A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Banter Hall Gardener's Chat Seed companies

Please feel free to delete if this is too political for the forum. No problem at all.

Here're a couple of links to some posts I have at my blog (nothing commercial, just sharing info) about seed companies. I'm not an expert about this, but did do some research & am curious to know what you all have to say. Again, just starting a conversation, not promoting anything.


Good, Better, Best: Some thoughts about seed companies & other things


Clarification (or you can't trust anyone)

Seed company update!

you've done your research. Interesting. I'm mostly a plant planter. Starting seeds takes the space and the correct amount of light. I do a little seed starting but I just can't for my entire garden. The seeds I started this year were seeds I received that other gardeners saved from their vege or flower gardens. I'm glad about that after reading about where seeds really come from. There are sites, as I'm sure you know, that do nothing but trade seeds. I certainly am for free enterprise but if I was a total seed starter I'd do the trades. I think gardeners can be trusted before the companies.

ditto

I know some things are really invasive in certain climates (brugmansias grow wild in Hong Kong and everyone can't rip them out fast enough - about $5 for a packet of 5 seeds here!) and would be just so much easier to import a lot than to grow by themselves. The profit margin for seeds is actually quite high especially for open pollinated seeds. There's a small movement here asking only for domestically produced seeds rather than imported ones. There are also lots of mail order companies that have a 'Canadian' branch which is just a holding facility to facilitate shipping and holding.

as much as I would love to start my own seeds and spend the transplants money on dirt (which isn't cheap here) I just can't. i don't have the space or proper lighting to start seeds, and the very few that I start are (to me, at least) really 'different' or novelty that you wouldn't find locally (ever heard of pumpkin-on-a-stick or cannibal tomato?) or things that are just too expensive to buy from the stores (cannas). I tried wintersowing last winter and had great results. I will be wintersowing more of my seeds. So much less hassle. trading with gardeners I think, is the best way to get seeds which are from proven good plants. the person grew them so they will offer better advice than '6-8 weeks, good draining soil.' also all the varieties!

Kenny-- This bit about profit margins in very interesting. How did you discover this? I've often wondered about this, but haven't taken the time to investigate.

Also, too bad about not being able to start indoors. Totally agree about swapping with others.