• Setting up a garden can be expensive, but once it is established growing your own vegetables can cut costs.
• Growing tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, arugula, spinach, and radishes—especially in containers—will lower household costs.
• Vegetables like carrots, broccoli, onions, cauliflower, and cabbage might not be worth the trouble of growing.

It can be hard to go to the grocery store on a weekly basis and watch the prices for necessary items climb with regularity. But does that mean that it’s worth it to start growing your own vegetables at home? Basically, it depends.

We asked two gardeners whether it’s actually cheaper to grow veggies yourself than to buy them; here’s what they had to say.

Is It Cheaper to Grow Your Own Veggies?

The answer to this question depends on your initial investment in your garden. If you already have a space you’re growing plants in, it’s going to be much cheaper to throw some veggies in the mix and harvest them for your table. If you’re starting a garden with this intention, your sunk costs are going to be much higher, but that doesn’t mean it won’t pay off in the long run.

“Creating a raised bed garden with organic soil, trellising, and mulching, can become quite costly. Therefore, a tomato might cost $45-60 each once you take to account all of the factors,” says master gardener Adam Weiss.

If you’re looking to start growing your own produce without an established plot, Weiss suggests starting with a container garden to keep initial costs low while you hone your green thumb. Affordability isn’t the only factor that these experts are considering when growing their own veggies, though.

“I always think it is cheaper to grow vegetables themselves than buy them because you can grow different heirloom ones that you can’t get at the store,” says farmer Anna Hackman.

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Vegetables You Should Always Grow

Because you have so many more options when growing your own produce, Hackman says you should always grow any veggies from seed that you can’t find at the store, specifically calling out tomatoes and peppers.

“Growing all types of lettuces, arugula, and spinach are winners. They are easy to plant from seeds and take 35-55 days to harvest and provide a bounty,” Weiss says.

These types of vegetables are called “cut and come again” because you can simply cut off the top half to eat, and they will continue growing in cool weather for two to three more harvests.

“Radishes are another easy one to grow,” Weiss says. “They only take 30 days from seed to harvest.”

Vegetables You Should Always Buy

But just because you can, doesn’t mean you necessarily should. Some vegetables can be so challenging to grow that you’re probably better off just grabbing them at the store.

“I think you should buy carrots, celery, and onions,” Hackman says.

She mentions that it’s hard to grow enough carrots to get a bag’s worth because they’re difficult to grow from seed and people often forget to water them. For celery, you need to ensure you get the right seeds otherwise they’ll turn out bitter. And onions spoil quickly if you grow a variety that doesn’t store well, so you’re better off just buying them as needed.

Challenges aside, some veggies aren’t worth giving them the amount of space they take up.

“Broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage plants may only produce one head of crown and will take up 10×10 inches in your garden,” Weiss says. “Same goes for winter squashes and melons which take up a lot of space.”

Vegetables You Can Grow From Grocery Produce

If you’re looking at your spudding potato and considering throwing it in a pot with soil, do it! There are some vegetables that are quite convenient to grow from bought produce, and will lower your initial costs if starting anew.

“Spring onions are really easy to grow from store bought spring onions. Simply put them in water and they grow roots,” Hackman says.

Even though it’s notoriously difficult to grow from seed, celery can be easily sprouted from a store-bought base.

“Potatoes, sweet potatoes, ginger and garlic can be grown from the store as well as long as they weren’t sprayed to suppress growth and sprouting,” she adds.