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One ritual of the Northern gardener is the growing of transplants in spring. For some it means the annual firing up of the improvised grow-op, whereas for others it is signified by the colonization of all the space in every south facing window in the house. In this episode Dave and I talk about all the pros and cons of buying transplants versus growing your own.

Pros of Growing
• Greater choice in plants and varieties
• Uses less seeds
• Costs less, especially if you need a lot of transplants
• Fun project and cure for late winter blues
• Great sense of satisfaction in growing your own

Cons of Growing
• Tedious and time consuming
• Equipment and accoutrements needed
• Aggravating hardening-off process
• Waste of electricity

Pros of Buying
• Great for perennials – especially herbs – great bang for your buck, buy once, enjoy forever
• Great if you only need a few – 6 plants costs as much as a pack of seeds – great for small gardens
• Saves a lot of time and effort
• Great for beginners
• Varieties for sale are often popular ones that do well in your area
• Bough transplants seem to be far easier to harden off than home grown ones

Cons of Buying
• Less variety
• Can be costly if you need a lot of seeds
• Some varieties don’t transplant well (cucurbits, root veggies), so you may be wasting your money

Final Thoughts

There’s advantages and disadvantages to both sides of the argument, and whatever works for you is what I would recommend. The ultimate goal each year is to have a great garden, period. So if buying transplants gets you there, then do it, and if you like growing your own, then enjoy. Personally, I re-consider my options each year, so I thought it might be helpful to provide a thoughtful mulling over of the issue in this episode. Hopefully this will help you if are new to gardening or are re-thinking your game for this season.

Special thanks to our podcast Partner, McKenzie Seeds.