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Is it better to buy vegetable seeds or plants?

Jan. 13, 2025

Should You Plant Seeds or Plants in Your Garden?

kitchen garden basics

Should You Plant Seeds or Plants in Your Garden?

Seeds and Plants: Which Is Better?

Choosing whether to plant seeds or plants in your garden is a pretty big decision and one that should be based on a few key factors. I fill my kitchen garden with a mix of starter plants I've purchased or grown from seed indoors and seeds I sow directly outdoors. There are certainly advantages and disadvantages to both.

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Here are a few things to consider when determining the best way to get a plant in your garden:

  • time to maturity
  • plant size
  • transplantability

Let's look at each of these factors in more detail.

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Factor #1: Time to Maturity

Plant Seeds for Plants That Grow Fast

Different types of plants require different amounts of time to reach maturity. For example, if you're growing plants such as tomatoes and peppers, most gardeners would opt to plant seedlings from their local nursery versus direct sowing seeds into the garden. Tomato plants can take months to fruit after planting. So if you're in a climate with a short growing season, it may not be practical to sow seeds for your tomato plants outdoors. Of course, you can always start your tomato plants from seed indoors under grow lights and then transplant them into your garden when the weather is right.

On the opposite end of the spectrum are plants like lettuces and spinach, which can be ready to harvest in as little as 30 days. It makes sense to grow these fast-growing plants from seed.

Overall, knowing the amount of time it's going to take for your plants to be ready to harvest is key. The seed packets will usually tell you how long a particular plant will take to reach maturity, and some will tell you that the plants should be started indoors weeks before your last frost date. These are going to be the plants you want to place in your garden as plants and not seeds.

Pro Tip:

Here's a general rule of thumb if you're considering buying plants at the store: Check the time that plant will need to grow so that it produces the part you want to harvest. If it's under 65 days, buy a seed packet instead. If it's over 65 days, buy the plant.

Factor #2: Plant Size

Let Size Guide You When It Comes to Seeds vs Plants

The size of the plants in your garden will have an impact on whether they should be planted from seed or as plants. The larger the plant, the longer it takes the plant to reach maturity&#;and the longer the plant will need to be in the garden before harvesting. Larger plants do better being placed in the garden as seedlings versus seeds because of the length of time they need to grow.

On the other hand, plants that are smaller in size (like lettuce plants) don't take as long to reach maturity and may do much better in your garden being direct sown from seed. I like to sow smaller plants like radishes and lettuce greens directly in the garden around larger plants that I've transplanted to the garden space, to fill in empty spaces.

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Factor #3: Transplantability

Plant Seeds for Plants with Delicate Roots

There are some plants that just don't like to be moved once they've been seeded. For example, plants in the legume family (like peas and beans) are sensitive to being moved. Even though they take 60 to 75 days to mature and grow pretty large, these plants do much better being direct seeded into the garden. There are exceptions to every rule, right?

Some other large plants that don't like to be moved include squash, zucchini, and cucumbers. Even though these plants take a long time to grow and really need optimal weather, they do much better being grown from seed in the garden than from transplants.

I've already mentioned that it's best to grow those small leafy greens like arugula and lettuce plants from seed directly where they'll spend their short lifespan, but I want to mention that they also just don't transplant well. Avoid starting these plants by seed indoors or buying starts at the store, no matter how healthy they look on the shelf.

Finally, those plants that we grow for their roots&#;think carrots, radishes, beets&#;also have sensitive roots that don't like being moved.

Plants to Prioritize Buying from the Store

If you're not interested in starting your own seeds indoors, then here are some plants that might be worth spending your money on so that you can get a head start on your growing season.

Chives

Both onion and garlic chives are perennials that will come back year after year, even in really cold climates, and you can divide them, which means you get more bang for your buck. Chives can be a little challenging to start from seed, but they're a must-have companion plant for every garden thanks to their ability to keep pests away. Chives are well worth the investment of a couple bucks.

