Frequently Asked Questions

Hello there! We’re Jodi and Adrian, and we’re the husband-and-wife duo behind Plantables (you can think of us as the Sonny and Cher of garden-ready fruits and veggies, if you like).

We remember the first time we tried to grow our first plants, many years ago. And we especially remember how tricky it was to handle the seedling stage, to find the time in our busy schedules to tend to the seedlings and – to be quite honest – work out how to even start growing tasty produce.

So, we thought: we already propagate high-quality plants for greenhouse growers across North America (through our Roelands Plant Farms Inc. company), why don’t we do the same for the green-thumbed gurus who grow (or want to grow) their own fruits and veggies at home?

So that’s what we did.

In 2018, we started Plantables so that you could have access to the same highest-quality, garden-ready seedlings with the convenience of them being shipped straight to your door!  We are “Your Shortcut to Green Thumbed Glory”.

Our plants range in size depending on the variety. The lettuces are roughly 2 inches tall and our tomato, cucumber, pepper plants will be 5-6 inches tall. All of our herbs vary between 4-6 inches.

All of our plants are organically grown and non-gmo! We never spray and only use beneficial insects to control pest pressure.

You know how you feel after a long car journey – you need a bit of space to stretch your legs, a cold drink, and a lot of fresh air – your Plantables are exactly the same. But before you grab that spade and start digging, we want you to give your plants some extra love for the next few days by allowing them to acclimatize. You can do this easily by placing them on a plate with some water (just enough to wet their roots, they don’t like to swim!) and set in dappled shade for 48-96 hours.

Now go ahead and dig a hole, plant them, and water daily for the first week and as needed after that. You’ll have happy plants in no time. (And a happy plant means lots of tasty fruits and veggies.)

We’re glad you asked! A lot of love went into designing the boxes so that your plants stay protected.

We make sure that they’re well-watered before we ship them and, we ensure that they’re only on the road for 3 days (at the most) so they’re safe and healthy when they turn up on your doorstep.

OK, brace yourself for some serious plant-science.

Your Plantables plants are grown at the state-of-the-art facility of our sister company, Roelands Plant Farms Inc. (They grow the same plants for farmers and growers all across North America.)

At that facility, we use every technique and technology imaginable to grow healthy, happy plants.

What technology do you use?

A fellow plant technology nerd, eh? You’re among friends here.

We use (deep breath) venlo style glass roof, high pressure sodium grow lights, ebb and flood grow floors, hydroponic irrigation system, energy saving screen, solar blocking screen, and a hot water heating system, all of which are completely automated and computer controlled, to make sure your seeds grow into happy, healthy and hardy plants.

Well, we don’t like to blow our own horn… (but yes).

Don’t get us wrong, it’s not that the plants in big box stores are bad – it’s just that they haven’t had the same love, care and attention that we give to every plant in your Plantables boxes.

Our sister company, Roelands Plant Farms Inc, has been growing the highest-quality plants for industrial growers for years. They use equal measures of experience, science and love to make sure that every plant is guaranteed to produce crazy amounts of tasty produce.

And now, we are making those plants available to you.

That means that the plants you get in your Plantables box are the same high-quality plants used by farmers and growers across the country. (They’re probably the same plants that grow the produce you buy at the supermarket, grocery store, and farmers’ market, too.)

If you are planting outside, you will want to wait until your nightly temps stay above 10°C/50°F and the risk of frost has passed. Lettuces and kale are known as cold crops and can handle temperatures as low as 0°C. To make things easy on you, we have added your grow zone to our checkout page to help you determine your ideal planting time.

You definitely can! We would recommend putting them in a container in front of the window with lots of sunshine! Keep them moist but not too wet. A 9×13 pan works great for this but anything will work! Your plants will be happy like this for a couple of weeks as long as they are cared for.  You can also pot them up and move them outdoors once the weather warms up.

Herbs grow really well indoors, as long as they get 7 hours of sunlight. For the optimal size, we would recommend planting in an 8-inch pot to allow the plants to grow to a decent size.

Herbs
8-inch pot
1-2 gallon pot

Lettuce, Kale, Green Bean
10-inch pot
3 gallon pot

Mini Cucumber, Bell Pepper, Jalapeno, Strawberries, Cucamelon
12-18-inch pot
5-10 gallon pot

Indeterminate Tomato, Zucchini
18-inch pot
7-10 gallon pot

Growing plants in pots is a great alternative to a traditional garden. Always remember the bigger the plant, the bigger the pot needs to be!

