When I first started gardening, I was obsessed with starting everything from seed, just for the thrill of it, to watch a tiny seedling emerge from a tiny seed and grow into a huge plant and produce fruit. Then I realized that as fascinating as seed starting is, depending on the kind of plant, it can be very time consuming, annoying, and can end in failure. And if it does end in failure, and I go out and buy the plant AFTER spending the money on the seed packet and the bit of soil or seed starter pod, then I have wasted both time and money.
I like starting many plants from seed. Tomatoes are pretty easy to start from seed, as are lettuce and basil. I direct sow cucumbers, squash, radishes, carrots, green beans, peas, arugula, cilantro, melons, and many annual flowers. And, if it doesn't work out entirely, I will supplement with some garden center plants.
Peppers are annoying to start from seed, mostly because they take a while to germinate and are very slow growing at first. I have to remember to check on them and water them daily for a very long time, giving me plenty of chances to screw up and forget about them. I also always want to plant them out then too early, before they are quite old enough and before the ground has warmed up enough.
I think next year I may just buy my peppers at the garden center (and possibly from Burpee, if I can't get my ancho ones locally). I long gave up on broccoli and cabbage. Parsley and spanich are supposed to be easy, but I consistently fail on them, so I take advantage of my local garden center for them too.
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