Where to Buy Seeds by the 1/4 lb, 1/2lb and the pound - Page 2

Wi-sunflower · May 8, 2011

On the varieties I list 10 grams, I have plenty of seed. If you give me an email of what varieties you would be interested in, I'll see if I have enough seed to do a larger amount. I just don't list a bigger quantity on the web site as I didn't think there would be much interest in that much of any 1 variety.

Here is Rupps web site http://www.ruppseeds.com/
They are in Wauseon, Oh.

Here is Holmes http://www.holmesseed.com/
There are in Canton, Oh
The Holmes catalog does have about 50 OP and Heirlooms listed in amounts up to 1 oz. But they don't list most of the unusual varieties talked about here on TV.

Carol

dice · May 8, 2011

Gourmet Seed has bulk prices on some items.

Here is the "Red OP" page:
http://www.gourmetseed.com/category/...mato___red_op/

Main index:
http://www.gourmetseed.com/

JackE · May 8, 2011

John, An honest 1/4 oz of tomato seed, by weight, is 2500-3000 seeds. Officially, the number is 11,500/ounce. How many heirlooms do you want to plant?

I hate when seed companies go by "grams" - I have to go to the conversion tables every time. :-)

Jack

Mark0820 · May 8, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wi-sunflower

Here is Rupps web site http://www.ruppseeds.com/
They are in Wauseon, Oh.

Carol

Thanks! I grew up in Northwest Ohio, and Rupp was a popular name in the Archbold/Wauseon area. I wondered if that is where the seed business was located, and it is.

John3 · May 8, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by JackE

John, An honest 1/4 oz of tomato seed, by weight, is 2500-3000 seeds. Officially, the number is 11,500/ounce. How many heirlooms do you want to plant?

I hate when seed companies go by "grams" - I have to go to the conversion tables every time. :-)

Jack

OK going with the low end of 2,500 seeds per 1/4 ounce would be
1 g = 0.035273 oz = 350 seeds
5 g = 0.176369 oz = 1,760 seeds
10 g = 0.352739 oz = 3520 seeds
20 g = 0.705479 oz = 7,050 seeds
25 g = 0.881849 oz = 8810 seeds
50 g = 1.76369 oz = 17,630 seeds

Wi-sunflower · May 8, 2011

I don't like using grams either. But the only scales you can get that will accurately weigh a small amount of anything are the small gram scales like are used by jewelers or druggies. I have 2 such scales. My newest is a nice little battery digital scale.

Carol

John3 · May 8, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by dice

Gourmet Seed has bulk prices on some items.

Here is the "Red OP" page:
http://www.gourmetseed.com/category/...mato___red_op/

Main index:
http://www.gourmetseed.com/

Thanks dice for the link.

John3 · May 8, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wi-sunflower

On the varieties I list 10 grams, I have plenty of seed. If you give me an email of what varieties you would be interested in, I'll see if I have enough seed to do a larger amount. I just don't list a bigger quantity on the web site as I didn't think there would be much interest in that much of any 1 variety.

Carol

OK thanks Carol

ireilly · May 8, 2011

J.L. Hudson sells 1/4 ounces for some varieties and 25 grams for even fewer (tomatoes). They have one of the most extensive seed lists I have encountered, although not as many tomatoes as others. They are strongly anti-GMO too.

And the Garden Watchdog has pretty favorable reviews on them.

I just got a small GA-3 kit from them for $20, plenty enough since I am just playing around with it right now.

http://www.jlhudsonseeds.net/BulkVeg.htm

Edited to say I have not ordered seed from them yet, although a cursory comparison of their pricing versus TGS shows they are cheaper on most varieties. I have ordered from TGS before and they do have an extensive selection of seeds.

Also edited to say it is a 100-year-old seed bank.

Walter

JackE · May 9, 2011

A good supplier will always provide the date and germination rate of the last test. If the supplier is new to us, I run my own test before planting. Any rate below 95% is probably old seed and too risky, in my experience.

Example: I wanted to try some Charleston Belle nematode-resistant peppers. The only source I could find was Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, who readily gave me the data - last germ test on Aug of '09 at 86%. This was old seed and they didn't conceal that fact. I ran my own test when the seed arrived and got 83%, consistent with their results after an additional year had passed. SESE is on our list of reliable seed comapnies and can be trusted in the future.

I would not normally buy seed that old but there was no choice in this case. The peppers did not do well - the resistance broke-down in mid season and they fell to the RKN. I suspect that the old seed may have been a factor - but I can't prove it. (The RKN resistance begins to break-down when soil temp reaches 85 deg). Possibly, OP seed might have a longer shelf life than hybrids, I don't know that, but it sounds right.

