Plug (horticulture)

Plugs in horticulture are small-sized seedlings grown in seed trays filled with potting soil. This type of plug is used for commercially raising vegetables and bedding plants. Similarly plugs may also refer to small sections of lawn grass sod. After being planted, lawn grass may somewhat spread over an adjacent area.

Plug plants are young plants raised in small, individual cells, ready to be transplanted into containers or a garden. Professionally raised vegetable/flowering plants in controlled conditions during their important formative period (the first 4–6 weeks) can help to ensure plant health and for plants to reach their maximum potential during the harvest/blooming period. Establishing a garden using plug plants is often easier than doing so starting from seed. According to the American National Standards a plug is a cylinder of medium in which a plant is grown. The term is generally used to describe seedlings and rooted cuttings which have been removed from the container but with the medium held intact by the roots.