Depends. But I often tend to order small, so they need a year or two of grow out before being put in the wild. Sometimes it's the wrong time of year so they get held till the right time. In the more tended beds I tend to put in since I'm hovering around anyway.

Sometimes it's the wrong time of year so they get held till the right time.

I agree. I will put smaller plants in the ground in April or May when natural moisture and cooler temperatures are more the norm whereas in July or August it will be too dry and so potting them up till the Fall is what I will often do.

Do you mean plugs? I put my plugs straight in the ground because they grow better. You need to water them until they are established. I think plugs do better planted into the ground, because they adapt quickly to real life. As long as they have water, they should develop good roots.

Well.... yes and no. My intention is to put things right in the ground, and I try to as much as possible. I do a lot of mail-order and so most of my purchases are smaller, and yes, I intend to put them directly in the ground.

The reason I don't always do that is simply neglect. I have very little time for gardening and to use a food analogy, my eyes are always bigger than my stomach. So I buy plants and have no time to plant them. Or buy them planning to re-do a bed or put a new bed in, and then don't get to do that, so the plants are sitting in their tiny little pots. Then I see they need more room so I pot them up till I "get to the bed". Then in fall when I realize there's no way I will get to that new bed, I pot up them up in big pots to overwinter in the garage.

But yes, I have little hesitation in putting most small new plants directly in the ground.

:)

Dee

No. Anything small gets destroyed by snails or overwhelmed by other plants. But I buy very few plants. No space left.

Way back when when I used to mail-order perennials, I usually would pot them up first to get a good root system going and to beef them up so they could better withstand outdoor conditions. I don't really plant many things that are on the small side anymore (I want instant gratification) outside of some seed-grown items I grew myself which aren't the teeny mail-order things you get.

Thanks, all. I decided to pot up in hopes of eventually getting stronger plants! Fingers crossed here -- sometimes this works well for me...

Keeping in mind rosaprimula’s reminder that either method has its risks, it makes sense to hedge your bets by doing some each way.

I’m a firm believer in getting plants where they want to be - in the ground - as soon as possible. It mostly works. I’m about tough love…get out there and survive if you can!

I put em in the ground…then coddle them for abit. They always do great!

You have to be diligent about watering plants with small root systems, and for me, it's easier to ensure they're watered when they're in pots. I have a large tree that sucks all the moisture out of my backyard, and with Oregon's dry summers, the plants rely on me and my hose for survival.

I've done both. If a plant arrives healthy, I'll typically stick it straight in the ground because it seems every time you move a plant, it stresses it. If it arrives barely alive, I usually pot it up until it gets back to health before planting.