Large Brassicas

Kale, mustards, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage are large and long plants, meaning they take a long time (sometimes as long as 120 days!) to grow to their mature size. If you want to get a jumpstart on your growing season, it's worth it to grab these guys from the nursery. They've basically done all the hard work of getting them ready to go for you so that you can harvest your first leaves sooner.

That being said, I've experimented with growing brassicas from the nursery right next to directly sewn seeds for the same, and I've often found that those plants grown in the garden from seed end up being healthier and lasting longer overall in the garden than the ones I bought. Take cabbage, for example. You might struggle to grow a really nice, tight head of cabbage after transplanting it, but hey, that doesn't mean you won't be able to enjoy the outer leaves as it's growing.

Tomatoes, Peppers, and Eggplants

Most people don't experience a long-enough warm growing season to give large fruiting plants like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant the full time in the garden they need to grow from seed to fruit harvest. Ideally, you'll get well-grown seedlings in the ground the moment you pass your final threat of frost in the spring. It's worth it to buy healthy starts from the store so that you can maximize the time these guys spend under the warm sun ripening fruit for you.

Perennial Herbs

Herbs like rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage, lavender, and tarragon can take a fairly long time to grow from seed. If you see a perennial herb plant at the store that looks healthy, it might be worth it to bring that little gal home so that you can snip your first leaves that very day. Besides, you'll probably pay about the same price for the entire plant as you would for a little plastic package of some leaves in the produce aisle.

Btw: Annual herbs like cilantro, parsley, basil, and dill will grow from seed much faster and might be worth starting from seed instead.

Swiss Chard

This beautiful leafy green is a biennial, which means it can last up to two years in your garden. You can buy young Swiss chard plants and feel good about your purchase since you'll likely get to harvest leaves for a long time.

Are you seeing a theme here? It's all about time. Both plants that need a long time to produce for you and plants that you'll be able to enjoy for a long time in your garden are the ones that might just be worth the purchase.

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Buying Seeds

The advantage of buying seeds is that just one inexpensive packet can fill your garden with loads and loads of plants. Plus, you know everything that went into growing that plant from seed to harvest, so you can certify that it was organically grown in nutrient-rich soil.

When buying seeds, be sure you're buying from a source that's prioritizing organic, non-GMO seeds. Some of my favorite seed sources are Baker Creek, Botanical Interests, Southern Exposure, High Mowing, and Johnny's Selected Seeds. We also recently introduced our line of Gardenary seeds, which includes all our favorite things to grow in the vegetable garden.

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Grow alongside Gardenary this year with our favorite cool season seeds for the garden. Our collection includes:

  • 25 Gardenary favorite cool season seeds. Most seeds are certified USDA organic and non-GMO and include detailed instructions for how to plant, tend, and harvest your fall plants
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Buying Plants from the Store

Compared to buying seeds, plant starts from the store are definitely more expensive. Nevertheless, there comes a time when we all need to buy plants (Okay, maybe we don't need to, strictly speaking, but the pull of those shelves covered in green is strong), so here's how to be more successful at the plant store.

First of all, buy from a local nursery or CSA. Avoid purchasing plants from big box stores. Their plants will have traveled quite a distance before reaching the store and have most likely been treated with fungicide or synthetic fertilizers so they look great when you see them at the store. If you don't continue to feed them the same fertilizers or fungicides when you get them home, chances are, they'll either sit there and not grow or just give up being green entirely.

Tips for Buying Healthy Plants

Here are some other tips to help you ensure you purchase a strong, healthy plant that will produce well in your garden and make up for your investment.

Want more information on vegetable seeds? Feel free to contact us.

  • Look for plants that aren't blooming yet. You want to purchase smaller plants so that you can get them in the ground, where they'll focus on growing roots, before they put all their energy toward flowering and fruiting. If the plant already has flowers, pinch them off when you're transplanting to your garden.
  • Gently pull the plant from its container to make sure the roots aren't spiraling around the inside, a sign that the plant is root-bound from sitting on the shelf a little too long and will have a hard time establishing itself in your garden. Roots should be white and healthy looking.
  • Inspect the leaves for signs of pests and disease. Check the underside of leaves and the stem carefully.
  • Don't purchase leggy plants (plants that have grown too tall and narrow). These plants either have not been given sufficient light or have been overcrowded, meaning they have likely already experienced too much stress to thrive in your garden.
  • If you can't find plants that are certified organic, look for labels that say "naturally grown". Many small local growers can't afford the expensive process of being approved as an organic grower, but they're still avoiding using synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides. 

