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Gardening

Tomato plants in supermarkets?

(11 Posts)
WOODMOUSE49 Sun 02-Feb-20 23:43:22

Agree with grannyticktock

Morrisons are great. I've bought lots over the years from bulbs, seeds, gooseberry/ blackcurrant /tayberry plants, tomato, courgette - the list goes on ... ...

Amazing prices too. My store always has plenty in stock.

Callistemon Sun 02-Feb-20 23:36:42

I have bought plants from supermarkets sometimes and I think it depends on whether or not a member of staff is allocated to water them and how quickly they are sold.
We have a Lidl within about 15 miles and the plants are usually good but snapped up very quickly.

We bought tomato plants from a nursery/garden centre last year and they were hopeless which was unusual; some grown from seed from Wilko were wonderful.

If they look strong and sturdy they should be ok.

grannyticktock Sun 02-Feb-20 22:34:23

Aldi and Lidl can have very good plants but the quality varies and the supply is unreliable. Morrison's plants are better, or of course a garden centre will have more choice of varieties (garden centres are much more of a thing now than they were when you last lived here.) Even little local greengrocers or hardware stores sometimes stock tomato plants. Another place to get them is in spring fairs, village fetes etc where they will often have plant stalls.

Barmeyoldbat Sun 02-Feb-20 21:38:52

Yes some super markets do, I always get mine from Waitrose and have great success with them.

QuaintIrene Sun 02-Feb-20 21:32:44

In my Lidl the plants are not watered and are just left outside to shrivel. I can’t think anyone would buy them.
Morrisons sell nice plants. I buy tomato plug plants, strawberries and last year I got a tray of fancy lettuce that kept me in salads for weeks. I grow flowers from seed very well, but have little success with other things. I have tried.

DoraMarr Sun 02-Feb-20 21:25:01

Not Canberra, can be.

DoraMarr Sun 02-Feb-20 21:24:40

I’ve bought tomato plants from Aldi and they were great, but I agree you have to buy them as soon as they come in because they Canberra left to dry out. However, I bought a tray of very droopy plugs with no label reduced to 50p last year and they turned out to be chilli peppers, and very prolific they were too.

ladymuck Sun 02-Feb-20 21:22:20

Yes, I agree with Monica on this one. It is much better to buy plants from garden centres.

M0nica Sun 02-Feb-20 19:45:30

Some supermarkets here will have bedding plants and tomato plants in season, as will garden centres.

It will vary depending on the size of the shop, but I find supermarket plants are always a bit iffy as the staff do not know how to look after them and they are frequently not watered regularly or thoroughly watered and constant drying out and rehydrating them is not good for them. Stick to garden centres.

Esspee Sun 02-Feb-20 12:27:52

There never seems to be a set pattern to the plant offerings in Lidl though they, and Aldi, offer great value for money IF you get the plants when they come into store. If you want a specific item the best place to go is your local garden centre. At least they water them there.
I would suggest you buy tomato plants soon and keep them on the window ledge as the growing season is much shorter the further north you go.

evianers Sun 02-Feb-20 12:14:41

As we have only just arrived back in the UK after 44 years, are not too au fait with what is offered in supermarkets : for instance, our local Lidl in France always had tomato plants in a 10 section plastic tray available at the beginning of May. Do various supermarkets offer the same thing here please?