5 Plants to Buy vs Starting from Seed

1. Celery. - I grew Pink Chinese and those plants thrived for 4 years in pots on my front porch.

2. Try Hamburg Rooted parsley. It produces a carrot shaped root that is delicious in soups and stews.

??? I want to grow artichokes and avocados. I have seeds for the artichokes but I have not figured out when to plant them.

I would also like to grow Avocado trees. I need cultivars that are very cold hardy such as Joey, Mexicola Grande, Lila, Del Rio, May, Wilma, Brogdon.... but reasonably priced seed or saplings??? I have not found yet.

Rosemary seems to germinate quite well in a hydroponic setting. I've got a small hydroponic setup that just sits on the book shelf. I planted 4 plugs of rosemary anticipating a hard time and now I've got 4 plants haha. Tossed em out in a pot.... problem solved.

I planted two rosemary plants at the edge of my front lawn over two decades ago. One was run over by a careless fill-dirt delivery service. The other survives. When it gets that old though, it's actually very easy to kill or at least be affected by extreme temperatures.

The trouble with starting seeds is confounding, because my lawn rosemary had no problem seeding all around it which led to more plants growing in the lawn.

I would recommend rooting rosemary in water from a sprig cut specifically in spring. Soil-rooting is sometimes problematic, and rooting cuttings from any other season is also sometimes problematic. Just remember to shield the roots from light if using a glass vessel.

I also have one growing in a whiskey barrel planter, preserving the lineage of the decades-old rosemary, since this is probably the last year I'm going to keep one in the lawn.

Grew rosemary this year from seed. Took about 6 months to get a usable size. I used a different seed starting mix that was mostly compost and sand (just had it left over from propagating junipers). Maybe that is what cause its success. Way easier to just buy one small plant form the store.

I don’t know any stores that sell plants for fall planting near me. The only plant i buy is bell peppers in the spring

I always let my spring plantings of herbs flower and go to seed so i get voluntary fall plants like cilantro, parsley, and dill. But i keep thyme, marjoram, oregano and rosemary plants going year round. For celery, i just plant the heart and end from the store. And keep it moist. It roots just fine and i harvest off it till the winter kills it off. Somehow this year i managed to keep my spring collards and mustard alive without bolting, now i have huge plants going into fall. Shade cloth did the trick i think...

Ooh, great suggestions! Thanks 😊

I grow my own celery because I can’t find the plants locally normally we use 8 to 10 because we also freeze it for soups up here in the north

Id love to grow celery, especially after listening to you. Running out of Time will push me to buy starts. Oh darn it - I need a greenhouse. Thank you, good video, as always

For Rosemary, I've had good germination with putting the seed in the refrigerator in the fall for planting the next spring. I've tried primed seed, but it did poorly compared to seed I stratified myself.

Travis, when are you going to list your fig plants for sale - they were looking good in the backgroungd

I direct sowed my celery last yr and had more celery than I knew what to do with. I blanched and froze enough for soups and stews, but I like some fresh for different culinary uses and if I still have seeds ( haven't checked the seed box for that yet) I'll probably direct sow a little this yr.
I'm one of those people who can't stand cilantro, it taste worse than soap.

Where's Brooklyn? We need some of her humor more often.

I tried seedless watermelon for the first time and just ate my first. Oh Lord it was good. A orange crush or something like that. It looked more like salmon but don't care what the color was from Park seed. I got 5 to germinate out of the 10 seeds for $15.00. I've got maybe 15 melons that I'll harvest. Not to bad and thanks for the information on how to get them to germinate. I'm in central Oklahoma zone 7. I think I enjoyed that melon Almost.... as much as your boys! lol

We would NEVER consider growing Rosemary from seed. Even purchasing a plant it is still risky and keeping it alive. We do have one this year that is doing really good. Should it make it until late Spring early Summer next year it will be a winner. ...................... FINALLY!!!

Relabel this to “things that you should grow in your orchard next to your trees. “

Sorry to say . But I buy all my plants 😅 don't have good luck with trying inside....but I only grow tomatoes, cucumbers and Bell peppers..... did grow a few potatoes this year in a laundry basket😅 I got two and a half pounds 😊 pretty proud of myself!!

I totally agree. I tried and tried to grow rosemary and thyme from seed this year. Nope. I'll buy the plant's. I was ready to pull my hair out trying to figure out why they wouldn't germinate.

Hey Travis, There are some plants I find ain't worth the headache so I do buy them. Cilantro I am one that hates the soap taste. Now if you cook it then I do not taste it anymore so I avoid it when it is a garnish. Great video

Propagating rosemary from an established plant is super easy and the way to go. I put mine in a cup of water for a 2-4 weeks before going to seed starting mix. Go Dawgs!

You just can’t get the right varieties of tomatoes and peppers I want to grow. You are forced to grow them from seed. But I rather have the nursery germinate each and every plant I grow, IF I can buy those varieties.
I am just a small fry gardener, < 20’x20’, which I have to lease, to grow there. But I did have 14 tomato, 4 cucumber/pickle, and 3 okra varieties. I do like to play. If you get some seed varieties, you can play more, you just have to start them. And try to find a non-box store nursery. The have seedlings, cheap.
I’m happy to buy/order onions slips, instead of sets/bulbs, and don’t grow from seed.
My rule of life is minimize W.O.R.K./co$t.

So where do you buy your plants from here in North Carolina? I don’t have any local nurseries that sells the plants?

