Let's see. I got seed from Baker Creek, Pinetree, Tanagers, all are coming up real well 90-100%. Traded seed did not do near as well but I basically think this was because we had a bit of cooler weather and the greenhouse did not stay as warm. Now that we are warming up again several are coming up late.

Bully,

Your Earl's Faux seeds germinated great for me, 3/3. I soaked the Anna Russian seeds overnight as you suggested, but nothing so far. I'll wait another week before I consider the paper towel/ziplock method. I have 4 extra Grub's Mystery Green seeds to try, bummed that was one that isn't coming up. Even more bummed about Happy but trying to be patient about this.

Ive also had somewhat random germination on a few things Ive received thru the mail.

The most recent seeds recieved have been absolutely lifeless even after attempting starts with multiple different techniques and conditions in an attempt to get something going with them.

Upon close inspection it appears that some of them are cracked, Im guessing its from the mail system. Guess I need to try a bubble-pack next. :?

My germination rate has been all over the % spectrum. And there doesn’t seem to be much consistency to it.

I received FRESH seed from both Carolyn and Craig as well as locally from Earl and other CHOPTAG members. I also received seed from all over the States and Canada. I also saved some seed during my trip to Tomatopalooza III.

With one exception, a 2001 commercial variety, all of my sown seed is no more than 2 years old. Some from each of the above mentioned trades/offers, some saved by me, some from commercial sources.

I have had anywhere from 0 to 110% germination. The only consist category is seed I stole, I mean saved, while at Tomatopalooza III. Those seven varieties have given me 90% or better. I plant in 72 cell trays (cut into sets of six cells each) and there is nothing notable if I look at germination rates by six pack.

I guess it’s possible the even within a six pack some get planted deeper than others. But only by a fraction. If that’s making a difference I’d be real surprised.

So, enough of my ramblings. Like Craig, I don’t have the time right now to orchestrate a ‘controlled test’ plus I’m not sure I have the expertise to do it, but if someone
does put one together I would be glad to participate.

The only thing I did different this year was plant in 72 cell trays. The past 20 years I always planted in a tray w/o cells and used string to divide off sections. I used to start 12-18 varieties of tomatoes and the same number of peppers, so that worked. Since starting over 160 varieties this year ,I went with the cell method. I had pretty good results , but some weird stuff too.
I had expected lower rates of germination on traded seed, but was surprised how well it did. I started 79 traded varieties and have had only one no show, that was thrown in as an extra. 18 SSE varieties had one no show, again an extra thrown in... However the seeds from one SSE member germinated only one per each of 5 different varieties. The other SSE members seeds were over 80%.
Commercial vendor seeds were from Baker Creek, Abundant Life, Skyfire, Seeds of Change, Sand Hill, and Victory. All were nearly 100% except for a few varieties from Sand Hill that did very poor, and I replanted with a bit better results. The last few years Sand Hill seeds are always superstars so I wasn't sure what happened there.
With trade seeds that were difficult to germinate, I noticed almost all the diff. varieties would generally yield poor from the same person.
I had a particular variety(trade) that came up 5/5 the first time sown. I accidently planted it again in another cell about 7 days later and it was 0/5, while every cell with it germinated very good.
I have had great success with Canadian and Australian seeds too. The seeds that did poor came from NY and NM if that should matter...
Jerry L your seeds were awesome. 100% on all 4 varieties and Lucky Cross up in 3 or 4 days without bottom heat.
Some of the trays were placed in the incubator room which is about 18-20 degrees warmer than the house. I did not notice that much faster or better results there.
This year all eggplants germinated faster and better than last year. Even older seed did well.
Strange.

Jeanne

Tom,
Which part of Canada did you get seed from?

clay199,

I will check tonight and PM you where in Canada
I got them from ...
They were Mortgage Lifter -
Did you send me ML???!!! lol ~
if so its ok ~ they are great ~ its just that 2 of them
are ? well ? Funky ~~~~

~ Tom

Just two comments.

First, while it amazes me, Glenn at Sandhill is on a two year rotation,. so that no seeds he sells are older than two years old.

Most SSE members are on a five year rotation, which is normal for those who list lots of varieties, and I always have been on a 5 year rotation myself, especially when I listed hundreds of varieties in the Yearbook. But now I only list 24 and I'll still stick to that 5 year rotation since I can count on good germination for that length of time. Some of you know that when I send out seed packs I write the year the seeds were produced by me on the seed pack.

Second, I've decided to call my local Postmaster tomorrow and ask Linda if she'll do a little research for me as to where, if any, the USPS is irradiating seeds outside of the 5 zip codes that service the US goverment in Wasshington, DC. that I already know about.

if she has the time she just might do that for me.

