mostly though my tomato plants seed themselves, every spring I see plants spring up from before.

We are in PA and can't plant until Memorial Day, so it's not really too late for us. I will try some of the smaller places next. There are a couple of hardware stores on the outskirts that might still have plants.

I never have luck with volunteers getting fruit.

Labor, effort, materials, and knowledge. I agree with you that paying over 3.00 for a single tomato plant from a box store is hard to swallow (and something I would never do).....there are simply too many ways that issues can arise (seed source, accuracy of variety, potential diseases in the seed or soil, or poor treatment by the box store). Yet....they clearly are successful at it, because they are at all the box stores.

I've been starting from seed for decades and am a history accuracy stickler - and am also aware, after purchasing the pots, labels, soilless mix and spending countless hours transplanting - that for a small producer that can be trusted, 3.00 is a good price for a plant - especially when it will produce 15-20 pounds or more of tomatoes. Think about the math. Think about the price of a perennial - 5 - 10 dollars - for something that will bloom for a week or two - and compare it to a veggie plant - pepper, tomato, eggplant - that will feed you for months.

So there are many sides to this most interesting topic! And if anyone thinks that there is not dirt in gardening (so to speak - even beyond controversy - there is envy, jealousy, lying, misrepresentation, gouging, soap opera battles, etc) - you are fooling yourself!

thanks to craig, i have been doing a lot of seedlings the last 3 years. this is the first year i went out of my way to grow extra to sell. i don't think i made any money at $3 per, but i did break even, had all the plants i needed, and was able to donate to a lot of good causes.

look around for little farms in your area, or big community gardens. lots of times seedling sales are a big part of their revenue, and they likely have some more interesting varieties than the big boxes. i know we sure did.

I just don't want to spend it on Bonnie plants! A couple of years ago they were responsible for the blight that wiped out tomato plants in PA.

Like I said, as soon as I'm able, I will check out some of the smaller guys around here. Two of my local greenhouses have shut down in the past few years so I have to travel further afield.

You were lucky to find those... several weeks ago. The selection isn't very good this late. But then again, we had frost just one week ago!

so you just have a few weeks to wait. I don't know how many plants you want, but if it is not many and the plants are in really good condition, I wouldn't be opposed to paying $3 or so for a plant. Here in PA, you usually want to have that size of plant by this time of year anyways, since we can't put them in too early.

I wish you luck finding all that you want at a great price.

When I start them from seeds I always have too many! I can't give away the seedlings!

I do the same thing when I start from seeds....hundreds of babies. I have put them out in front of the house with a sign that says "free tomato plants" because I just cannot plant them all, and I can't waste them.