Why are garden centres selling delicates already.

[Digeroo]

Courgettes and beans have started appearing on our allotments with nice printed labels.  Why are the garden centres selling them already, the plants are simply dieing due to frost damage? 

[Digeroo]

[plot51A]

To make more money!

[Digeroo]

Do you think they can return them?

[plot51A]

 ;D  ;D  ;D

[betula]

Garden centres have done this sort of thing for a long time..

If you are not in the know you are doomed to failure.

[tonybloke]

They are seling them because the seed sowing dates and orders and delivery dates were probably made last year. The plants are/should be targeted at folk with greenhouses who want to buy small plants and then grow them on before planting out.
If folk can't read a couple of good gardening books is that the fault of the Garden Centre?

[debster]

i was caught out terribly with fros and some beautiful fuschias, i bought them and put them out lost the lot, (i would know about veg timings but not flowers as i dont normally grow them) still you live and learn

[macmac]

Garden centres have done this sort of thing for a long time..

If you are not in the know you are doomed to failure.

and when you fail they sell you more !clever eh  ;)

[Morris]

I know, it annoys me too.

However, the family run nursery I use, where they grow their own veg from seed, has notices up everywhere re frost danger.  I succumbed to temptation yesterday and bought an extra, well advanced cucumber plant (despite having my own baby seedlings) for my (heated) greenhouse and practically had to answer a 20 point questionnaire before he would sell it to me!

[goodlife]

practically had to answer a 20 point questionnaire before he would sell it to me!

Brilliant...next time you visit them will you give them a praise for that..!
Our local homebase has trolleys full of toms, peppers etc..and half of them dead...I don't think even staff has a idea not to put them outdoors yet...!..Now how do they make profit on that...b&q has staff who don't water plants properly... ::)

[Pesky Wabbit]

... Now how do they make profit on that...

Just look at their prices per seed/plant.

[goodlife]

...yeah... ::)

[GRACELAND]

To make more money!

I agree


if they all die you will be back to buy again  :o

[landimad]

The growers need to shift their goods and the wholesalers are forced to offload onto the retailers. Joe public have to buy these lovelies and get caught out by not having the space that the big guns do.
All in all we pay they gain. That is why they gave the allotment holders the choice of seed or plant to grow. yes growing little plants saves you sowing, but think of what you are missing when you grow from seed. stem rot freezing temperatures and more. If you really want to grow something special then you get it and care for it as you would for anything you want to keep for a long time.
I would give my right arm for the numbers on the lottery, that way I could have the lottie I wanted not just a piece of ground at the back of my house. ;D

[Digeroo]

Just been done to the allotment another set of courgettes dieing, looked so bonny yesterday.  Should be an RSPCA equivalent for plants.

[GRACELAND]

its still to cold out there


at night

The poor plants are shivering

[saddad]

My "delicates" are still snug in the house, in the seed packets...  :-X

[plainleaf2]

courgettes love die anyway so no need to blaome shops.
As for tomatoes done correctly you could have planted them out at least 2 months now. and they would have survived like mine.

[PurpleHeather]

If you want to plant out now, then you can do so. Just cover everything with a cloche of some sort.

They do not look pretty it is true but they keep off the frost.

Protective covers can be made from all sorts. It is not just the early morning frost which is a problem either, that wind has been raw in some places too.

[tonybloke]

I would give my right arm for the numbers on the lottery, that way I could have the lottie I wanted not just a piece of ground at the back of my house. ;D

but how would you dig it with only one arm? LOL