When it comes to fertilizing veggies and herbs it’s best to start off by focusing on good soil with lots of organic matter. If you have composted kitchen scraps at home, incorporating and adding this into your soil is one of the best things you can do to provide nutrients to the plants. If you don’t have well-rotted compost at home, you can purchase something like bagged manure at any garden centre or box store, and mix this into your soil.

All vegetables and herbs will get off to a great start this way, and the light feeders (all herbs, lettuces, leafy greens) don’t require any supplemental fertilizing at all beyond this. For the heavy feeders, such as Tomatoes, Peppers, Strawberries or anything that provides a fruit, some supplemental fertilizing throughout the season will help give best results. Any general, all-purpose fertilizer will do and you can also find this at any garden centre or box store. Be sure to check the label if you wish to fertilize your plants organically!

As for the age old debate of watering the leaves vs. the base, some people say that you shouldn’t water the leaves because the droplets will magnify the sun and burn the leaves. This is largely a MYTH and proven untrue every time it rains. Overhead sprinkling is OK, however whenever possible we should avoid overhead watering on leaves in late evening. This is the equivalent of going to bed in a wet blanket, and can introduce fungal diseases to your plants.

You will need roughly 1 square foot per plant, give or take some! Lettuce and herbs take up a little less and tomatoes and peppers take a little more. For watermelons, allow about 6 feet in distance between plants and about 6 feet between rows, depending on how many you are planting! Those watermelons are a bit of a garden hog!

All of our plants do well planted near each other, but you may have to watch if you are adding other plants into your garden as well.

Physical barriers are the only thing that truly works at keeping those unwanted visitors out. Exclusion bug netting, fencing, and chicken wire are a bit of an investment but will pay off over the years. Planting Marigolds in your garden will also help repel some pests!

Cucumber Beetle
Favourite Plants: Cucumbers, Squash, Pumpkin, Melons, Zucchini
Damage: Holes in leaves, will spread bacterial wilt causing yellow/wilting leaves.
Prevention: Exclusion bug netting, physical inspection and removal, handheld vacuums work great!

Flea Beetle
Favourite Plants: Kale, Arugula, Asian Greens, Radish, Broccoli, Cabbage, Eggplant, Tomato
Damage: Feeds on foliage, causing tiny holes in leaves.
Prevention: Exclusion bug netting, homemade spray

Tomato Hornworm
Favourite Plants: Tomatoes, Peppers
Damage: Complete plant defoliation
Prevention: Physical inspection and removal

Squash Beetle
Favourite Plants: Squash, Zucchini, Cucumber, Pumpkin
Damage: This insect sucks the sap right out of plants, causing leaves to wilt.
Prevention: Exclusion bug netting, physical inspection and removal, handheld vacuum

If you have signs of wilting shortly after planting, it could be transplant shock. This happens if you have continuous full sun at the time of planting and the following day or two after. Keep the soil moist and they should bounce back. A great tip for planting, whenever possible, is to wait for 2 days of overcast. This makes it easier on the plant while its roots establish in the new soil.

This is a common disorder in Tomatoes and comes from either a lack of calcium in your soil or the inability for the plant to uptake calcium in the soil from irregular watering. Abundant soil phosphorus is important for early high yields. Too much nitrogen causes rampant growth and soft fruits susceptible to rot.

If there are big swings in periods of time that are either too wet, or too dry it can cause the plant to be unable to properly access the calcium in the soil. Blossom End Rot is more likely to happen in containers, since there are less consistent moisture levels.

The rot will not go away once it’s developed on the fruit, but if the affected area is small on the tomato you can still cut off the damage and the rest of the tomato is still edible. You can also choose to pick off these damaged fruits so the plant can focus energy on new healthy growth. It can often be just the first fruits of the season that are affected. Try to avoid long periods of time that are either too dry or too wet for plants. Mulching at the base of the plant can help with moisture consistency.

If you require a change of address or shipping week please send in a request 2 weeks prior to your selected shipping week and we will do our best to accommodate.

Our plants are sold in increments of six but the sky is the limit on how many you can purchase.  We’ll still grow every single plant with love, care and dedication and ship them to your door.

We ship our sweet seedlings all across Ontario and Quebec.  As much as we would love to spread the Plantables love across Canada, we cannot guarantee successful delivery due to the long journey.

At the time of purchase, you will be asked to select your delivery week. We ship daily during peak spring weeks, so you will receive your delivery any day during that specified week. A tracking number will be emailed to you so you can follow your plant’s journey. Generally, most orders are received within three days from the time they leave the greenhouse and are delivered via Fed Ex.