Think twice before buying these 15 plants as seedlings

As the calendar inches closer and closer to spring, so does the promise of seedlings at your local garden center. Even those gardeners who have already started their seeds in January keep an eye out for healthy seedlings at the store. It’s easy to see why seedlings are so beneficial. All the work of germination is finished and root development has already begun. When the seedlings come home, they just need to be planted in the garden. However, there are several plants you should think twice about buying before you decide to plant them in your garden as seedlings.

All plants can be grown as seedlings, but that does not mean all of them should. There are many types of vining plants, root vegetables, and flowers that should not be planted as seedlings. Several are susceptible to transplant shock, which occurs when the roots are too sensitive to be moved from one environment to the other. Transplant-shocked plants can fail to grow further during a season, and may even die off.

In other cases, it is just easier to start from seed because the plants prefer it and grow faster as a result. And since the vine, root, and flower categories are vast, breaking down which specific types are ones you should not purchase as seedlings is important, should you ever want to plant any of these in your garden.

Zinnia

Whether you’re using them as a border plant to ward off rabbits or growing them for purely visual purposes, you cannot go wrong with beautiful zinnia (Zinnia elegans) flowers. That is, unless you purchase them as seedlings. 

Like several other flowers on this list, zinnias have delicate roots that easily suffer from transplant shock. Instead, zinnias much prefer to be started and grown to completion from seeds. You can directly sow them into the ground, but zinnia flowers are also exceptionally tolerant of container gardening. So long as you do not move them or disturb their roots in any way, these flowers will grow happily.

Cosmos

In general, it is cheaper to purchase seed rather than seedlings. This is true whether you’re looking to create a crop garden of vegetables, or a flower garden filled with colorful varieties like cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus). These flowers are very affordable as seeds and grow quickly in a wide variety of different soils. 

These traits make them rather incompatible for seedling purchase, because the roots continue to grow inside the containers and can often be root bound upon removal. Root bound plants often have little to no soil, dry roots, and aren’t often able to accept water and nutrients as a result.

Nasturtium

Though they are very resilient when fully grown and established, nasturtium flowers (Tropaeolum majus) have super sensitive root systems that do not like to be transplanted. They are just as likely to get transplant shock as any of the others on this list. 

You can directly sow them into the ground, or start them in biodegradable containers that will decompose into the earth as the flowers grow. This greatly reduces the risk of transplant shock, and allows you to get a head start on your nasturtiums if you live in a colder climate.

To view all 15 veggies and flowers, Copy and paste the website below.

Source: Hunker.com

Photo credit: