CLOSED: Which company do you prefer...

...for buying your seeds? This will be my first real go with seeds and I'd like to hear from ya'll as to your favorite company to buy from.

Chantell,

I don't normally purchase seeds either but this year I decided to try it.
I've received many books in the mail but as I add the types I like the bill goes higher and higher. It doesn't seem like a lot for a pack of seeds at first but then pack after pack....you get the picture *lol*

I checked out ValueSeeds.com after reading the comments and decided to give it a whirl. Although the selection is a little limited right now (I think you have to order early) I did purchase like 13 packs of seeds for around $11.00 which was about what I wanted to spend. From reading the comments it seems ValueSeeds is where Thompson & Morgan sends their "overstocks" or older seeds etc. but most of the comments on Watchdog were good enough for me to try them for the first time.

So far the Customer Service (I added to my order after paying for it)....has been excellent and they added my additions with no problems. DON'T go back after you place your order though...as you will find something you decide you "need" after the fact *lol*

Check it out and let me know whacha think :)

Kim

chantell, for vegtable seeds i prefer guerny or territorial seed co.

Hi Chantell,

To me, the best place to start would be to go to DG PlantFiles and click on the plants you're interested in and then click on vendor/who wants or is trading. There's where you might save the most money, and this is why saving and/or trading as much seed as you can becomes useful - you never know what someone else may want to trade for.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=3797659 - sources of DG morning glory sellers

Have to confess I haven't done that yet, but I just might try later on if I get organized enough to do it.

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Here are a couple of sites with inexpensive seed. But first let me say that the more expensive websites I'm adding further on often can be cheaper, because:

#1 in many cases, more expensive outfits sell a larger volume of seed than the "cheapies" for the money you pay. When you divide # of seed into price for a packet and then compare the results between a "cheapie" and a more expensive outfit, the more expensive outfit is often cheaper.

#2 Consider seed viabiity. Some seed, like cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, kale, chinese mustard greens, etc. - all of which belong to the cabbage family - often is viable for up to 5 years. So, if a pack of seed may last you 5 years, then paying a little more initially might be worth it.

So, here are some links:

Cheapies:

http://www.crosmanseed.com/

http://www.sandymushherbs.com/ (mainly enormous variety of inexpensive plants - lots of sages, scented geraniums, herbs, and others - but seeds very inexpensive)

http://www.superseeds.com/

http://www.valueseeds.com/

Inbetween: http://www.fragrantpathseeds.com/

More expensive packets, but more for your money:

http://www.jlhudsonseeds.net/

http://www.seedsavers.org/Home.asp (great source & germ plasm bank (I think) of heirloom vegies, flowers & herbs - might be recipes there)

http://www.stokeseeds.com/cgi-bin/StokesSeeds.storefront

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Plant Societies:

Another great source of inexpensive seed consists of various seed exchanges.

http://www.nargs.org/ - This is the North American Rock Garden Society, and they have seed for habitats from worldwide deserts to North American eastern woodlands and inbetween. Many of the seeds are of plants that work great in an ordinary rough-and-tumble cottage garden. In 2007, packets cost me about 25 cents each, but it would have been higher if I hadn't donated seed, and you pay a set amount for both membership and seed exchange. You check off your preferences on their list, but what you receive depends on how fast you mail back that list and how much they have to distribute. Put in lots of 2nd & 3rd choices and be flexible about species within a genus you may be interested in. If you like cactus, this one is really up your alley.

Others I haven't tried:

http://www.hardyplant.org/ - their seed exchange looks limited

http://www.rhs.org.uk/index.htm - this used to be a great one, but since USDA restrictions on importing seeds, I don't know how complicated participating in this would be now here in the states

I'll bet if you google other plants or categories of plants, you'll probably find a host of other plant societies

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Seed Viability

See the link above for J L Hudson - some of their descriptions include seed viability info - perhaps more so in the print form

https://matcmadison.edu/mchristoffel/plants/seeds/viability.htm
http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/1995/3-3-1995/seedv.html
http://www.hillgardens.com/seed_longevity.htm

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Welp, the above strategies work best if you save seed propery, so here's a great link on saving seed:

http://theseedsite.co.uk/index.html (Click on Seed Harvesting)

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http://www.wintersown.org/

I find wintersowing perennials and biennials to make the process easier, because you don't have to worry about problems with damping-off fungus, indoor pests like mites, white flies, etc. that you do for winter indoor sowing. But let me tell you that I still haven't planted out all my WS pots - partly due to getting derailed with other projects - so give some thought to preparing the garden the fall before and keeping your commitments simple in the following spring and summer.

Kim - yup, certainly agree about Value Seeds - had great germination on their seeds so far

Jordan - Territorial looks tempting for both basic and unusual vegies - you made me think to chase down Seedsavers' link (see above)

blue,good link

Wow!! Ya'll are great!! Gonna have fun going thru these link!!!

OT - Kim - your sedum...is doing great - I'll take pics and send to you!

SO happy to hear Chantell...was gonna take a picture of mine and post it to your sedum thread tonight if I had a chance. Don't you just love the coloring of it? I didn't see that you posted a picture of it so I was worried maybe it didn't make it.

No, my friend, I ran out of light...sun was going down!! LOL

Don't buy from hardyplants.com. They keep your money and then don't send your seeds. BEWARE of them!!!!!!!

I was very happy with Select Seeds and there are a few others whose titles I'm blanking on right now. Blame it on the sedatives from surgery this morning. I'd get up to look at my catalogs, but ... well, I can't! :)

Oh wrigtie...you get your tootsies cut on today? Yikes....I'll be praying your pain meds keep on workin' for you!!!

No pain med's required, Sistah! ... I'm still coming down off of the anaesthesia and nerve block. Had the first foot done two weeks ago and didn't need med's for that one. This one was a bit more invasive, so maybe I'll have the ouchies, but I'm not worried in the least. Actually, and this is the truth, my rear end is in more pain than my feet from too much lying around! lol

We'll get you one of those donuts they use for postpartum patients...how's that sound? :)

If glazed, then it sounds like the best thing anyone's told me all day!

Oh Mercy!!! Now I'm hungry!!