Buy Good Seed or Plants

Seed can carry disease problems from one year to the next.

Hybrid seed do not come back true to form so you could come up with wide variations if you save and plant seed from hybrids.

Seed and plants are a small portion of the total cost of garden-ing. It would be to your advantage to use the best source of seed and plants available. There are no bargain seed. Even seed given to you can turn out to be nothing but headaches.

Buy your seed from a reputable dealer or seed company. Western grown seed will help insure that they are more disease free. Be sure that you get the variety that you want and that is adapted to your area.

Do not save your own seed.

Unless there is some particular variety that is no longer available from other sources, saving your own seed can carry disease problems over from one year to the next. You may also end up with off type varieties as the variety characteristics tend to run out after a period of time. Hybrid seed do not come back true to form so you could come up with wide variations if you save and plant seed from hybrids.

With transplants…

It's best to grow your own if you can do so. This will insure you of having the variety and quantity you want, and having them available at the time you need them.

A reputable dealer will help give you the assurance of better quality in plants and seeds. Do not buy diseased plants or plants that look yellow or wilted. You cannot start out with a bad plant and end up with a good garden. A lot of effort goes into gardening. Don't risk losing it by planting inferior seed or setting bad plants.

For more information on buying good seeds or plants; contact your local County Extension Office.