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Are Bonnie Plants Crap Or What?

grahamsprodigy

grahamsprodigy

If I had my way 100% of the time, I would always start every plant from seed, but being human and impatient, I have a weakness for buying partially developed green babies from the Home Depot, primarily Bonnie brand. I am starting to see now that a large number of these plants end up having issues with blight or bacterial spotting, and as the resources I have read about these diseases indicate, they are seed-borne problems. 
 
So I have to ask, are all Bonnie plants inclined to have leaf diseases and wilting? What are your experiences? I can tell you one thing, I hate their peat moss containers, as they tend to grow the plants too large and the roots get tangled up in the walls, making them difficult to transplant. Opinions please.
 
Last year my grow was a complete bust. I started the season late because of too many things going on early on in the year so I had to go to my local Lowes and buy some peppers and tomatoes. I had heard good things about Bonnie brand plants so I bought about 25 pepper plants and 5 tomato plants, every single one of them died. The year before that I started all my plants from seed and all of them grew up to 7 feet tall, were very strong, and gave loads of fruit. This year I decided to go to a nursery and get just 2 tomato plants and (even though I'm quite a bit late again this year) raise the rest of my plants from seed. Hoping it works out great this year. I'll admit though, all experiences I've had with plants from stores such as Lowes and The Home Depot have all been extremely disappointing.
 
I could be wrong though, maybe I overlooked something crucial last year which cost me all my plants, there might not have even been a problem with the plants but with me... All I know is that I wont be wasting my money on plants from hardware stores.
 
Edit: My trash grammar.
 
Think it really depends on what area you live in as they usually use a local facility for growing the seedlings - so depends on which facility your nursery is stocked from.
 
Just my opinion - I would not spend $$ on Bonnie Plants. Most that I've grown in the past were stunted or diseased and I hated to waste the space trying to grow them.
 
I've had good experience with Bonnie plants. I believe that most the Bonnie plants we get are grown in a small East Texas town, where they employ half the town and I have family. Nothing wrong with their plants just expensive lately.. 
 
I have 3 Bonnies growing right now and all are doing fine. I really like the Cowhorn they offer but most of their jalapenos are less that impressive. One of our nurseries carries another brand though that is much cheaper and ive had great luck with them. Cant remember the name atm but i know it wasn't Burpie.
 
grahamsprodigy said:
I am starting to see now that a large number of these plants end up having issues with blight or bacterial spotting, and as the resources I have read about these diseases indicate, they are seed-borne problems. 
 
So I have to ask, are all Bonnie plants inclined to have leaf diseases and wilting? What are your experiences? I can tell you one thing, I hate their peat moss containers, as they tend to grow the plants too large and the roots get tangled up in the walls, making them difficult to transplant. Opinions please.
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Generally I have never had problems with Bonnie plants & none I can remember with pepper seedlings. Of course your growing conditions (AZ) differ from mine and thankfully you've learned "wetter is better" not the way to go as bacterial spotting can also be spread by "plant debris", The bacterium Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria causes bacterial leaf spot. It thrives in areas with hot summers and frequent rainfall. The bacterium is spread by plant debris in the soil and through infected seeds.
 
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grahamsprodigy said:
I am happy to report that dropping to once daily watering has nearly eliminated leaf spot.
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`Below is a hab plant grown from a Bonnie seedling.

IMG_0768_zps4j611jvr.jpg
 
grahamsprodigy said:
If I had my way 100% of the time, I would always start every plant from seed, but being human and impatient, I have a weakness for buying partially developed green babies from the Home Depot, primarily Bonnie brand. I am starting to see now that a large number of these plants end up having issues with blight or bacterial spotting, and as the resources I have read about these diseases indicate, they are seed-borne problems. 
 
So I have to ask, are all Bonnie plants inclined to have leaf diseases and wilting? What are your experiences? I can tell you one thing, I hate their peat moss containers, as they tend to grow the plants too large and the roots get tangled up in the walls, making them difficult to transplant. Opinions please.
Click to expand...
 
I don't have any problem growing their plants.  Have done so a few times, mostly for experimentation.  Can't say they've been any more problematic than any others, organically grown, or not.
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I don't allow them to remain in the peat start containers, because they just aren't very good.  (I personally don't think they work as advertised)  But barring that, the plants grow great.  Also, most of their plants that I have bought have been tomatoes.  None of them were seed starts, but vegetative propagation by cutting.  Depending on where they come from, they could, possibly be seed, cutting, or even tissue culture.
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I can't answer the issue of leaf diseases, blights, and curling, because that's an endemic tomato problem where I'm at, no matter where the plants come from.  That's usually a humidity issue, and can also be due to mites. 
 
solid7 said:
I don't allow them to remain in the peat start containers, because they just aren't very good.  (I personally don't think they work as advertised)
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IMO the problem with "biodegradable" pots is they are all lumped together as "peat pots" while the peat content can vary from brand to brand and rice, coco, wood, bamboo and even cow poo pots are available.> Plastic alternatives 
 
I have extensive experience with Jiffy brand which as far as I know are 80% peat + 20% wood fiber and have had great success, see pic below addressing the "root penetration issue" I so often read about (You'll notice the pot is soaked which I believe allows the roots to penetrate the pot.). If I do not know where the pots came from or their content, as in Bonnie plants, I carefully cut the pot from top to bottom, so as not to damage the roots, and tear every other strip of the pot off so as to reduce transplant shock yet allow roots to easily reach the media of the larger pot.
 
 
Pepper_Peat_Pot_Pic_Roots_zpsgjirplin.png

 
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I didnt get carried away with this.... I just used my thumbnail in 4 rows around the pot from top to bottom. If the roots were holding on to it i left it on.
 
BTW All 3 had substantial root balls in them so don't be surprised if they don't want to let go of the pot.
 
I just rip 'em off. Never a problem. But as was mentioned, who knows what those pots are, or where they come from. If I had to guess, I'd probably lean more towards the peat pot being convenient for the grower, more than good for the end user.
 
Suncoast said:
The instructions on the Bonnie Plant label actually tell you to pull the pot off
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The_NorthEast_ChileMan said:
If I do not know where the pots came from or their content, as in Bonnie plants, I carefully cut the pot from top to bottom, so as not to damage the roots, and tear every other strip of the pot off so as to reduce transplant shock yet allow roots to easily reach the media of the larger pot.
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ShowMeDaSauce said:
The 3 Bonnies i just planted i made sure to carefully break up the peat pot after soaking them. Any part of the pot that fell off easily was removed to expose the roots to the fresh planting mix.
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solid7 said:
I just rip 'em off. Never a problem.
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Jeeeezzz, when all else fails - read the instructions!
mhytzo.gif

 
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The_NorthEast_ChileMan said:
Jeeeezzz, when all else fails - read the instructions!
mhytzo.gif

 
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There is no real need to read instructions, because we all know the plant grows without the peat pot. ;)
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But to answer that point... Maybe it's a regional thing, but the ones in our area SPECIFICALLY say that you can plant the plant WITH OR WITHOUT the peat pot. 
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Of course, the only real thing that reading those instructions buys you when the plant goes tits up, is the right to a refund.  If that's good enough for ya. :D
 
Now i remember the other brand its BloomIQ. 4 plants cost me $2 at a nursery. They were small but they did just fine (mostly). The orange hab did exceptionally well in a pot. I dont think this brand offers many peppers but they appear to be a common supplier around here for the nurseries and farmers markets.
 
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