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| I have always grown the vast majority of my plants from seed....but lately, this is beginning to pall somewhat. Firstly, to say I am puzzled and disappointed by the quantities in commercial seed packets is an understatement. This year I bought thalictrum album (8 seeds) geum coccineum (6 seeds)various delphs (8-10 seeds) mertensia (20 seeds) many hardy geranium (average of 10 seeds )rhoemeria (a minute, almost invisible amount), papaver tianschanicum (same - a fraction of a fingernail).....and so on. Tulipa sprengens (8 seeds)! These are not plants which have barely any seeds - most of them are prolific seeders. I have grown seeds for over 20 years and am seeing smaller amounts of even common plants in seed packets....while the costs have become almost as expensive as simply buying a couple of plants. I feel quite discouraged by this because not only are seed merchants vanishing, the qualities and varieties of plants are also diminishing.I am baffled at the absoluite parsimoniousness which enables someone to charge good money (over 3dollars) for 8 thalictrum seeds. Not only do I have to germinate these seeds - which leads me to another gripe - the germination is very dubious with many of them and I suspect a lot are no longer viable - I have to nurture them for several years to maybe end up with 2/3 plants after general attrition. I may as well have just bought the plants.....and, in fact, I will probably do just that and save some of the years of waiting and have my own propagating stock much quicker. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by aftermidnight Z8 V. Island B.C. (My Page) on Wed, May 28, 14 at 16:43
| Campanula, no you are not getting pickier, I have noticed the same thing over here and I'm all for exchanging seed amongst ourselves. I usually buy plants now as I'm getting up there in years and only buy seed when I can't find the plant. I just sent 6 varieties of bean seed to Wales, the postage was much less than what I pay for one packet of seeds over here. I realize packaging is costly but really..... 6 and 8 seeds is ridicules and to top that off I'm getting very suspicious as to how old the seed we're getting really is. Are they repackaging seed that didn't sell the previous year? I'm no amateur at growing seed and I've had more than my share of duds in the last couple of years. Annette |
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| I'm surely not much of an "expert" seed grower, ordering seeds and such. I buy mine from Lowes and put them in my window sills. But I'll chime in that I was especially disappointed in both the amount of seeds in a packet and the germination rate this year particularly. I'm talking zinnias! ZINNIAS! Which make a bazillion seeds and seem to have just about 100% come up usually. . . I only got relatively few seeds in a pack and only half of them to germinate. That's never happened to me before. |
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- Posted by TexasRanger10 7 (My Page) on Wed, May 28, 14 at 21:02
| I find J.L. Hudson impressive concerning the subject of your thread. They are dedicated toward preservation and ethics. I like their Statement of Purpose, their philosophy and mindset. |
Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.jlhudsonseeds.net/
This post was edited by TexasRanger10 on Thu, May 29, 14 at 1:29
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- Posted by prairiemoon2 zone 6a/MA (My Page) on Thu, May 29, 14 at 3:08
| I find cost of seeds to be crazy expensive this year. I spent a small fortune on seeds this year and I could have purchased a lot of plants for that amount of money. I've also read accounts of organic seed companies being bought out by agrochemical companies. Monsanto bought out one organic, open pollinated, seed saving company and proceeded to dismantle it. In 2005 they bought out 40% of the vegetable seed market. They are intent on genetically modifying seeds and obtaining the patent on them. So things can only get worse if that happens. I'm planning on making more of an effort to save seeds and obtain more open pollinated seeds while I still can. I bought all my seeds from FEDCO this year, a coop, of organic growers who are intent on keeping their seed supply free of GMO seeds. Of course, I buy more vegetable seeds than anything else, so I don't know if the issues with vegetable seeds are true of annuals and perennials too.
