How to shop for plants and seeds

When shopping for plants, tomatoes for example, check to see if the soil is very dry.  Bedding plants should be watered every day.  Poor watering practices can weaken plants.  Check for green leaves.  Yellow leaves is also a sign the plant has not been cared for properly. 

Check the underside of the leaves for tiny little bugs.  Once these get on the plants and lay eggs it may take chemicals to get rid of them.  The bugs will also transfer onto your healthy plants.  Check for fruit.  If plants are too neglected, usually from lack of water, they will attempt to bear prematurely as a way of casting seed before they die. 

So look for watered soil and green leaves, no bugs and no fruit.  The local feed store is my favorite place to shop.  They sell them in packs of three for around $1.50.  

This Better Boy is my favorite tomato.  Notice where it says “Vine Type: Indeterminate” That means the plants will continue to grow all season and can be pruned.  Pruning helps the plants bear more fruit.  We will talk about pruning in the next lesson.  One Indeterminate tomato plant can produce about 35 tomatoes. The tag also tells how big the fruit will be, about 1 pound each.  The “Days to Maturity” will help you plan how long before you’ll have fruit.  This tomato is a Hybrid which means it is a combination of more than one type of plant. If you save the seeds from the fruit and plant them, the new plant won’t be a true representation of this plant.  I like hybrids through because they have been bread to resist diseases and produce nice uniform fruit.  

This is my second favorite.  It is an heirloom.  As opposed to a hybrid, the seeds will be true to the parent plant so they can be saved and replanted year after year.  This Brandywine is more acidic than Better Boy and has an old-fashioned taste.  The fruit is not uniform but very tasty.  It is also Indeterminate which means it can be pruned.  It will grow well with T-Frames and strings.  If pruned this plant will also produce about 35 tomatoes.

Notice the “Vine Type: Determinate”.  It also says in the description that it “Grows well in containers.”  This plant isn’t good for pruning but it is a good choice for a container on a porch or deck.  Determinates don’t produce all season.  They usually come on all at once and are done.  One plant may have about 8 tomatoes. 

This is a pruned Indeterminate.  When I’m shopping for tomatoes to help me remember which ones to purchase, I think, Indeterminates produce “Indefinitely”, or at least all season. Determinates are “Determined” to produce all at once and get it over with.  

When choosing seeds, season is what matters most.  The map on the back will tell what time of year to plant the seeds.  Hybrids are breed to avoid certain problems with diseases and sometimes cracking or misshapen fruit.  Hybrids are generally easier to grow, especially for a new gardener.  

Once you have your plants and seeds, it's time to plant the garden or click here to return!