Typically, the more local the nursery you buy your plants from, the better. You'll be able to ask questions about how plants are grown, you'll be more likely to find organically grown plants, and you'll support a local business. Plus, local nurseries tend to carry plants that have been grown near you, which means they're much more likely to enjoy growing in your climate.

Keeping these things in mind will increase your chances of success when buying plants and introducing them to your garden.

Steps to Plant Starts from the Store

Follow these steps to welcome your new plants from the store properly:

Step 1: Water

Water your garden space and gently mist the roots of the plants you're about to transplant. You don't want to flood the soil, just prep the space. I've moved a lot, and I know how stressful it can be. Plants feel moving stress too. Your plants will be like, "Wait, what just happened? Where am I?" Adding some water is kind of like rolling out a welcome mat. It'll make it simpler for this plant to adjust to its new home.

Step 2: Dig

Dig a hole twice as wide as the plant and the same depth as the roots. Most plants don't like to be buried below their neck (where the stem meets the roots); tomatoes are the exception, and these guys should be buried all the way up to their first set of leaves.

Place the plant right in the middle of the hole you've dug and fill in around it with soil. By digging wider than the plant itself, you loosen the soil and help the roots find space to grow side to side.

Step 3: Prune

Pruning is a way of telling a plant where to send its energy. If you cut the top off a chives plant or remove some of the outer leaves of a kale plant, you're telling the plant to put its energy toward developing its roots before it tries to grow any new leaves. It's also a good idea to prune any wilting or discolored leaves, keeping in mind never to prune more than a third of a plant at one time.

Removing these extra leaves takes some pressure off the plant. If your friend moved to a new town, you wouldn't expect them to do anything the moment they arrived except settle in, right?

Step 4: Water Again

Give the plant a nice little watering in. This is like a housewarming party for the plant.

Seeds or Plants? You Decide

So that's the criteria I use when deciding whether to plant seeds or plants in my garden. Whenever possible, go with seeds before going plant shopping. When you do buy plants, I hope you never again bring a plant home only to watch it die.

Thanks for helping us bring back the kitchen garden, one seed packet and plant start at a time!

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Seeds vs. Plants: A Buying Guide for Vegetable Gardeners

You can Grow Your Own Way. All spring and summer, we&#;re playing in the vegetable garden; join us for step-by-step guides, highly recommended tools, backyard tours, juicy-ripe recipes, and then some. Let&#;s get our hands dirty.

Vibrant, marbled pineapple tomatoes; adorable Easter Egg radishes without a single crack, unblemished rainbow Swiss chard leaves: looking at the images of vegetables in seed catalogs can be inspirational but also disappointing because you know that none of your homegrown veggies will ever look like this. The kaleidoscope of those images is an effective tactic, though: it makes you buy more seeds than you need. It also makes you buy seeds for vegetables that you&#;re probably better off buying as seedlings.

While I have been gardening for almost two decades now, I&#;m still not immune to those temptations. But following a set of clear criteria&#;what to grow from seed and what to buy as seedings, and in what quantity&#;has helped me become a much more realistic shopper for my vegetable garden.

And that brings me straight to my first guiding criterion: Am I being realistic?

