Although the warmer weather has not yet arrived, now is the time to get your bedding schemes planned. We’re starting to see bedding plug plants available for sale. Here at YouGarden, we’ve got a wide range of bedding and basket plants available to pre-order. These are available in different sizes to suit different gardeners and different needs. The guides below will give you a bit of an explanation as to what each one is for.
Remember: Only plant out spring bedding after the last frosts. E.g. late April/early May so you’ll need to provide heat and light before then.
Plug Plants
Ideal for getting ahead of the game, these are trays of small plants that can be planted into pots straight away. However, they will need growing on for 4-5 weeks before planting out. They will arrive in nursery fresh condition inside a sturdy blister pack. Plug plants offer great value for money, usually coming in larger pack sizes and often in mixes and collections.
Usually sold as trays of 40 plugs, they’ll be popped into a cardboard box housing with care details on the box. They will arrive at your door nursery fresh!
Jumbo Plugs
These are larger sized plug plants that are slightly more established and can also be planted into pots straight away. However, we would still advise growing on for 3-4 weeks before planting out. Jumbo plugs are more robust and offer great value. This is because they are often offered in larger pack sizes for value and efficiency.
Jumbo plugs are carefully placed into our new black greenhouses which have been specifically designed to transport your jumbo plugs. Safely, securely, but also so they fit through your letterbox.
Garden Ready
For a more ‘of the moment’ choice or simply for convenience, Garden Ready Plugs need no growing on whatsoever. They are very large plugs or ‘tray plants’ that are more established and robust than smaller plugs. They can be planted direct into baskets, containers, beds and borders and will not take as long to flower or fruit. Often offered in larger pack sizes than potted plants, they offer great value for money.
Garden Ready plugs delivered in our greenhouses which house the plugs nice and snug to ensure as safe as possible transportation. The greenhouse is closed around the rootball to keep them firmly in place and the plugs will be happy sitting in the greenhouse, as long as they’re kept moist, for over a week.
Re-Planting Your Plugs
For most Jumbo/Garden Ready collections, the “mini Greenhouse” they are packed in will have a label on the outside, listing the individual varieties inside. We recommend writing your own labels out on receipt! Unpack plugs immediately, and stand them in water for an hour. If you can’t do this, they can sit in Mini Greenhouses for a week if upright and not too wet. They may be slightly dry or yellow after being in a dark box in the post but they’ll quickly recover. Put them somewhere warm, light and airy such as a windowsill or greenhouse.
When potting on, handle the plugs carefully. For plug plants in trays, push them out using a suitable small instrument through the hole in the bottom of each cell – e.g. a “dibber” or a pencil. Pot on using our Windowsill planters or 9cm pots in Shuttle Trays, using good multi-purpose compost. Give your plants good water initially, then only when the top compost starts to dry. They don’t like to be left in standing water. If planting directly into flower beds, prepare the ground well. Removing weeds and digging in some compost or well-rotted manure if your soil is not already rich. Plant approx. 20cm (8”) apart to allow them room to grow.
Feed using a high potash feed such as Blooming Fast Superior Soluble Fertiliser for Flowers & Fruits, to encourage flowering. Dead-head when flowers fade to encourage more flowers. We recommend Easy Fill baskets for the very best hanging basket displays.
For more information on Plug Plants, Click Here.
