[prakash_mib]

We must all have a fortune in our greenhouses but I'd rather give my extras away.

for me it is
We must all have our own greenhouses. Hang on! let me cherish the thought

[m1ckz]

yes ive seen brassica plants @ 4 45 each,im about to dump loads of cabbage lol

[compostqueen]

Don't dump the cabbage plants, give them away on Freecycle or leave them at the end of the drive with a FREE sign on them

I Freecycle lots of spare veg plants. 

[Runwell-Steve]

Theres actually some Parsnips on there for £5.99 for 10 plants.

[8doubles]

Still a bit of pirate blood left in Kernow.

The Grockles no longer have to actually go there to get mugged.

[mr Isaccs]

I've given away loads this year :- 25 sweetcorn plants
                                                      2 cucumbers
                                                      35 various brasicca
                                                      20 kelsea onion seedlings
                                                      3 courgettes plants
                                                      pots of chive, parsley and mint
                                                      and enough tomato plants to feed the world and his brother.
   I tend to sow far too many seeds (like alot of people do) just in case they don't germinate.
   I could have made a bit of money from excess produce either for myself or charity but it's nice to give
   I was given alot from fellow plot holders on my first year and it's good to follow pattern and help others out.
   I still have 100 leeks ready to plant out but I've already got hundreds in the ground and have ran out of room, nobody seems to want them though
   When I win the pumpkin competition though (Ice ) I will donate that to charity and sell the jack 'o' lantern (if I get any) on a donation basis and give the proceeds to Mc millan.
                                                                                                            

[Trebor]

Kind of on the same topic, just been to a high street shop in London and they are selling 16 Strawberries for £7.29. OK, they were big, but that still works out at over £12 per kg (2.2lb = 1kg). If they were covered in chocolate then maybe….!

(Should add that was fruit, not plants).

[mr Isaccs]

I saw2 inch tall sweetcorn plants the other day outside a shop priced at 95p each,
for a 16 plant bed that works out pretty expensive considering you pay 24p a cob in asda in season.
   Mind you there is the issue of freshness involved regarding supermarket veg but I just wouldn't pay the price for pre potted veg plant, as been said already its the exitement of planting a seed and nuturing it to production stage.
   Not everyone has the privilege of greenhouses or multipul window ledges so there is a demand but how dare anyone charge such rediculous prices

[DD.]

Going back to the carrots & parsnips for a moment, it's a bit of a double whammy isn't it, as anyone gullible enough to buy these, wouldn't have the foggiest idea that you have to be very careful in attempting to transplant roots.

They'd be back for more next week.

[mr Isaccs]

So that would be £7 for 20 parsnips that probably won't produce anything worthy of peeling, but carrots at that price is even more rediculous, at least if a parsnip managed to grow they are quite large but £6.98 for twenty carrots is scandelous.
   There should be a law against it, infact trading standards comes to mind, theyre not fit for purpose.

[nilsatis1964]

I have used root trainers inside to get carrots and parsnips to germinate because every row sowed outside has failed.  I have transoplanted when they have 2 leaves and it has worked.  Those plants look far too big to move and will just die.  Also all my spares get given away because my gardening is about doing something different and the bottom line is what I deal with at work not in leisure time.

[solway cropper]

The bandwagon is really rolling now but eventually it'll grind to a halt and the real gardeners will be left still doing what they've always done.

On my doggie walk the other morning I passed a garden filled with neat rows of veggies, at least 8 or 9 varieties, where none had been the week before. In the corner a pile of discarded plastic trays and modules. they don't have a greenhouse so I don't think they grew their own from seed.

I wonder if they considered that all this stuff is going to be ready at the same time

[Snoop]

Most of the old boys round here buy from nurseries or guys at the market. To be fair to them, the best growing season in these parts is actually quite short by the standards of much of Spain, despite the heat. So to speed matters up, they buy plants. But it's such an enormous business it all works out quite cheap.

For plants that I don't want many of and for which the seeds are quite expensive, I buy from the nursery. If I order half a dozen red pepper plants and half a dozen of the long Italian style green ones, I might end up with nigh on a dozen of each for 2 euros 40 in total. I bought two aubergine plants and think I paid 40 cents for the pair. You don't get many if any choices over the varieties, however, plus they are not as good as plants I grow myself in their early days.

The prices being mentioned in this thread are daylight robbery! But there are obviously enough people with more money than sense to pay them.

One thing that struck me when I was looking through the Marshall's catalogue was how many plants of each type you get in their collections. Sixteen caulis, fair enough. But 16 purple sprouting plants?!

[Mike the Postman]

I bought most of my veg as seedlings this year as I'm only just back in action after being no good to man nor beast with a slipped disc in my neck.I bought them from a farmer who's set up a little business from a couple of polly tunnels.I paid £1 per 12 plants which includes celery,broccoli,and cauliflower aong other things.I actually dont think the price is that bad considering how much you pay for seeds and the time and effort growing them.

I'll be filling the rest of my gaps (and a bit more) on Monday when my allotments hold their second ever plant sale.

[rhysdad]

I think a lot of has to do with the learning curve and experience gained over the years. I mean, this year i bought all my T&M seeds in Wyevale at 50% reduction, there's a bit of a saving where perhaps others buy seed at full cost. Then sowing. This year (due to inexperience) i ended up with 45 chili plants and about the same of Tomatoes. I ended up giving most of the chili's away and almost half the toms. Next growing year i'll remember to only sow a dozen seeds as opposed to 4 dozen! Same with salad leaves. Don't sow two x two yard rows at the same time otherwise you'll have a load of salad to eat all at once and it eventually bolts and some is wasted. i'm now sowing 18" rows ten days apart for succession! The other money-saving bit is sign up to any free seed offers and raid skips for anything useful. I have two hard plastic cloches, six feet long fashioned from a hexagonal fish tank left in a skip by the fish man behind our unit. Cut in two down the middle it should last for years and cost nowt...

 I think a lot of the money-saving aspect of growing your own comes with time...