Although you may have never heard of the term plug plant, you have undoubtedly seen a plant plug at your local nursery or garden center. This term simply refers to the plant in a very young stage. Rather than starting the seed in its permanent location, the seed has been started in some form of container or carton. Once the seedling has reached a certain size, the root system begins to plug around the soil, allowing you to transplant the plant into its new location.
Annual plug plants are one of the most common types of plug available. You can find many different varieties of plugs at your local garden center, or you can purchase a tray to plant your own. Not only can you find flower plugs, but vegetable plugs are also quite common.
One of the advantages of an annual plug is that you can start the planting later in the season than normally required with seeds. The transplant is also often started by a skilled nursery worker, and has already made it through the difficult and delicate starting growth stage. If you have a tendency to kill you seeds, or do not have the time or skill to start your garden from scratch, this type of pre-started garden plant is a great idea.
Another use of garden plug transplants is to get your garden started earlier in the season than typically possible. You can start your seedlings indoors, reducing the risk of late spring weather damaging your young garden. With a transplant, a late frost has less risk of damaging your summer yield.
Because most trays are designed to hold hundreds of plugs, you can plant more than enough seeds to meet your garden needs. This allows a couple of bad seeds to not inhibit the size of garden you eventually plant. By planting more, you give yourself the best chance of having a full and successful harvest.
When you have determined that it is time to plant your annual plug plants into the garden, there are a couple of tips that you should follow. The first is to recognize that the plugs are in a very vulnerable stage of their growth. Before you plant you should take a couple of days to harden the plants to their new environment. This simply means that you take the plants outside for increasing amounts of time per day and allow them to adjust to the new temperature and climate.
Spacing your new plants is also important. Just because the plug is small at this stage, does not mean that it won’t grow considerably. Check with spacing guides for the plants you have purchased and be sure to give your plants plenty of room to grow. Following these few tips will send you well on your way to having an enjoyable and fulfilling harvest.