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Old 10-02-2003, 05:55 AM
Joseph A. Zupko
 
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Default Mail order plants Any problems?

Anyone experience with buying veggie plants through mail order? What places
are more reliable?





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Old 10-02-2003, 05:55 AM
Sunflower
 
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Default Mail order plants Any problems?


"Joseph A. Zupko" wrote in message
t...
Anyone experience with buying veggie plants through mail order? What

places
are more reliable?

It's *very* expensive compared to buying the starts locally. (Most local
tomato plants average $1.59 for a 6 pak, or $1 for a 4" single pot) It's
also very easy to start whatever you want in flats yourself and save time
and money and expand your selection dramatically. Most mailorder places
don't have a great selection of plants, wheras they do offer nice selections
in seed.

There's a lot of reasons to NOT do this that I can think of, and I'm trying
hard to think of why you would want to choose mailorder over local, even if
you don't want to start seeds yourself.

Sunflower
MS 7b


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Old 10-02-2003, 02:55 PM
Dwayne
 
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Default Mail order plants Any problems?

Sunflower makes a good point. In my case however, I don't have a good
source of indoor light, and don't have the room to build a good lighting
system for small seedlings. Mine all get tall reaching for more light, it
is too cold to take them outside during most days, and I planted most of
them too soon and the roots got all balled up in the pots.

I an going to give it another try this year because Brussels sprouts,
Broccoli and onions are supposed to be planted early here for the summer
crop, and plants arent available that soon. I cant get sweet potatoe slips
here and ordering them cost almost as much as buying the sweet potatoes, so
I have to grow my own. Regular potatoes are an exception. I tried to use
my own compared to the certified seed potatoes you can order and had about
1/3 to 1/2 the yield from mine.

If any of you out there have any ideas that will help us, jump right in.
Thanks. Dwayne





"Sunflower" wrote in message
...

"Joseph A. Zupko" wrote in message
t...
Anyone experience with buying veggie plants through mail order? What

places
are more reliable?

It's *very* expensive compared to buying the starts locally. (Most local
tomato plants average $1.59 for a 6 pak, or $1 for a 4" single pot) It's
also very easy to start whatever you want in flats yourself and save time
and money and expand your selection dramatically. Most mailorder places
don't have a great selection of plants, wheras they do offer nice

selections
in seed.

There's a lot of reasons to NOT do this that I can think of, and I'm

trying
hard to think of why you would want to choose mailorder over local, even

if
you don't want to start seeds yourself.

Sunflower
MS 7b




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Old 10-02-2003, 07:25 PM
Tim B
 
Posts: n/a
Default Mail order plants Any problems?

On the sprouts-broccoli-onions ... let me suggest .. without contradicting
anything you said ... that the local garden centers have the plants
available at the time that is best for your area. I'd call my favorite
garden center and ask them when is the earliest they'll have them available.

On the Irish potatoes, that's somewhat different from your original
question, as they're not shipped as plants. True, it's good to start from
certified, disease-free seed potatoes each year. You find these in unusual
places locally sometimes, like full-service grocery stores and farm stores.
Or you can mail order them safely. By the way, check out the online
accounts of growing potatoes in a bushel basket, progressively filling the
basket with dirt as the season progresses. Harvest becomes the act of
turning the basket over and gathering up the potatoes; it's a good thing.

On the sweet potatoes, you can produce a limited number of slips by placing
a sweet potato bud side up in a jar of water and placing the jar in a sunny
location. That works very well; the trouble with getting sweet potato
plants by mail is that they're shipped in a bundle without growing medium
and thus they need to go in the ground almost immediately upon arrival;
which requires the cooperation of the weather, which cannot be counted on.




"Dwayne" wrote in message
...
Sunflower makes a good point. In my case however, I don't have a good
source of indoor light, and don't have the room to build a good lighting
system for small seedlings. Mine all get tall reaching for more light, it
is too cold to take them outside during most days, and I planted most of
them too soon and the roots got all balled up in the pots.

I an going to give it another try this year because Brussels sprouts,
Broccoli and onions are supposed to be planted early here for the summer
crop, and plants arent available that soon. I cant get sweet potatoe

slips
here and ordering them cost almost as much as buying the sweet potatoes,

so
I have to grow my own. Regular potatoes are an exception. I tried to use
my own compared to the certified seed potatoes you can order and had about
1/3 to 1/2 the yield from mine.

If any of you out there have any ideas that will help us, jump right in.
Thanks. Dwayne





"Sunflower" wrote in message
...

"Joseph A. Zupko" wrote in message
t...
Anyone experience with buying veggie plants through mail order? What

places
are more reliable?

It's *very* expensive compared to buying the starts locally. (Most local
tomato plants average $1.59 for a 6 pak, or $1 for a 4" single pot) It's
also very easy to start whatever you want in flats yourself and save

time
and money and expand your selection dramatically. Most mailorder places
don't have a great selection of plants, wheras they do offer nice

selections
in seed.

There's a lot of reasons to NOT do this that I can think of, and I'm

trying
hard to think of why you would want to choose mailorder over local, even

if
you don't want to start seeds yourself.

Sunflower
MS 7b






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Old 10-02-2003, 10:55 PM
Sunflower
 
Posts: n/a
Default Mail order plants Any problems?


"Dwayne" wrote in message
...
Sunflower makes a good point. In my case however, I don't have a good
source of indoor light, and don't have the room to build a good lighting
system for small seedlings. Mine all get tall reaching for more light, it
is too cold to take them outside during most days, and I planted most of
them too soon and the roots got all balled up in the pots.


If you have room for one of those ubiquitous plastic shelving units that are
sold at Home Depot's everywhere, you have room for a seed starting operation
with supplied light. All you need is the shelving unit (the 18" wide X 36"
long one lets you get 3 flats of 72 on one shelf) and 2 plain cheap
florescent shop lights that hang from the chains. (If you want to start more
than 216 plants, all it requires is 2 more $9 florescents for one of the
other shelves.) Florescents are cool lights and you can place them
practically on top of the seedlings to keep them from getting leggy, and
move the lights up as the seedlings grow. If you grow them on the cool side
(below 60°), with a fan to keep the stems moving around a bit in the breeze,
you'll end up with stocky, well proportioned plants. If you time things
right, (usually start them 6-8 weeks before the last frost date) you should
be able to harden off the seedlings for a week to 10 days and have them go
right into the garden after the last frost date. For seeds that may need
additional heat to germinate, you can place them on top of the hot water
heater or use one of those "heat boxes" powered by a incandescent light bulb
and then transfer them under the florescents to grow on. (Or, you can buy a
real heat mat designed for seed starting. It'll pay for itself.)

I started over 864 perennials this way for MG project one year, (as well as
my own veggie garden seedlings) and as long as I bottom watered and kept a
fan on, I had no problems keeping them compact and healthy. You can do a
LOT in a 18" X 36" space!

Sunflower
MS 7b



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