Growing Your Own Plants

To insure the availability of what you want, when you want it.

Grow your own quality plants and be assured of having them when you need them.

It's not always easy to find the variety and quantity of vegetable plants you want when you need them. To eliminate this problem you can grow your own.

Vegetables that are most oftentransplanted include: tomatoes, pepper, cabbage, eggplant, cauli-flower, broccoli and onions. Many other vegetables can be transplanted if grown in peat pots.

To grow small quantities of vegetables…

You can seed in flats. Flats are small boxes filled with a sterile soil mix or you can buy peat pellets which are compressed peat moss that will swell up when soaked in water. You can also use peat cubes which are commercially available. Any of these may be used to grow a few plants and you will have them available when you need them.

Another method …

Use peat pots which must be filled with a sterile growing medium. These pots are transplanted into the field without removing the plants.

Most vegetable plants will be ready to set out in 5 to 8 weeks after seeds are planted. The cool season vegetables like cabbage, require less time than do the warm season vegetables like bell pepper.

For the more ambitious…

Larger quantities of plants can be grown in plastic covered beds, similar to the way tobacco plants are grown. In any case, the plants should be kept in a warm area and watered and fertilized regularly to keep them actively growing. They should be sprayed to prevent foliage diseases.

The last week before transplanting they should be hardened off by reducing water and fertilizer and exposing them to a cooler temperatures.

Grow your own quality plants and be assured of having them when you need them.

For more information growing your own plants, contact your local county Extension office.