Does It Pay To Grow From Seed?

I just did an article on the costs of growing either vegetables or flowers from seeds indoors to harvest. I estimate it costs 99 cents per plant, providing you supply the labor. For details, see the article - http://www.morssglobalfinance.com/the-economics-of-growing-from-seed-indoors-to-harvest/

There are many ways to cut the costs, a little DIY on the light stand alone would save a lot. Look around Dave's for ideas, a follow-up article comparing costs would be interesting.

I say it depends on what seeds you are growing, a Packet of say cabbage seeds with 40 seeds is a waist of money for me as I always end up starting all 40 seeds and this means compost, pots, space in COLD greenhouse for 3 months, care, watering etc, so maybe I should really just buy half a doz small plants to save time and money. Flowers too are the same, If I just want a couple of the same plants I buy the small pot plants and maybe take cuttings etc rather than grow a hundred seeds that I need to care for, but the pleasure that comes from watching your seeds germinate, grow into healthy plants and either feed you or fill the garden with flowers, to me is PRICELESS, BUT an interesting project, by the way, not everyone can buy compost and pots etc at the same price.
Enjoy, WeeNel.

WeeNel: I agree with you about watching seeds grow into health plants. I live in New England where the average high temp in February is just below 0 C, I will start planting my seeds next week - a real hint that spring/summer is coming....

I start my first plants on Valentine's Day, it gives the petunias lots of time before planting and makes me soooo happy.

In NE, I have been starting petunias on MR 1 for hanging plants. Maybe I should back themup a bit....

emorss, I start them a little early to get a good start because I travel during spring break and I don't want my husband to have to worry about the watering. They have a month of growth and he can just bottom water and not have to be perfect. :D

I like to start my own plants. I can get much larger selection of varities than you will find in your local garden store esp. big box store. I also have a greenhouse at work which I can use.

When it comes to tomatoes, there are thousands of varieties. It can be difficult to find tomato plants other than the most popular varieties. So if you're going to grow different kinds, it becomes really important to start tomatoes from seeds. This link explains further: http://www.tomatodirt.com/grow-tomatoes-from-seeds.html