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The seeds companies are crazy,

littleonefb
13 years ago

OK, this is really crazy.

I forgot to save some of my own large cherry red tomato seeds for myself when I offered them up for BEAP.

So my daughter picked me up a packet of them and gave them to me yesterday. Just a regular packet of seeds, not an extra large kind or anything special, just a normal packet of seeds

She purchased NK lawn and garden seeds.

It felt like an awful lot of seeds in the packet so I opened them up to see if it was a foil pack I was feeling or seeds.

Nope not a foil packet, just seeds.

345 large cherry tomato seeds to be exact. 345 of them.

Now what in the world does a home gardener need with 345 of the same kind of tomato seeds?

Why in the world are the packing that many seeds in a package and charging $1.99 for the packet?

Granted daughter got 40% off the packet, which made it only $1.14, but still, that's crazy.

Especially when you buy a packet of marigold seeds and they can only have 20 seeds in them.

What's up with that? I get a ton of marigold seeds from just one plant?

Yup, I'll be posting new BEAP offer soon and the lg cherry red tomato seeds will be on it.

Fran

Comments (5)

  • aquawise
    13 years ago

    Don't look a gift Horse in the mouth!!!. Sound like you made out like a bandit. LOL
    One never knows anymore.

  • littleonefb
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    I may have "made out like a bandit", aquawise, but that's only because I'm a member here and can trade seeds or give them away in BEAP offers.

    My point is this.

    Most people are not members of GW or other garden sites, don't trade seeds and start seeds indoors under lights.

    No one will sow the number of seeds in this packet and others that I have purchased with absurd amounts of seeds in them and most people may hold on to the packet of seeds for next year and then toss the remaining seeds out in the trash.

    Such a waste of seeds, and that is sad and the seed companies are the ones truly "making out like bandits" with what they charge for the seeds, absurd amounts of seeds they put in packets and people just keep buying them and tossing seeds out all the time.

    Fran

  • kms4me
    13 years ago

    Older or less popular varieties usually have more seeds per packet than newer cutting-edge ones. It doesn't do the seed company any good to 'sit' on seed that will become outdated and generate extra storage cost, especially if a variety is not selling well; instead they will get rid of their excess by putting more in each packet.

    Additionally, seed companies don't produce all the seed they sell but instead buy it from other growers. If they get the seeds cheaply, they will pass that on to their customers (usually).

    There are home gardeners who share extra plants with neighbors or friends or sell them at garage sales and therefore will use more of the seed. There are also a lot of people who know that with proper storage, seeds can remain viable for several years and do save them. Most of the people I know who take the effort to grow from seed don't discard extras unless it proves to be a variety that didn't do well for them.

    There are also times when a seed company will add as much as double the amount of seed if their germination tests were not quite up to their standards--T&M does that a lot.

    Most people, even if they don't use them all, will think they are getting a great deal at $1.14 for that many seeds and be very happy. Happy customers are the backbone of a thriving business. I've read many posts in the past where people complain angrily about how few seeds they get and swear they will not do business with that company again.

    kms

  • medontdo
    12 years ago

    so if it has alot of seeds, don't buy it? **grin** because it didn't sell well... no just kidding.. but to the normal consumer who buys seeds i can understand, they might not know to save the seeds and say "what the heck am i gona do with all of these extra's"? heck i'd throw the extra's in the freezer (if i liked them) or i'd post for "beap" i'm pretty easy that way.. and think of the deal i can get in the long run But WOW 345 how cool is that?? **big smile** maybe the machine got an extra large spill?? LOL

  • rockguy
    12 years ago

    That many seeds was probably just an accident, go with it, they will last 8-10 years before the germination rate drops too bad, if kept in a cool, dry and dark place.

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