This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.
Can Plug plants be grown in the open?
![[Deleted User]](images/c81b5a895107dc3d21f81ff6535441ea.svg)
[Deleted User]
Posts: 274
in Plants
The user and all related content has been deleted.
0
Posts
As long as they are hardy perennials, they should be fine. The main thing is not to put them out into the garden until they've grown on for a few weeks, so pot them on and have some fleece to hand in case of late frosts. I often use a shelf on the side of my shed where the roof overhangs - probably very similar to your lean to - and have had no problems growing on plugs there. Give some thought to what you stand them on. If they are in plastic pots with drainage holes in the bottom, standing on paving slabs (say) they can get a pool of water underneath. A plastic tray with some gravel is the expensive option, or a few wooden slats can work.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
From what I have read, it entirely depends on the conditions the plugs were grown in. If they were grown from scratch in unheated/unprotected conditions outside they should be ok to keep outside when they get to you. If they were hatched in a greenhouse, they won't be happy with any kind of major temperature shift. So, find out, if you can, where they were born. Keep them in an area low in predators so the baby plants don't get snaffled before they're big enough to fend for themselves.
Good luck!
Hey - Did you "overpot" your plug plants or let them grow in the modular tray if that's what they came in?
I sowed seeds in a tray inside cold greenhouse in Feb and they are now about 4 inches tall. Do I really need to move them to bigger pots or can they go direct into the garden beds now? I'm based in London.
Thanks.
If your plants have filled the pot they are in, then pot them on individually into the next size of pot up. If they are perennial plants and are going into empty borders then they can be planted out when they have filled those pots, say in another 4-6 weeks. If they are perennials and going into borders that already have plants I would grow them on until mid-June, potting up again if necessary, so they have a fighting chance.
If they are half hardy annuals, I would still pot them on and plant mid to end May at the earliest.
I've got Lupins (in black tray), Daisies, achillea yellow gold and pansies. Oh and I grew them in coconut coir growing media back in Feb which had some fertilizer pre-added in it (from IKEA) - just to try that on.
They will be susceptible to cold, wet, mice, slugs, snails etc, so if you pot them on it gives them a fighting chance. They are so very tasty and inviting to just about everything in the garden at the early stages of growth.