Growing your own plants for transplanting is not hard if you plan and prepare properly. There are many advantages and a few disadvantages to starting your own plants.
Three main advantages are selection, quality control, and availability. One advantage is that it opens a huge selection of plants that you can grow. Many heirloom plants can only be obtained by seed. Another advantage is quality control. There is less of a chance you will get a diseased plant or import a pest into your garden if you grow plants from seed. Another is you will have the plants when you want them instead of when they are available in the store. These are big advantages to the home grower.
There are some disadvantages to take in account. One is that it takes quite a bit of time - time to plan, prepare, transplant, and water. Repotting plants when necessary takes time too. You will also need to have the space for the plants, soil, shelving, grow lights and other equipment.
Growing your own plants for transplant requires commitment, also. You must be there to do all that needs to be done. Most of these disadvantages can be overcome with good planning.
There are some varieties that transplant better than others and some are best avoided.
Plants that transplant well in our area are tomatoes, peppers, egg plants, squash, cabbage, onions, and leeks. Some plants to avoid transplanting are beans, corn, beets, and carrots. There are many books, online sources, and local gardeners that can give you more information on what transplants well and what does not thrive in this area.
If you are up to the challenge, add growing your own transplants to your list of gardening experiences.
Mr. Archibald is a Sandoval County Master Gardener who lives and works in Cibola County. As a Master Gardener he assists the Cibola County Cooperative Extension Service in providing accurate, research-based gardening information to county residents. If you have any gardening questions, please call the Cibola County Cooperative Extension at 505-287-9266. You can also contact Mr. Archibald at Cibola County Community Gardeners on Facebook.