The Reality Check

Everything you plant, whether it&#;s grown from seed or plants from a nursery, needs watering, fertilizing, possibly pruning, weeding, inspecting for pests and diseases and prompt treatment, harvesting, and processing. New gardeners often get overwhelmed and give up because they did not expect it to be so much work. Think in small steps and be reasonable in your expectations. It is essential that before shopping for seeds or seedlings you make a blueprint of your garden plot, raised beds, or containers to find out how much space you have, and what you can actually fit in it. Unless you have a large homestead-style garden and can devote most of your free time tending to it all summer, expect that your homegrown vegetables will only supplement what you buy and that you won&#;t be able to live off the land.

the Heirloom Hunt

Seed companies will carry tons more varieties of any given vegetable than what you'll be able to find already growing at a nursery. There are more than 10,000 different tomato varieties available as seeds, while a well-stocked nursery might carry two dozen varieties at best. If you have your mind set on more unusual varieties (including heirlooms) that you cannot find as plants, starting from seed is the way to go. Keep in mind that root vegetables such as beets and parsnips don&#;t transplant well, and they should be directly seeded in the garden, as should be beans, peas, and leafy greens such as lettuce and spinach.

Find the light

The need for sufficient light for seed starting cannot be overstated. I have found that the often-recommended sunny window for your seedlings just won&#;t do&#;soon they start bending toward the light, and the seedlings get leggier with every inch they are removed from the light source. Unless you are the lucky owner of a greenhouse, you will need full-spectrum growth lights that simulate sunlight. A new trick I tried last year is to use the LED lights from my hydrogarden after removing the water bowls and grow decks and the seedlings were the strongest I have ever grown.

Prepare for a commitment

Ask yourself whether you can invest the time and effort to start from seeds. It means watering daily, usually twice a day. Letting seeds dry out even the slightest bit during germination is an absolute no-no, and keeping them consistently moist is key.

You also need to monitor the temperature. For example, tomato seeds germinate best at 65°F to 85°F; anything lower or higher will delay germination&#;or the seeds won&#;t germinate at all.

Consider the timing

When you start seeds indoors to get a head start on the growing season, the proper timing with the start of warm weather is crucial. Start your seeds too soon, and your plants will reach the size where they need to be transplanted when it is still too cold for the tender seedlings to survive outdoors. Leaving them indoors longer is not an option because the seedlings tend to get weak and spindly&#;they need natural light to get stronger.

...and The Overall Cost

Seed packets are often touted as cheaper than buying plants, but once you add up all the costs of a proper setup for seed starting, plus figure in your time and effort, it might be more economical to just buy plants. It&#;s the safer way, too, as you don&#;t have to deal with the uncertainties of seed starting.

Seed packets usually contain much more than you will be able to fit in your garden, but you don&#;t have to use all the seeds in one year; some seeds are good for at least another year. I love Fairy Tale eggplants, which are difficult to find at local nurseries; that&#;s why I start them from seed and split the packet with a friend. It cuts down on the cost, and this way I get to reorder fresh seeds every year.

The Quantity Factor

How many plants of a particular vegetable and variety you want is also a factor. For tomatoes, I like a bunch of different varieties&#;mostly the famous San Marzano tomatoes for sauce and canning, plus beefsteak, red and yellow cherry tomatoes for eating fresh. Buying a seed packet of each variety, just to get a couple of plants, does not make much sense. The same applies to bell peppers and hot peppers.

For herbs, it depends. If you just need a few basil leaves for caprese or a batch of pesto, buy a plant or two. But if you&#;re like me, you can never have enough basil for pesto, freezing, and drying, so growing basil from seed is the best option. The same holds true for parsley. To make, say, tabbouleh, one plant doesn&#;t get you very far.

Another consideration is that you can keep harvesting certain annual herbs only until they start blooming. To ensure a constant supply of cilantro and dill, you&#;ll need consecutive generations of plants, so growing them from seed is best. By the time you need a new cilantro plant, all the nurseries will be likely sold out.

Rosemary, thyme, sage, marjoram, oregano, and many other herbs are perennials, and one plant is usually enough to cover your needs. In this case, buying a plant makes more sense than starting from seed. Plus, herbs are slow and finicky to germinate&#;parsley takes 14 to 30 days.

Whatever you decide, don&#;t delay your shopping&#;because of the increased interest in gardening, the demand for both seeds and plants has skyrocketed in the past two years.

If you want to learn more, please visit our website Sweet corn seeds.

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