I cut the bottoms off my store bought celery, and just lay them in the ground. They grow quickly. Ditto pineapples. I cut the head top and plant it. I've got four pineapple growing.

Cilantro will go to seed when it gets hot. It self-sows and the seeds are the main herb in hotdogs, big in pastrami, and so on. We did one planting years ago and had it ever since. Parsley, erk, but hamburger rooted is good for greens and the root. In spring, it'll bolt and come back in the fall. Dill, see cilantro. Rosemary? Lord, man, down here (Arizona) folks plant it as a heat/drought resistant flowering shrub.

I agree with all of these but I have never even seen a celery plant for sale so I will try that from seed this year. I just cut back my beast of a rosemary plant which has been rooting itself and trying to take over at least half of an 8x8 bed. i did save a nice rooted piece and put it in another bed. I have no idea why as I will never need more.

Johnny’s carries primed rosemary seeds that are pretty easy to germinate. Still a bit slower than your average seed but I’ve never had any not pop and thrive. Primed seeds are the secret. Note primed seeds are really only viable for a single year.

For cold tolerance plant ARP rosemary. Will take temps down to 10 degrees

I would like to add to the don’t bother to plant these list. If you are short on space, skip growing those large brassicas like broccoli, cauliflower, and green cabbage. For the space they take up in my garden beds compared to their how inexpensive it is to buy them, I don’t bother. Instead, I plant come again greens like tatsoi, arugula, romain, leaf lettuce, etc. Somehow, the heat here in Northeast Florida did not kill 2 of my Tango celery plants from last winter. They didn’t grow at all (in fact they have gotten smaller) but I have been feeding and watering them to see what they will do when the weather cools down. They were shaded by my determinant tomato plants through the worst heat of the summer so that helped.

It's so weird that cilantro tastes like soap to some people. I just think it's awful, like citrusy or something, that has no business in salsa. IMHO hate hate cilantro

I got a celery variety called Amsterdam a few years ago. It is a smaller cutting variety, and easily reseeds itself. I have it in a large pot. I haven’t found it in the garden stores here, so I’m glad to have it. I harvest it all before the weather freezes, and I chop and store it in the freezer.

I successfully started 5 rosemary plants from seeds this year, and I think I’m going to dig one and pot it up to keep it over the winter. Hopefully I won’t need to go to the trouble of starting from seed again. It does die off over the winter here.

I grow lots of parsley and dill because I share with the butterflies.

I bought 6 celery plants it grew all winter and now i have one left here in Central Florida. Under 40 % shade cloth. I froze it and just kept using it. Loves a container.

Travis, I don’t know if it’s because I buy them too early in the year but every single time I buy transplants they go to seed especially the cilantro and parsley but if I start them by seed, I don’t have that problem throughout the fall and winter do you think I’m just buying them too early in the season? Usually, I put them in the ground around the first part of October and I am in your growing zone over in Panama City.

I love rosemary on potatoes and chicken! And it does grow like a bush! I also propagated rosemary, and it was so easy to do! And I did that with basil too.

Buy the grocery store celery, use what you want, and then replant the base (basal plate) with small leaves in the garden. With shade and moisture it will root and grow and can re-harvested.

Thank you for the info. love the videos

Hi Travis,I was digging up one of my empty beds,had squash in summer there,I came across a looked like a large slug,but Orange!,he squished real nice...do you have any clue what it was?... hazlehurst GA

celery is grown here in cool frost free climate in spring/summer. must be your humidity.

don't buy Bonnie's plants if you want produce

Have you had you new greenhouse wired as yet?

Hey - I cut the bottom 3" of celery and place the bottom in a dish with water. Once it Starts to root just transplant it in the garden works like a charm.

Hi Travis, All of the herbs you mentioned, can they all grow in the same raised bed?

Does anyone sell seed packets that have a few seeds of different plants,say 20 or so? I am limited on space and grow mostly in raised beds. I have tried saving the extra seeds over winter but don’t have much success in getting them to germinate the next year.
Thank you and I really learn a lot from your videos!
Tony Key

I love cilantro too!

I don't think cilantro tastes like soap. I just don't care for the taste. Maybe it was that my Dad cooked Mexican so much as a kid and used cilantro so much that I grew to dislike the taste.

couldnt disagree more. that $4 packet of seeds is a decade of plants.

I bought sweet basil about 5 years ago and haven't had to buy any since. I let flower for the bees and get plenty of volunteers every year. You can move them around when they sprout,leave them where they sprout or pull them out.

I understand the economics angle and possibly it is a wash to grow these versus buying plants depending on how you analyze it.
However, I am a gardener and I enjoy it so I like starting celery, basil and rosemary.
Here are some things to consider about growing seed vs transplants:
1.) You have a better choice of varieties when you grow from seed. Your local big box store is only going to have a limited number of varieties.
2.) The cost of a seed packet may be the same as the cost of a transplant but with most seeds, that packet of seeds is usable for multiple years so it actually costs less.
3.) If you want to do succession cropping you won't be able to get another round of transplants a month or so later as they will be gone or badly overgrown at the stores.
4.) Finally most importantly, my goal as an organic gardener is to avoid all the stuff I can in and on my food. If I grow it, I know what soil medium it has been grown in, whether any fertilizers and pesticides are on it and where it is at in it's growth cycle.
It is not just simple economics to some people.
I enjoy your videos.