I shop alot at “big box” stores such as Home Depot, Walmart, Target, etc. However, when it comes to plants don’t expect much. First of all, the associates at the stores aren’t required to be knowledgeable about the plants in order to work there. Also, most of these stores bring plants in way too early for the average gardener to expect to buy and plant the same day. Here is a perfect example. I was at Home Depot in Provo, Utah yesterday and I saw the plant rack full of tomatoes and peppers. I took a picture.

If someone where to buy and plant today without protection, they will most certainly die. Tomatoes and peppers should not be planted until all danger of frost has past, that means May 20th for me, because they will die with one frost. Now you can plant them early with Wall-O-Waters or hotcaps, but even then I wouldn’t do that until mid April at best because they will start to poke through too early. 

Another concern is when the plant was started. These plants that I took pictures of are ready to plant from a size standpoint. Their roots are ready for it and so is the size. Some of these peppers probably wouldn’t even fit in a hot cap. My point is that they are not an ideal size for planting in mid May, 6 weeks more. According to the Utah State University planting guide, tomato and pepper seeds should be started about 6 weeks before transplanting. I started my seeds March 15th because I plan to plant them May 1st under hotcaps. Here they are as of today.

They look like they are right on track. So please, don’t be a sucker and buy these plants from a “big box” store now unless you have some other use for them and you know what you are doing. 

Don’t get me wrong, I think “big box” stores should be selling gardening supplies and plants, but the reason you aren’t paying nursery type prices is because you don’t get nursery type service. If you know what you are doing, then by all means, buy them cheap. However, just because the plant is for sale doesn’t mean it is ready to plant for a while. If you don’t know what you are doing then take my advice and go to a nursery. Let them advise you and you will be much more successful.

Here is a list of some Utah county nurseries that I have been to:

GardenPlot in Springville  801-491-0606  I go here for berries, fruit trees, grapes etc.

Hansen’s in Spanish Fork/Benjamin  801-794-1101  Great for vegetable starts

Cook’s in North Orem  801-225-8271 Large greenhouses, has a lot of selection. 

There are many more, so if others have experiences good or bad with others than please comment.

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