap peas, kohlrabi, radishes and kale. This year, the only seedlings I ended up buying from the garden centre were zucchini and cauliflower. Two years ago, I bought some fresh, locally grown hard neck garlic in the produce department of my grocery store and ever since, I have been saving enough cloves to plant directly into the ground in the middle of October. The garlic survives our harsh winters, in zone 5, without any blanket of mulch. I just cover it with chicken wire mesh so the critters would not dig it out when there is nothing else for them to eat.
Hello 👋
I’m new to gardening. How do you save seeds for next year? My father was an avid gardener. Wish I had sat by his side and learned
@@catriamou If you don't harvest the lettuce as soon as it has formed a head, it will start bolting. That means that it will start growing tall with smaller leaves that don't taste very well. Eventually, at the end of the tall stalk, it will produce small flowers. These flowers will get pollinated and when the flowers dry up, you will see little pouches of seeds. Different lettuces have different colour seeds. Some varieties produce pale seeds, some dark brown. Pick the seeds and get rid of all the fluff from the dried up flowers. Spread the seeds on a clean dry sheet of paper and let them dry indoors for a week or two at room temperature before storing them. I make small envelopes of aluminum foil and label them with the name of the plant and the year when I picked and saved the seeds. If you were lucky enough to find seedlings of real English cucumbers and they grew well in your garden, allow 2 of those cucumbers over grow while still attached to the vine. By the end of summer, when they get big, fat, and yellow and the leaves and the vine start drying up, before the first frost, pick the matured cucumber, score it lengthwise to open it carefully. You don't want to damage the matured seeds. Scoop out the seeds and put them in a sieve. Rub the seeds gently to get rid of the jelly like sack while rinsing then under running cool water. Lay the clean seeds on a large sheet of parchment paper in a single layer with a bit of room between each seed. Let them dry for a week. Check if they got stuck to the paper. If so, get them unstuck carefully. Continue drying them at room temperature for another week or two and then store them in the labeled envelope. Tomatoes: pick the best fully ripened tomato and score it to open it. Pick out the seeds and rub off the jelly like sacks. Continue the same process as for the cucumber seeds. Some people recommend that you ferment the tomato seeds. I did an experiment where I did one bunch of tomato seeds using my own method as described above and one bunch using the fermenting method. When I planted the seeds the following spring there was absolutely no difference in the germination time, and no difference in development or quality of the plants. From that time on, I don't bother with the fermentation. Last summer, I saved seeds from tall variety of snap dragon flowers. When the seeds are ripe, you just shake them out of the pod and they will fall out freely into your hand or paper cup. I also saved lavender seeds the same way. If you shake a pod that is still partially green, the seeds will not come out. If you shake a totally dry pod and nothing comes out, it is possible that the seeds have already dropped out onto the ground. These two plants are perennial. Depending on the climate, the seeds that dropped out may germinate and grow next spring wherever they landed. I suggest that you take photos of your flower plants so when the plants seed themselves out and start growing as tiny plants, you will be able to identify them by their leaves and you will not mistake them for weeds. When the new plants have a few leaves on them, they can be transplanted or left where they are. If there are too many of them too close together, you will need to thin them out to give them more room to grow and get strong. Another very easy perennial flower is Black Eye Susan. It seeds itself. I don't need to save its seeds. All the above flowers love all day sun and regular watering. If you still need any advice, let me know what seeds you'd like to start saving from your current plants. And let me know what growing zone you live in. My growing zone is 5. We get very cold winters and pretty late spring.
@@JS-jl1yj oh my goodness gracious what a fabulous reply. THANK YOU! It’s midnight here so I will read it thoroughly tomorrow. You have no idea how grateful I am and deeply touched you spent such time helping me. I am new to this and hoping I learn well. I only have room for pots. The ground area is taken unless I can plant anything between the roses. I’m beginning to understand my late father’s love of gardening and wish I had more space!!! I truly cannot thank you enough for your kindness!!!
@@catriamou This week, I learned from a friend who lives in Central Europe, that having lavender in between rose bushes deters aphids. Early this spring, I planted a new rose bush. So I will see if my lavender really works or not. There is a variety of lavender species. Not sure if all of them act as aphid deterrent.
Hey! It's nice to see your still here and sharing!!
I feel like if it produces or survives I did a fantastic job. 🤣
Word!
Me too😅
Same ! If I can keep it alive I feel totally satisfied !!
I had a hard time getting peppers to germinate, so I bought a couple 6 packs for $1.97 each (jalapeños & habaneros). I finally got some seeds to get going. My seed jalapeños definitely look better than the starts I bought, and I also ended up with a mystery pepper plant with the jalapeños 😂. It’s not the first time I purchased pepper X and ended up with pepper Y in the garden. It’s all fun, and I enjoy the guessing game in the garden (I have a few tomatoes that I’m not sure what they are yet since they got mixed up when my toddler tried to help). I will definitely check for root bound plants from now on. Great tip.
Thanks 👍🏼
I start some rare vegetables from seeds, buy some seedlings and I’m experimenting with over wintering. Thanks for all your videos.
We moved from a sticks-and-bricks to fulltime RVing a few years ago. We simply don't have the room to start indoors anymore, so I did transplants this year. You are right, I definitely felt awkward about it.