How-to Buy Plants From A Nursery

We live in an image obsessed world. Looks do matter regardless of what anyone says.

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And this is especially true when selecting plants! Appearance is everything. 

If you’re not happy with how the plants look or the selection of plants that you see at the local nursery, ask if and when they will be getting a new shipment of plants in. This will save you the frustration of buying picked over, wilty and sad looking plants. Or buying none at all if they’re sold out of the type you were looking for. 

I was shopping for plants this past week only to discover one nursery where I typically shop was out of cherry tomato plants. Disaster! 

So I asked. And yes, they were able to pinpoint a date and time when a new shipment would be arriving. And you can bet I’ll be there. 

This time, I walked out empty-handed. Why? The plants looked scruffy and picked over. After all, I’m going to pay the same price whether I buy the sad looking plants (don’t worry, I still do feel sorry for them and hope they all find a good home) or get to select from the new shipment arriving momentarily. And just because plants were grown in a nursery doesn’t mean that were well-cared for. Look over the plants carefully! 

So I made a mental list of everything I consider when buying plants:

• Have the plants been watered recently, is the soil wet to the touch? Look for a gap between the soil and the sides of the pot or plastic container [as seen below], it’s a red flag for infrequent watering! Uneven watering takes a huge toll on young plants. 

• Are the plants standing straight up or drooped over? Are the plants broken? Do they they look tangled, slouched over and unkempt? Are the stems broken?

• A rack of plants displayed in direct sunlight or sitting on hot concrete doesn’t exactly showcase signs of care when the business is open. Just imagine how they treat their plants when the business is closed!
• Don’t ever settle. Look for the healthiest plants in a group. Sure, it’s easiest to just grab the plants just in front but do take the time to look over all the plants on the shelf and pick the ones that look the healthiest. 

• Check to see that there is only one seedling per cell in the tray. At first glance double seedlings may seem like you’re getting a bonus spin, but it's really a negative, as both plants are competing for nutrients and water to survive in that small space.
• Look for signs of disease, like yellow leaves, black spots or stem rot.  

• Do you see bugs or any insect presence? Run away. Are there any weeds growing in the pot? Walk away. 

• Compare the size of the plant to the size of the pot. A large plant in a small pot could be root-bound and is in desperate need of being transplanted.
• Look for plants with dark green leaves and compact growth. This is more important than height, buds or blossoms.
• A few dead and/or scrappy plants at a nursery, okay, I can work with that. But if the majority of plants look bad, I would shop elsewhere. 

What do you look for when shopping for plants?  Do you always shop at the same nursery year after year or do you shop at several? I stop at them all!