Seeds or Transplants

TSU Extension Agent Joellen Dimond talks about whether you should grow your garden from seeds or transplants. She says that depends on how long the plant takes to grow from a seed to producing fruit. If it takes a long time she recommends using transplants because you don’t have to care for the plant for as long, especially the seedling stage where environmental conditions can be less than ideal. Joellen recommends transplants for tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage. If the plant grows quickly and produces quickly she recommends growing from seed, it is less expensive. She recommends growing sunflowers, beans, peas, and squash from seed. Some plants must be seeded in the ground like carrots. Joellen then demonstrates how to make newspaper pots she uses to grow seedings. With a strip of newspaper and a wooden form she can make essentially free, biodegradable pots. She then shows how to fill and plant seeds in the pots. When the plants are ready to go into the garden she just plants it pot and all. The newspaper breaks down in the ground.