I called in to a Garden Centre yesterday and was pleased to see a selection of plants labelled 'Ready, Steady, Pick'. These were in large pots, the size used for roses and there was one plant in a pot. The choice available was a courgette, a strawberry, a pepper, a chilli, a cucmber and a tomato.
What a good idea, I thought - that will encourage people to try something new. Then I saw the price on the label - a mere £8.99 per pot!!!
Unbelievable!
Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter, Chief Spud
There are always some gullible people with more money than sense. On a cheaper scale I would advise never to transplant lettuce from May onwards, but one still sees trays of lettuce seedlings for sale.
I got started on bay trees by spotting that one in a batch of bay plants consisted of about 12 rooted cuttings, not a single plant.
I don't know what pots roses are in, but maybe the main cost was the pot, the plant was a bonus. A flashy glazed pot could cost all that and more.
I got an unglazed pot for my lemon tree via freeserve, cost me nothing and it's a lovely one, worth the £8.99 to me.
Allan
I got started on bay trees by spotting that one in a batch of bay plants consisted of about 12 rooted cuttings, not a single plant.
I don't know what pots roses are in, but maybe the main cost was the pot, the plant was a bonus. A flashy glazed pot could cost all that and more.
I got an unglazed pot for my lemon tree via freeserve, cost me nothing and it's a lovely one, worth the £8.99 to me.
Allan
Hi Allan,
You can transplant Lettuces at ANY time of the year if they are module grown and I would like to know what ever makes you say that you cannot transplant after May. The plants you see in Nurseries and Garden Centres are normal in 10 packs with an individual Lettuce per module and they transplant very well because there is little or no root disturbance.
You can transplant Lettuces at ANY time of the year if they are module grown and I would like to know what ever makes you say that you cannot transplant after May. The plants you see in Nurseries and Garden Centres are normal in 10 packs with an individual Lettuce per module and they transplant very well because there is little or no root disturbance.
JB.
That is contrary to my experience. I try to buck it when I can but know that it is very dodgy, if lucky you might have a week to harvest something usable. However if I cannot do it reliably with home produced modules or better 7 cm pots what chance has your average GC shopper got with plants that are subject to the (mis)handling they get in a typical GC. People would be better off station sowing then thinning down carefully to singles as soon as possible rather than buying in plants.
Perhaps with your soil you get different results.
Later sowings stand a good chance again but there isn't the same demand for lettuce after August, people seem to give up salads in the cooler weather whereas we eat what we can the whole year. Cucumbers to October, endives, chicory, watercress, radish, beetrooot, Sugar Loaf, endive, self-blanching celery then trench celery, watercress etc.
Perhaps with your soil you get different results.
Later sowings stand a good chance again but there isn't the same demand for lettuce after August, people seem to give up salads in the cooler weather whereas we eat what we can the whole year. Cucumbers to October, endives, chicory, watercress, radish, beetrooot, Sugar Loaf, endive, self-blanching celery then trench celery, watercress etc.
I find I have success with 'cut and come again' types sown in modules all summer as long as you sow in the cool of the evening and grow partially shaded till they're planted out.
The price of those GC veggies is appalling,but you have to argue that if someone is daft enough to pay it then the garden centre has it's business head screwed on all right!
The price of those GC veggies is appalling,but you have to argue that if someone is daft enough to pay it then the garden centre has it's business head screwed on all right!
I was looking for some red cabbage plants in B&Q this morning. I bought a tray of good ones last year when the sun destroyed everything I had growing in the greenhouse, including brassicas. Unfortunately, didn't have any luck, B&Q didn't have any. However, was stunned by the poor state of virtually all the plants B&Q had on offer. I went there at around 11.00 and nearly all the plants looked as though they were dying! They hadn't been watered in the cool of the evening, but were being watered when I arrived, so that they would look their best when the majority of the public pitched up to buy them. I'm all for tough love watering of plants in my own garden/greenhouse, but at B&Q!? Anyway, drove to a garden centre, where I saw astonishingly priced patio potatoes on offer for £7.99. Did I read the price label incorrectly or not? One potato in a pot for nearly £8.00. Do you know how many potatoes you can buy for that even in a supermarket?!
PS. Transplanting lettuces is a dark art, which I am no good at. I tend to let them get too big, which is fatal for transplanting, because it prompts the little buggers to bolt!
PS. Transplanting lettuces is a dark art, which I am no good at. I tend to let them get too big, which is fatal for transplanting, because it prompts the little buggers to bolt!