Wrong seed again!

[amideutch]

We're not on a witch hunt but as Feldon has said if there is a pattern, it can only be found if folks post their findings so we can be better informed.
A good example I came across today is Amishland that is selling "Stump of the World" aka "Big Ben". Problem is Stump is PL and the original Big Ben is RL. I grew Stump in 08 PL and am growing Big Ben this year which is RL. I did e-mail Amishland as to the leaf type of this "rare" Stump aka Big Ben variety. Ami

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by amideutch

We're not on a witch hunt but as Feldon has said if there is a pattern, it can only be found if folks post their findings so we can be better informed.
A good example I came across today is Amishland that is selling "Stump of the World" aka "Big Ben". Problem is Stump is PL and the original Big Ben is RL. I grew Stump in 08 PL and am growing Big Ben this year which is RL. I did e-mail Amishland as to the leaf type of this "rare" Stump aka Big Ben variety. Ami

http://tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=7544

If folks are interested in the Stump of the World/Big Ben leaf forms the above is a great read about Ben Quisenberry and LQBerry, his grandson did post, which was a delight, and as to leaf form, take a look at what Craig said the leaf forms were early on and then take a look at post 21 where the grandson spoke to the leaf forms of both Big Ben and Stump of the World and their relationship as varieties.

I know there are many many new folks here at Tville who no doubt didn't spend too much time looking at some of the threads in the Legacy Forum, and this thread was a real winner for many of us.

[tam91]

How very interesting - I'll have to read through that forum when I have some time.

I looked up Big Ben on Tania's site, and it says "Ben Quisenberry said to have received the seed from his friend, Bob Dyke of Boonesboro, Kentucky, in 1967. According to Amy Goldman, the Bob Dyke's seed was labelled Stump of the World, and Ben Quisenberry, who did not like the name, renamed it to Big Ben. "

So apparently Ben Quisenberry didn't name Stump of the World.

But ok, if he renamed "Stump of the World" to "Big Ben" - then where did the current potato-leaved Stump of the World come from?

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by tam91

How very interesting - I'll have to read through that forum when I have some time.

I looked up Big Ben on Tania's site, and it says "Ben Quisenberry said to have received the seed from his friend, Bob Dyke of Boonesboro, Kentucky, in 1967. According to Amy Goldman, the Bob Dyke's seed was labelled Stump of the World, and Ben Quisenberry, who did not like the name, renamed it to Big Ben. "

So apparently Ben Quisenberry didn't name Stump of the World.

But ok, if he renamed "Stump of the World" to "Big Ben" - then where did the current potato-leaved Stump of the World come from?

The reason that some of us believe that Ben Q named the variety Stump of the World hinself is b'c he was a very religious man and pictures of some of his seedpacks are at the LI Seed Co, ken Ettlinger, as well as ones sent to my now departed good friend Kees Sahin who with is wife owned Sahin Seeds, in the Netherlands, that showed his writing of biblical references on those seed packs. Kees also had copies of his seed listings with biblical sayings that he had wrotten on those.

No e-mail, no internet back then. Everything was done by old fashioned writing of letters.

Stump of the World refers to the Root of Jesse and in the link I just gave that was discussed and I gave examples of bibilical references.

I don't think that he would turn to religion AFTER receiving a variety called Stump of the World since his grandson also spoke to that in the same thread and saiud that his grandfather had always been a very religious man.

[tam91]

Oh I understand - and I had read what you wrote about that issue. And perhaps I wrote incorrectly (so easy to goof up the written word) - I wasn't questioning his religiosity at all.

But it's interesting - the grandson said in that thread that Ben didn't like the name "Stump of the World", and therefore renamed it.

I don't know where Tania got her information, but she states that he did not name it, but that his friend did, and that Ben changed the name to Big Ben.

If that's true - and Big Ben is the original "Stump" - then what is the current Stump? Seems to be a contradiction.

It is such a different world now, with the internet and easy documentation of things - whereas in the past, there can be so many conflicting stories.

As an aside - I have thought - my grandparents generation, the great invention was the automobile. My parents - perhaps the television. My generation - definitely the internet. I worked on developing Boolean keyword searching for university libraries, and can remember when that was the "cats pajamas". Now, commonplace. Interesting how things change.