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- Posted by wantonamara 8bTx (My Page) on Thu, May 29, 14 at 14:26
| I buy from one seed company that sells very few seeds, but I forgive them because their seeds are wild collected and often fairly rare. They will sell a limited amount of any one seed to a person also. I guess they are not in it for the money. They travel all over the SW collecting and I know that takes time and money. I did get a Rehmannia elata pack and got not one out of the tiny pack. Sometimes I think I am into natives because I like the price. I am such a cheapskate. Yes , the world is going to H*ll, I agree. |
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| I didn't buy any seeds this year, so I'm not sure if the quantity/quality is declining. From previous years I did notice that sometimes quantities are skimpy, and that sometimes seed strains will germinate fine, but they don't perform well, which makes me wonder whether the strain has been thoroughly tested. |
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- Posted by carolinaflowerlover 7b (My Page) on Thu, May 29, 14 at 18:25
| Check out Everwilde. They have very good prices on seeds. I do not think they have anything super-fancy, but they had some pretty nice stuff, IMO. |
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| I will be looking at some of the US sites - a lot of stuff may be common to you but it is rare and exotic to me - penstemons for example - a HUGE range yet we mainly get hybrids and the odd species (P.digitalis). I always go a bit insane around late summer, shamelessly rootling around for seeds (have knocked on stranger's doors to request a seedhead).....so maybe we can get a few swaps going. Am starting already collecting welsh poppy seed (meconopsis cambrica) and primula. |
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| I've noticed the price of seeds seems to gone up dramatically, with many of the main major seed supply companies, while just a few ( & I mean very few, seed companies) remain relatively cheap. To name one, Plantation products, which appears to include American Seed Co. The once vast products, of Thompson & Morgan, in the U.S. has greatly diminished after being bought out by another L.L.C.conglomerate and doesn't even compare to your British counterpart whatsoever anymore. It just isn't reduced numbers of seeds, usually given a specific stated approximate count. But prices from some major suppliers have increased & skyrocketed. Yes, it can literally end up being easier just to purchase one or two plants, hope they survive & produce your own seeds. While postage & shipping can be as high as $7.from some places, for just seeds alone! So, years ago I used to simply ask traders to order an approximately equal value, witH a trader & thereby keep postage prices as reasonable as possible, while attempting a fair comparable seed trade. (not always easy to do) As for Penstemon, some can be tricky, yet others can simply be seemingly an entire waste of time, (as I found with 'Tubular Bells') Plants are generally limited to just a few named cultivars, in this genus. Unless maybe through High Country Gardens... Feel free to contact me, through my page & I'll do the same. |
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| How can a seed vendor get "meaner"? Pricier perhaps, but meaner? Anyway, I didn't notice any difference this year in price, quantity, or quality. I normally order from Stokes Seeds and Swallowtail, occasionally elsewhere, mainly annuals and vegetables. Bought some herb seeds off the rack which were fine, too. |
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| mxk, I think campanula meant "mean" in the sense of stingy, etc. I double-checked my assumption at dictionary.com just to be sure, lol: 3. penurious, stingy, or miserly: a person who is mean about money. Synonyms: close, tight, parsimonious, illiberal, ungenerous, selfish. your friendly neighborhood word-geek, |
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| "meaner" as in "stingier", sure. I used to raise lots of stuff from seeds & have noticed the same trend. Now, for common stuff, I usually do local swaps or buy a six pack at a local nursery. Don't start as much from seed anymore, but when someone sends me some, as traders often do throw in extras, it's startling how swiftly they germinate & at what a high percentage, compared to purchased commercial seed. Another big vote for Sherry & J. L. at J.L. Hudson, Seedsman. I love their "preservation through dissemination" logo of a Stellar's Jay flying with an acorn. And I'd urge anyone who enjoys plants to collect & sell seed to them. Their wonderful collection features seeds collected & preserved from folks all over the world--you never know what they are going to have. And the catalog has very detailed personal information re. germination, cultivation, uses, etc. |
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| I completed the ultimate sin and bought a few packs of zinnia seeds from Walmart (I usually try to buy from nurseries or Swallowtail, which I love). They were under $2 a pack and I'm happy for that. Envy had maybe 15-20 seeds while a purple/yellow blend had maybe 10 (BIG maybe). I should have stuck to Swallowtail :( |
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- Posted by prairiemoon2 zone 6a/MA (My Page) on Fri, May 30, 14 at 6:31
| I've already started collecting milk jugs for next winter's winter sowing efforts. :-) It's already time to start collecting seed. |
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| I do not buy seeds unless I know how many I am buying. So, if the company does not list the seed count per package, I just don't do business with them. But for those who want seed for rare and unusual varieties, I would suggest joining a seed exchange, or several. These should satisfy most seed gluttons' desires, plus leave a little cash for exploring more expensive options from private companies. I buy seed now from Jelitto - very expensive, but good counts, true to name and viable and from Gardens North in Canada. www.gardensnorth.com I have noticed that seed counts per package can change drastically from year to year. It's a crop like any other and there are good years and bad years. It often pays to buy the seed from where it is native. I also second the recommendation for J.L. Hudson. |
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- Posted by kimka z6B (jkkaplan@erols.com) on Fri, May 30, 14 at 10:49
| What gets me is what some companies are charging for shipping and handling for a couple of packets of seeds. I'll want to order 3 or 4 packets of seeds that come to $12 because they are rare or new and suddenly they want another $8 or $9 for shipping and handling. Give me a break. Retail, a padded envelop would run them 75 cents and you know they aren't buying envelops retail and up to 3 oz first class USPS is 78 cents (more likely less). Two dollars for labor. That leaves a big profit center. Then I usually decide not to order. One seed company used to have separate rates for shipping seeds. I forget who. The big boys like T&M, Park and Burpee should try that. I might order from them again. |
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- Posted by wantonamara 8bTx (My Page) on Fri, May 30, 14 at 11:04
| Sometimes I get request for seeds from different places and to go through my disorganized mass of seeds and make some sense out of them, label and get them to the post office eats up my day. It is at some of those times , That I am made glad that this is not my business. All I want to do is traipse through the hill and dale collecting seed, feeling connected. |
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| At the end of summer, some of the seeds at a store across the street, will reduce them to only just pennies a pkt. Including; Delphiniums, Canterbury Bells, Columbines, Perennial wildflower mix, etc.. Then , recycle a padded envelope & pay the least, using first class rate... to U.K. Apart from that, collect what I can, from my own garden... Just requires a little patience, of a few months. |
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