I would be worried about firms that offer a long list of cultivars for any vegetable. The odds of the seed being old increases dramatically in that case. And if they won't provide recent test results they should not be considered reliable. A good commercial supplier usually offers no more than 10-20 slicing tomato cultivars and will discard last year's seed or sell it cheap to a discount outfit. (Clifton, for example, offers 15 round red, 6 Roma/Saladette and 5 cherry/grape cultivars) A lot of varieties in the catalog is a warning to me.

If the price is too good to be true, it probably is! I never buy seed based on price. If you don't get a good germ rate, or have weak plants, there's no way you can prove that it's not your fault (or even be sure in your own mind). There are so many variables that a shady seed supplier can get away with murder and never be held accountable. That's why, IMO, there are so many unethical and/or incompetent seed companies catering to home gardeners. It's a nearly litigation-proof business!

Jack

John3 · May 9, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by JackE

If the price is too good to be true, it probably is! I never buy seed based on price. If you don't get a good germ rate, or have weak plants, there's no way you can prove that it's not your fault (or even be sure in your own mind). There are so many variables that a shady seed supplier can get away with murder and never be held accountable. That's why, IMO, there are so many unethical and/or incompetent seed companies catering to home gardeners. It's a nearly litigation-proof business!

Jack

That's a good point JackE. One of the reasons for posting here is to get info from the Tomatovillians who buy in bulk as I would think the company or companies they list should be good companies.

I did get a look at Johnny's Selected Seeds and they have 18 or 19 tomatoes they sell in bulk some as high as one pound.

JackE · May 9, 2011

A pound of tomato seed! That would be about 200,000 seeds and for the typical determinate hybrid, would cost $10,000 from my supplier. I wouldn't imagine Johnny has too many customers for that package :-)

There are growers that big in FL and CA though. There's no more direct seeding of tomatoes - it's all bare root seedlings planted by a huge machine that plants multiple rows per pass with an operator for each row. The new hybrid seeds are too expensive to sow direct.

Jack

John3 · May 9, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by JackE

A pound of tomato seed! That would be about 200,000 seeds and for the typical determinate hybrid, would cost $10,000 from my supplier. I wouldn't imagine Johnny has too many customers for that package :-)

Jack

Jack I went back over to Johnny's site and most of the heirloom tomatoes are 118.75 for 25,000 seeds which would be 950 dollars for about a pound (using your 200,000 seeds per pound as a ref)
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/v-4-heirl...omSeedsLanding

a pound of black cherry tomatoes seeds would be about 650 dollars
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-7762-black-cherry-og.aspx

JackE · May 9, 2011

Yeah, I forgot you were buying OP's - they're always pretty cheap because they pollinate themselves. I'm comparing apples with oranges. :-) I wish our seed were that cheap!

A pound (200M - Clifton goes by number instead of weight) of the variety we use would run $13,681.21. We buy 5M every winter - $353.11. The resistances and characteristics of the hybrid are more than worth the money to us (strong disease package, compact plant requiring minimum support, high yields, extra thick skin for rough handling etc). Our supplier doesn't carry any OP's or Indeterminates - there's little or no demand for them by producers. They don't taste as good as the old OP's though, but still bettter than Wally World because we ripen them on the vine.

Jack

Jack

Colorado_west · May 9, 2011

Before I started planting to sell I got a tomato book from the library. I read that and red tape that winter. So could only have what I could care for. Hybrids were tougher ones and better chance with them. Summer before I started one big grower had put in 10,000 plants and ended with a 1000 after the Curly top virus hit her. Happened to see in the paper and I have never heard of it before. The Sugar beet flea hoppers hit me but not that bad. Lost couple hundred plants. So I have used hybrids as main crop. Indetermine as did not want them to come on all at once. I planted mid- season and early one. I have had the bugs wipe out a rows of OP where the hybrid came through pretty good. Vine ripe and they thought they were good tasting. I only had one person refuse hybrids. I had some OP's on the table too. They will not buy sprayed stuff. I would buy a package of seed and grow and then save my own seed. I bought hybrids each year. One does have to grow what will grow in your area and situation. I can not grow late tomatos as season too short. I do know seeds are getting higher and higher all the time. I am off on subject.

I save seed but just for me . One wa to cut the cost. I know one can't do it with hybrids.

