Planting already-started plants (called transplants, starts, or seedlings, depending on where you are) is a great way to get a head-start on the season and is especially useful for plants which need a longer growing season than you have. If you have the space and expertise you can start them yourself, but you can also buy them. Here’s a rundown on what to look for when you go to buy seedlings.
First, take a look around the place you’re shopping, be it a local nursery, big box store, farmers market or even the supermarket. How do the plants look in general? Are they well taken-care-of? Do any of them badly need watering? If more than a very few plants are in bad shape, dried out, or dying, take your business elsewhere. You might otherwise find yourself taking home plants which have experienced severe stress before you bought them, and although they may look OK at the time, they’ll never grow as well as plants which have been properly cared for and grown on without being stressed.
Now look at the plants you want to buy.
You want seedlings which are well rooted (not only just sprouted) so that the rootball holds together well when you take it out of the container, but conversely they should not be pot-bound (having been in the pot too long so the roots are constricted and circling round and round inside the pot). A clue is to look at the drainage holes in the bottom of the container to see if roots are growing out. The only way to tell for sure is to turn the seedling out of its pot and look at the roots – carefully, without damaging it, of course.
The plants should be stocky, with strong sturdy stems and an appropriate distance between sets of leaves. If they are tall and lanky, and seem floppy, they can be rescued if they are your only choice, but if you have options, pass them up for better specimens. Top growth should be in proportion to the size of the container, neither too large or too small.
They should be the right color for their variety. Most vegetable seedlings should be deep green, not yellowish, not streaky, and not purplish-looking unless they are a red-leaved variety.
They should not be carrying flowers or fruit, unless you’re buying a tomato plant in a big pot which is big enough to give it enough root room for its size. Even so, transplanting it when it’s in flower or fruit will set it back.
Salad greens should be as small as you can get away with. The bigger they are, the closer they are to “bolting” – sending up a flower stalk and going to seed, which usually means the leaves no longer taste good.
Very few seedlings are organically grown, so if this is important for you, you either need to raise your own or find a supplier who does grow organically. Your best bet for this may be a farmers market stallholder or a local nursery. You might also be able to find a local organic home grower who would be willing to grow seedlings for you along with their own.
Once you get your carefully chosen transplants home, take care of them and, most importantly, get them growing in the ground as soon as you can. Making them wait around in their pots until they are potbound makes all your care in choosing them go for nothing!
