Poundland gardening buys

A question about : Poundland gardening buys

Raspberry plants, blueberry plants, gooseberry plants, plant pots packs of 3-5 (many different sizes), onion sets, watering cans etc.

Best answers:

• I got 4 raspberry canes and a bag of onion sets from there on Wednesday. The canes seem in really good condition, and the soil was moist, which pleased me as the canes I got from Wilko last year were really dry. The guy at the checkout said he gets loads of raspberries from his which is a good sign.
  Also, I've just seen a photo on FB of someone's onions from last year and they look great. Can't wait to get mine in the ground.
  I want to go back for more!
• Don't forget that even though blueberries are usually self fertile they do perform much better if you have one or two different varieties planted in the same location and that they don't do at all well in alkaline soil.
• You generally get what you pay for when buying plants. Onion sets, fine, but Blueberries sold in pound shops will generally be no more than rooted cuttings that will take a number of years before they bear fruit.
  Novice gardeners often don't realise this and either don't provide the correct growing conditions as described in the previous post, or quickly discard them in the absence of a crop. In my experience it is much better to be prepared to spend a bit more at the outset to get bigger, larger plants which start cropping years earlier.
  They may offer good value for many things but in the case of gardening as far as I can see plants in Pound Shops are largely an impulse buy, a bit like a sweet rack at the end of a supermarket till.
• Have to agree with above by safestored4, fruiting plants you would be far better paying a few quid more
  I notice the plants in my Poundland are now showing long pale shoots due to shop heat, they are bound to fail IMO, you cannot plant them out with soft shots in January
• Thanks for the tips, I popped in a bought a few bits from them. Not the plants mind, but the canes, fleece etc. Always find if you dont buy them now they always sell out when you do want them.
  Do you think the canes in Tesc* would be the same quality as P*undland?
• I have never bought canes from either so cannot comment about their quality. I have bought short 3 foot canes from M *rrisons on a couple of occasions and have found them to be fine.
  For larger canes I am now self sufficient. I bought a tall growing bamboo from a local gardening centre in their end of year sale a few years ago. Still not cheap, but I can now harvest 3 or 4 strong 6-9 foot canes each year which can either be used as they are for runner beans, climbing french beans, sweet peas etc or shortened as required. For any gardeners planning on staying where they are for a few years would recommend this as a good money saving investment.
• bought blueberries myself a few years ago from poundland they are doing really well they do fruit every year ...maybe im just lucky? iv bought a number of things through the years without any real issue a lot of good buys ...
• Claire
  The basic rules I use are:
  Get them in the first day or so
  Avoid anything with soft growth (any leaves at this time of year)
  Check that it is what you think - Vaccinium myrtillus is the European bilberry not the one you buy in the shops (section Cyanococcus)
  The fact the soil is moist does not mean that the plant is alive. Rub a thumb nail gently against the bark. It is exposes green live material, it could be worth it.
  Worry about any firm that sells raspberry "bushes". They are ignorant and some charge twice as much as a good nursery for a single raspberry cane.
  Also be cautious about anything that is sold by generic name; "gooseberry" "apple" rather than variety.
  Accept that you are taking a punt and may end up hosting a dry stick.
• Thanks RAS, I will update on here with how I get on but I'm willing to be patient and treat it as a learning experience/experiment.
  The species of the blueberries is Vaccinium corymbosum/bluecrop and I have some ericaceous compost and suitable containers.
  Fingers crossed but is no great loss if doesn't work out, can always invest in the more expensive ones another year.
• i bought a potato planter & some fertilizer last week as i want to try to grow some spuds this year , was buying Apache ones from Tesco and saved 4 of them for seed so will plant them when the weather gets a bit better