May 8, 2011	#16
Wi-sunflower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 2,591	On the varieties I list 10 grams, I have plenty of seed. If you give me an email of what varieties you would be interested in, I'll see if I have enough seed to do a larger amount. I just don't list a bigger quantity on the web site as I didn't think there would be much interest in that much of any 1 variety. Here is Rupps web site http://www.ruppseeds.com/ They are in Wauseon, Oh. Here is Holmes http://www.holmesseed.com/ There are in Canton, Oh The Holmes catalog does have about 50 OP and Heirlooms listed in amounts up to 1 oz. But they don't list most of the unusual varieties talked about here on TV. Carol Last edited by Wi-sunflower; May 8, 2011 at 03:25 PM. Reason: added thought

May 8, 2011	#17
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	Gourmet Seed has bulk prices on some items. Here is the "Red OP" page: http://www.gourmetseed.com/category/...mato___red_op/ Main index: http://www.gourmetseed.com/ __________________ -- alias

May 8, 2011	#24
ireilly Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2010 Location: Dallas Posts: 344	J.L. Hudson sells 1/4 ounces for some varieties and 25 grams for even fewer (tomatoes). They have one of the most extensive seed lists I have encountered, although not as many tomatoes as others. They are strongly anti-GMO too. And the Garden Watchdog has pretty favorable reviews on them. I just got a small GA-3 kit from them for $20, plenty enough since I am just playing around with it right now. http://www.jlhudsonseeds.net/BulkVeg.htm Edited to say I have not ordered seed from them yet, although a cursory comparison of their pricing versus TGS shows they are cheaper on most varieties. I have ordered from TGS before and they do have an extensive selection of seeds. Also edited to say it is a 100-year-old seed bank. Walter Last edited by ireilly; May 9, 2011 at 03:23 PM.

May 9, 2011	#25
JackE Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Woodville, Texas Posts: 520	A good supplier will always provide the date and germination rate of the last test. If the supplier is new to us, I run my own test before planting. Any rate below 95% is probably old seed and too risky, in my experience. Example: I wanted to try some Charleston Belle nematode-resistant peppers. The only source I could find was Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, who readily gave me the data - last germ test on Aug of '09 at 86%. This was old seed and they didn't conceal that fact. I ran my own test when the seed arrived and got 83%, consistent with their results after an additional year had passed. SESE is on our list of reliable seed comapnies and can be trusted in the future. I would not normally buy seed that old but there was no choice in this case. The peppers did not do well - the resistance broke-down in mid season and they fell to the RKN. I suspect that the old seed may have been a factor - but I can't prove it. (The RKN resistance begins to break-down when soil temp reaches 85 deg). Possibly, OP seed might have a longer shelf life than hybrids, I don't know that, but it sounds right. I would be worried about firms that offer a long list of cultivars for any vegetable. The odds of the seed being old increases dramatically in that case. And if they won't provide recent test results they should not be considered reliable. A good commercial supplier usually offers no more than 10-20 slicing tomato cultivars and will discard last year's seed or sell it cheap to a discount outfit. (Clifton, for example, offers 15 round red, 6 Roma/Saladette and 5 cherry/grape cultivars) A lot of varieties in the catalog is a warning to me. If the price is too good to be true, it probably is! I never buy seed based on price. If you don't get a good germ rate, or have weak plants, there's no way you can prove that it's not your fault (or even be sure in your own mind). There are so many variables that a shady seed supplier can get away with murder and never be held accountable. That's why, IMO, there are so many unethical and/or incompetent seed companies catering to home gardeners. It's a nearly litigation-proof business! Jack Last edited by JackE; May 9, 2011 at 09:12 AM.

May 9, 2011	#30
Colorado_west Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: western Colorado zone 5 Posts: 307	Before I started planting to sell I got a tomato book from the library. I read that and red tape that winter. So could only have what I could care for. Hybrids were tougher ones and better chance with them. Summer before I started one big grower had put in 10,000 plants and ended with a 1000 after the Curly top virus hit her. Happened to see in the paper and I have never heard of it before. The Sugar beet flea hoppers hit me but not that bad. Lost couple hundred plants. So I have used hybrids as main crop. Indetermine as did not want them to come on all at once. I planted mid- season and early one. I have had the bugs wipe out a rows of OP where the hybrid came through pretty good. Vine ripe and they thought they were good tasting. I only had one person refuse hybrids. I had some OP's on the table too. They will not buy sprayed stuff. I would buy a package of seed and grow and then save my own seed. I bought hybrids each year. One does have to grow what will grow in your area and situation. I can not grow late tomatos as season too short. I do know seeds are getting higher and higher all the time. I am off on subject. I save seed but just for me . One wa to cut the cost. I know one can't do it with hybrids.