Shopping online for perennials and flower bulbs presents different questions than when shopping in person. When buying plants at a garden center, they are often in pots and most likely have a decent amount of growth to start. They often also cost quite a bit more due to the larger size and growth you get with them. Gardeners love to shop online for perennials, bulbs, and even annuals. However, they may find themselves confused over how their plants will arrive. You may be wondering: bare root vs potted plants? When shopping online for plants, what is a plant start or a plug? Get answers to all your plant purchasing questions below.
Plant Starts, Bare Roots, Potted Plants and Plugs: Learn the Difference
Plant Starts and Pre-Potted Perennials
These terms are often interchanged on online stores. Garden plants sold as plant starts or pre-potted plants are shipped in a small pot with soil and some above-ground growth. The pre-potted perennials and vines that Holland Bulb Farms sells ship in a 3.5″ nursery pot. They are typically slightly smaller than a potted perennial sold in a garden center.
Garden Plugs
Green industry experts and plant buyers are most familiar with the term garden plug. When working in a greenhouse, young annuals and perennials are often purchased as plugs. Plugs are small plants that have a few stems and some top growth on them. These garden plugs are then transplanted into a larger nursery pot to allow for expanded root growth and therefore more top growth.
Garden plugs are not only meant for green industry professionals such as nurseries and greenhouses. Online garden stores sell annual plants like ornamental oregano, impatiens, zinnias, and petunias as garden plugs. They are sent in 2.5″ plastic grower pots.
Buying young annual plugs online has a huge advantage in that you can get hard-to-find and exclusive plant varieties that a garden center may not carry. Ordering garden plugs online may also allow getting your annual plantings started indoors sooner, due to earlier availability and shipping timeframes.
Bare Root vs Potted Plants
Are you trying to decide whether to purchase bare-root perennial plants or potted plants this year? Most likely, you will end up with a mix of both if you shop online and in person at garden stores. There are several reasons to plant either bare root plants or potted plants.
Bare Root Availability
The first reason is the availability from the source you are purchasing your plants from. Online nurseries are more likely to sell bare-root plants, as they are easier to ship due to their dormant nature. Potted plants are shipped by online nurseries, as mentioned above; however, due to their live top growth, it can make shipping more expensive and challenging. This is especially true for larger potted plants, such as a 1 gallon perennial sold at a garden center. It may come down to what is available from where you are buying from. Most in person garden centers do not sell their plants in bare root form, and are more likely to sell them as already started potted plants.
Why Plant Bare Root Perennials?
Gardeners may shy away from bare-root plants, as they like the instant satisfaction a potted plant brings when planted in the ground. However, within a few weeks, bare-root plants will sprout, and above-ground growth can be seen. Perennials planted as bare root tend to have stronger and healthier root systems, which results in strong, healthy plants.
There is no transplant shock when planting bare roots, which can occur when transplanting potted plants. Potted plants are grown in rich soil and fertilized heavily to produce a retail-ready product. Therefore, when transplanted to the garden, the new growing conditions and soil can be a shock to the system of potted perennial plants.
Bare-root plants tend to be more cost-effective than potted plants. Due to less maintenance and storage, it allows for the same varieties to be offered for lower prices.
Plugs, Plants and Roots
To grow a garden, you have to start somewhere. There is no right choice between using a plant plug, a plant start, a bare root, or a potted plant. Often, it boils down to what is available for the perennials or flowers you want to plant. When making a decision on what to buy, base it on what plants you want in your garden and not the form they are sold in, they will all eventually turn into beautiful accents in your garden.
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