[remy]

Originally Posted by coloken

The one that gripes me is Sophie's Choice from Gary at tomatofest. He says " short determinate (24")". I bought it to grow in a container inside last winter. It is very defiantly indeterminate. Grew 6 foot high and hit the ceiling. Either wrong seed or wrong description. Wasted a whole winter and a window with a wrong plant. Planted it again this summer and all seeds are indeterminate, not just that one.

Definitely wrong seed. Sophie's Choice has never grown more than 2 feet for me if that much, and I've grown it many times.
Remy

[puzzley]

OK, so since many of you asked and commented that it would be a service to the others on this board, the vendor for the wrong seed I've had two years in a row is Baker Creek.

Feldon, you're the winner.....

[beefyboy]

I have had many problems with incorrect seed from pinetree but they always honored there gaurantee and replaced the seed for me. Unfortunately mant times it is too late to start over when this happens!

[amrkhalido]

Yes would you please dnt hesitate in telling the seeds vendor who happens to miss up seeds or give wrong directions ,,,

It would help others to know what to expect ,,,

Thanks, Amr

[beefyboy]

Funny I found thios article! I have been sitting on some Baker creek seed of Green Zebra and started 2 plants in Sept. for my winter crop and to my amazement I got no green Zebra coming up. I have no idea what they are and wasted my earhbox space on these 2 plants. I now have another reason to never order from baker creek again.

[Worth1]

Just to set the record straight I have NEVER had the wrong seed sent to me from Tomato Growers Supply. For a long time now I have consistently received the right seed from this outstanding company from peppers to tomatoes. I have ordered around 200 different varieties from them and always got the right thing every time.
Not that mistakes can and will be made, they have done great by me.

Hats Off to a real good seed supplier.

Worth.

[gill_s]

Originally Posted by amideutch

Puzzley, the main reason for this forum is to Identify Seed vendors whether they be good or bad and if bad identify the problems the vendor has whether it be late shipping, payment issues or in your case varieties that do not grow true to name. Other people may have had the same problem with the same vendor but just blew it off. By posting the vendor's name others might jump in who had the same problem with the vendor and in your case two years in a row it might be better to name the vendor as a service to our other members. Ami

I think many of us are reluctant to name vendors because of not wanting to give them a bad reputation if our problem is a 'one off'. I have had a bad experience with Tomatopedia. It is a UK company so this is probably only relevant to UK members. I placed an order on Sep 9th and finally after numerous e-mail enquiries and unanswered telephone calls my Paypal payment was refunded on December 21st. This only came after I had given them a deadline before I reported a dispute to PayPal.
They are offering about 800 varieties of tomato seed and plants. Apparently they send to the US for the seed to fulfil each individual order.
Has anyone else had experience of Tomatopedia? Maybe, as stated in the e-mail I did finally receive, that he(Nick Botting) had twice sent seeds(not the ones I had ordered!) to my address and I had not received them. If so why did he not reply to my e-mails enquiring about the whereabouts of the order, telling me that he had done so.
Gill

[maf]

Gill, thanks for mentioning this. I only recently discovered the Tomatopedia site and was impressed by the number of varieties listed but a little suspicious of them because they seemed as if they might just be the middlemen in the transaction. Defo won't risk ordering from them now.

I tried going back to the site now and I got this message:

Down for Maintenance ...
The site is currently down for maintenance. Please come back later.
We apologise to our customers but Tomatopedia is currently down for maintenance and to address security issues.

[amideutch]

I did make an order with Tomatopedia when they initially came online and were offering a discount on your first order. Evidently they are getting their seeds from Tomatofest and repackaging them. If you look at what Tomatopedia is offering it is the same as Tomatofest. And one of the varieties I ordered "Gigantesque" is only sold by Tomatofest. Delivery was slow, due to them sourcing from the States and seed packs were paper with ziplock inside containing seeds. Slow delivery was my only problem with these folks. But you would be better served ordering directly from Tomatofest if that is the only source for the variety you seek. Ami

[Tania]

Tomatopedia also got some seeds from me to resell. I think they buy from many other seeds vendors.

Tania