Key Takeaways
If discount plants have healthy roots and no signs of disease or pests, they could be worth buying.
Don’t buy late-season vegetable transplants because they likely won’t produce a harvest.
Only buy discounted perennials if you have at least 4 weeks until the expected first fall frost in your area.
Most discounted plants appear at nurseries or garden centers in the fall as the growing season is winding down. After Easter, you might also find seasonal inventory such as tulips, hyacinths, and other spring-blooming bulbs at steep discounts because stores need to clear space.
Though buying plants for less is tempting, before you load all those rescue plants in the cart, there are a few things to check for. Here’s how to avoid bringing home problems alongside those bargain plants.
1. Signs of Disease
Bringing home a plant with a disease could potentially spread the disease to other plants in your home or garden. Often, the initial symptoms of a disease are the reason why the plant was put on the discount rack in the first place. Wilting, stunted growth, yellowing or browning leaves, leaf spots, and malformed shoot tips are all possible signs of plant infection.
If you aren’t sure if a discounted plant is diseased, and you decide to buy it, quarantine it for the first few weeks. Keep the plant away from any other indoor or outdoor plants, and watch it carefully while you give it a little TLC.
If it recovers quickly and starts producing healthy new growth free of problems, it may have been suffering from just a lack of water. If it doesn’t respond well within a short period of time, toss it in the trash, not the compost.
2. Presence of Pests
Look closely at the entire plant, including stems, leaves, buds, and blooms. If you see evidence of pest presence, especially the insects themselves, leave that plant where you found it. While a caterpillar munching on a leaf is fairly easy to spot and remove, smaller insect pests like thrips, spider mites, or unidentified larvae can risk introducing those problems to your own plants.
Check not only for insects and their larvae or nymphs, but also for eggs, pupal structures, sticky honeydew, webbing, and tiny dark dots on stems and the backs of leaves. If you bring a questionable plant home, quarantine it and watch it carefully. Especially for houseplants, it’s easier to prevent a problem than to deal with one later.
3. Root Rot
Before grabbing a discount plant, you should also take a close look at its roots to rule out root rot. Caused by fungal organisms (Rhizoctonia, Phytophthora, and Pythium), this disease affects the roots and crown of plants. Just like diseases affecting above-ground plant parts, root rot may spread to other plants through infested soil and water runoff. While it’s sometimes possible to save a plant in the early stages of root rot, you’re better off leaving any questionable plants where they are on the discount rack.
To look for root rot, give the plant a gentle tug. Is it firmly anchored in the soil? If it feels loose, that’s warning number one. If possible, carefully brush away a bit of soil and look at the crown and any visible roots. Healthy roots are white or cream-colored, not black. If they’re black, mushy, and soft, that’s a no-go. You can sometimes even pop the plant out of the container to look at the roots. If it won’t easily slide free of the pot, don’t force it and damage a plant you haven’t purchased yet.
4. No Signs of Life
This one seems obvious: If that collection of sticks in a pot shows no signs of life, don’t buy it, even at fifty cents (unless you want the pot). However, not every perennial plant that has dropped leaves is dead. To check, gently bend a twig back and forth. If it is supple and bends easily, there may be hope. If it snaps, it’s dead. Another way to check is to lightly scratch the bark of a small twig with a fingernail; if the tissue underneath is green, the stem is still alive.
Severe dehydration, lack of light, and dormancy all cause a plant to drop its leaves. If a plant shows a little green at the buds, you may be able to coax it into reflushing and continuing to grow. However, you should not pay much for this plant, as the odds are not good.
5. Late‑Season Vegetable Transplants
Lettuce plants in a four-pack that are already bolting aren’t worth planting. Likewise, a spindly tomato in late July should be left alone. The same applies to any other annual crops that are way past their planting time, such as cucumbers, melons, and pumpkins.
Garden centers may offer discount starter plants as the season progresses, but these veggies become increasingly stressed and stunted. If the plants are looking spindly, small, and pale, they’re unlikely to make a full recovery in your garden. Plus, you probably won’t get a harvest before the end of the season.
Tips for Buying Discounted Perennials
Reputable garden centers, greenhouses, and nurseries will discount perennials at the end of the season because keeping them for the next year is expensive and it requires space they don’t have. Such plants from these vendors are usually a good bet and a great way to save money. To determine if they are worth buying, first check if they have any of the problems above. After that, the biggest issue is if they’ll be able to overwinter for you.
Some perennials are sold with the intent to be grown as annuals. These include florist mums, tropical hibiscus, and ornamental salvia. While they are perennials in warmer climates, they might not be winter-hardy where you live. Buying them at the end of the season means you’ll either have to attempt to overwinter them in a sheltered space or indoors, or they’ll die soon.
You will also need to determine if there is still enough time for the plants to get established before the ground freezes. Most perennials do well when planted in the fall, but they need some time to acclimate to their new home before cold weather sets in. Planting at least 4 weeks (6 is better) before your expected first frost is the typical timeline for planting perennials. If you’ve already had a few frosts, it might be too late to get those rescued plants in the ground.
Unless you bury the plant container in garden soil or move it to a sheltered location, you are usually better off not buying that plant. Leaving perennials, even cold-hardy ones, in pots over the winter is detrimental to the plant and can kill it because the roots are not sufficiently insulated against the cold.
Read the original article on Better Homes & Gardens
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