Carolyn, Glenn and Linda are definately my seed and poultry heros. I have ordered scads of seeds from them the last few years. In fact, I have come to be so sure of their seed, I plant about exactly what I need. So I didn't sow many seeds, perhaps 3 and 5 of the 2 worse varieties. But when I replanted ,I sowed many and still had only 3 germinate. All in all, for 20 varieties ordered from them, and the free packs they always throw in, I was definately not complaining, just noticing that had never happened before...
Jeanne

Strangely enough I have to agree with Jennifer of Cndtomato, in the fact that thinking back awhile the majority of the bad no show seeds I got this season were all from the California area .

In fact prior to that I was going to order some seeds from a well know supplier in that area but backed out at the last minute for fear of wasting my money on seeds that wouldnt germinate, simply because I saw a thread on GW stating that seeds from certain suppliers in that area were failing to germinate properly- several people said they had the same problem. :(

I am up for the test.
There is NO doubt for me something is going on in the mail. I have started over 10,000 seeds this year with very high success rates.
The Green Giant seeds where planted in the same tray as two other varieties that did not go through the mail and they are close to 100%.
Out of 18 GG seeds, one came up at almost the same time as the rest of the flat, one came up a couple days ago(about 20 days) helper leaves are kind of twisted and small and stunted.(just took a picture and battery went dead so I can post later if interested.)
Seeds I recieved from Bruce sprouted fine. Ca to Ca mail.Seeds I sent to New Zealand sure did good.
Seeds sent from all over(trades) will hopefully be coming up soon although I mass planted them so I wont know how many seeds I started with.
My quik thought plan is this, I take 75 seeds from a proven bag, send 25 to one person, 25 to another and hold on to 25. When I get them back I will plant them in seperate 4 inch pots and count the sprouts in a couple weeks.

Any volunteers?
Brad................

Hey Brad,

Sign me up.

Additional information: I planted a bunch (two packets' worth) of seeds from a certain well-known California supplier. Out of the 80-odd total seeds planted, only about [u]six[/u] have sprouted! These seedlings are also very tiny.

When I examined the seeds before planting, many appeared crushed. I believe that only the very smallest or flattest seeds were somehow able to escape being damaged by whatever mechanical process the mail was being subjected to on its way over to me.

GTG

[i][b][size=2]paranoia strikes deep ... into your life it will creep ... it starts when you when your thoughts start to stray ... get outta line the postmaster comes takes your seeds away ... you better stop, hey, look around ... irradiation police are comin' down ...[/size][/b][/i]

I did call my Postmaster this AM as I said I would, and she said that to her knowledge I was correct in saying that only the 5 zip codes that service the Govermenment Offices in DC used irradiation.

I also asked her if she was aware of any new machines that have been installed in any of the larger processing centers that were perhaps narrower than in previous years and she said that no USPS info she had received had mentioned anything like that.

I explained to her the problem with seeds and I also told her that I'd been sending seeds to many states within the US and also to many countries since about 1991 and had never once had anyone say the seeds had been damaged in any way.

And have I heard that from any of you here? As regards my seeds? I'm not sure.

But I ask myself why this issue has been raised now, and not in previous years in the manner it's now being raised, meaning that sure, mailing seeds has been discussed before, but not as strongly as I see here now.

Anyway, she told me that if I wished to go to the USPS Home page and look for a contact that I could confirm for myself what she had shared with me, and I may do that.

The only problem I can see with the irradiated seeds theory- is that I would have thought that if seeds were being irradiated with Gamma Rays- surely this would kill all seeds stone dead, not just a perecentage of them to lower viability.

Personaly I feel we are all looking in the wrong place- I tend to feel that the very strong X-Ray equipment and other simular to X-ray scanning machines at airports and air cargo depots are the problem and also the same machines used in various customs depts etc, X-Rays are known to have a total or partial sterilising effect on humans if not sheilded or protected in their nether regions, and from what I have read- they have upped the power of the scanning machines for security, but not all of them are using pure x-rays some are using another form of ray to scan with.

Maybe I have got it all wrong-but short of sending out our seeds in lead lined little boxes what else can we do.


Perhaps the crushed seed theory is right as lots of seeds go through rollers on the mail sorting machines- which brings me to another point, all the mail sorting machines have a form of laser scanner on them too.

The thing that puzzles me though about this whole business is that the real problem seemed to start about two years ago- up until then things were fine, I first noticed it when I got some seeds from a california supplier from whom I had bought seeds for several years with very good germination rates- and then all of a sudden two full packets of seeds almost failed in total save for a couple that came through after about a month, and its been like that ever since, so I dont order any from there anymore. :o