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Is buying plugs cheating?

pokhimpokhim Posts: 210

Hi there.

So I went to homebase looking for some seeds and compost etc and came across hundreds of plug plants of nearly everything I wanted for the season... .some poppies, sunflowers, echinops, sage.. 

Is it considered cheating a bit if i buy these and stick them in the ground? I feel like it would be more fun to grow them myself... 

What are your thoughts on buying plugs plants like this?

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Posts

  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039

    Some people like to buy big, fully grown plants, to create a ready made garden.

    Some people like to start with plugs, or smaller plants.

    Others like the pleasure brought by taking seeds and nurturing them until they are full grown and produce seeds of their own.

    None of these methods is right or wrong, it is personal choice, but for me, seeds produce the most pleasure.

    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039

    Excuse me if I am wrong Verdun, but I thought that you always preached buying the biggest plants you could find.

    Apologise if I have miss read your posts in the past.

    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • a1154a1154 Posts: 1,108

    They dont do plugs at my homebase, thats annoying. Ive never seen any. 

  • pokhimpokhim Posts: 210

    ok.. well the wife will be pleased. She just wanted me to buy the plugs and get them into ground to make the garden look more instant!

    I have a few things in pots now anyway and will sow some hardy annuals. I will do a mix of buying plugs and sowing seeds.

  • IamweedyIamweedy Posts: 1,364

    Come on now, it is no more cheating than growing from seed and a lot easier, ditch the guilt! They are a  wee bit more expensive though. Plug plants look  bit lonely in a big flower bed. I am sure the plants don't feel they are lonely though! image




    'You must have some bread with it me duck!'

  • If plugs were as cheap as seeds and didn't come in such environmentally devastating packaging I'm sure we'd all use them all the time!

  • IamweedyIamweedy Posts: 1,364

    Most of the packaging I have had plug plants in has been PET plastic which is very recyclable.




    'You must have some bread with it me duck!'

  • Buying plugs isn't cheating. My husband and I don't have much space to sow seeds so we buy some plug plants and sow some seeds. Also some plug plants especially when you buy larger amounts online are a lot smaller than the ones you buy in garden centres so they still need a reasonable amount of care to get them to garden ready size

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