Why Buying Seedlings Is Smarter Than You Think
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Video Summary
AI GeneratedMany gardeners feel guilty for buying seedlings instead of sowing seeds, but this video argues that purchasing seedlings is a practical, cost-effective, and stress-free choice. Whether you are a beginner or a pro, buying seedlings can save time, reduce the risk of germination failure, and provide a head start on the growing season.
Do you feel guilty buying seedlings from the store
when you could be sowing your own seeds
and saving a few dollars?
Well, stop it.
You're not a bad person.
You're just a mistaken backyard gardener
who's trying to save some time
doing what most other backyard gardeners are doing anyway,
but are just too chicken manure to admit it.
All these plants you see in these raised planter beds
have all been purchased as seedlings,
not grown from seed.
And I don't care.
And in this video,
I'm gonna give you several good reasons
why buying your seedlings can be a good thing.
Let's get into it.
Look, even us pro backyard gardeners
stuff up seedlings from time to time.
We sow seeds and they don't come up
for one reason or another.
The seed isn't viable.
The timing was wrong.
They got some type of disease or fungus.
I didn't water them enough.
I watered them too much.
Or there was some other obscure problem
that prevented those seeds from germinating.
But more than that,
there are plenty of reasons why I still like to buy
some of my own seedlings from the store or nursery.
And the first one is that often
you'll get more than one seedling per cell
in a punnet of seedlings.
Because if you look at this one here,
for example, it's cabbage.
There are a heck of a lot more than just one per cell.
In fact, in most of them,
there are three or sometimes four.
And the reason for that is the retailer
or the person who packs these seeds
and gives them to the nursery or the retailer,
the last thing they want is just to sow one seed per cell
and then only have three or four seedlings come up.
That is worse than sowing three or four seeds in a cell
and having them all come up, if you know what I mean.
You just can't sell a punnet of six cabbages
and only have three in it.
So often you will get a punnet of six cabbages
and have more than 12 in there.
So that's a bargain.
Yes, you've got to be a little careful
when you're dividing those cells up,
especially if you have three or four per cell.
But if you're careful, it's most likely
that all of those seedlings will survive transplantation.
And that's not all.
Here are some more reasons why you should buy your seedlings.
Now, there's no shame in buying seedlings
from the nursery or the store.
It's always good, of course, to raise your own seedlings
or to direct sow even.
If you've got the appropriate type of crop
at the appropriate time,
direct sowing is probably one of the best things you can do.
It saves money and all that.
But if you're a beginner gardener,
sometimes it actually saves money
to buy them from the nursery already at seedling stage
because you're getting them alive.
You're getting them past that growth stage.
You're not paying for the seed
and then paying for the propagation equipment and all that
and going through that extra time.
These might seem like they cost more than a packet of seed,
and which they do, but for say $5,
you can get 10 or so plants
and you easily make your money back.
If they grow to maturity and then you eat them
and with the cost of peas in the supermarket,
you'll easily get your money back on them.
Plus, you're eating healthy, organic produce
that you grew yourself at home
and you know exactly what's in it.
There's no sprays on it.
There's no supermarket sprays or pesticides
or even martine or any of those supermarket sprays
that settle on the goods.
There's nothing in it.
There's no systemic pesticides or herbicides
or fungicides or anything on these things.
So all in all, especially if you're a beginner,
buying these seedlings at five or so dollars,
I'll pun it, is quite good.
And you can get some really good specials as well
of say tomatoes I've seen is a really good one.
They're starting to get too mature
for the small pot that they're in,
so the nurseries will mark them down.
Or if that's the case, you can get a tomato plant
that's heading towards maturity,
saving you several weeks of growing time
and you can plant that out into the garden
and get a headstart.
Or you're behind because you're coming late into the season.
Well, instead of trying to sow seed
and waiting an extra several weeks,
you can be buying them now from the nursery
and that saves you that time
and you can catch up on the growing season.
So there's a number of reasons
why buying seedlings is a good thing.
And at the end of the day,
sometimes it's just easier and also cost-effective
to buy your seedlings at the seedling stage
rather than sowing them yourself.
So next time you decide to buy some seedlings,
go forthwith with your head held high
and buy those seedlings.
And if Betty from next door
whacks her head over the fence
and says in a sarcastic snarky way,
did you buy those seedlings
or did you grow them from seed?
Say, hey Betty, mind your own bizzo.
That's for me to know and for you to find out.
Unless it's your mother-in-law, of course.
If she says something,
well, just tell her you grew them from seed.
She'll never know.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this video.
If you did, make sure you don't lie to your mother-in-law.
Make sure you give it a big thumbs up,
share it around and subscribe if you haven't already.
Thanks a lot for watching.
Bye for now, cheers.