Dead Seeds

[bison1947]

This article was in yesterdays Daily Mail "Very Interesting"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=484339&in_page_id=1770

Bison....

[bison1947]

[Tee Gee]

It doesn't surprise me!!

I think the following statement "If the failure rate was really at this level, they would be up in arms." is a bit glib.

If we complain as I sometimes do, they often send us more of the same or a voucher to buy something different so we can't win.

This is why I save quite a lot of my seed.

Beans this year have been particularly 'rubbish' I have found!!

[redimp]

But David Gilchrist, technical adviser to the Horticultural Trades Association, said: "Amateur gardeners are very experienced and on the ball.

"If the failure rate was really at this level, they would be up in arms."

I agree with this quote to a point and think that Which may have been unlucky to get so many duff packets but I am sure that everyone on here will agree that we have all had many unexplained total or near total failures.  How many of the peat free compost failures were really seed failures? :-\

Edit:

Beans this year have been particularly 'rubbish' I have found!!

Me too - germination rate was atrocious and I ended up with about 30 plants from in excess of 200 sown.  All DT Brown seed - going back to my lottie association this year.  Less choice but reliable seed.

[calendula]

a couple of years back I bought 5 packets of carrot seeds (from fothergills I think) and nothing happened and so I kept sowing until all 5 packets of seeds were gone  :'( and not a single carrot

touble is how do seed merchants 'know' if their seed is viable or not - we should complain but many of us don't

my seed failures this year were swedes - sowed 2 lots and zilch

[OllieC]

Surely if it's 100% failure, it's more likely to be something else?

[Robert_Brenchley]

They can easily tell whether seed is viable; all they have to do is a germination test. Some of these companies should be reported to Trading Standards.

[wildthing]

I had major failures from 4 different varieties of carrots, including Atomic Red. I had grown them [from the same supplier] in previous years with no problems. I rushed a later sowing of "Touchon" by Thompson and Morgan which came free with a gardening Magazine. Due to the others failing, I sowed these thickly, broadcast over a foot wide "row". Big mistake. They came up like weeds and I have been frantically thinning them out ever since.
French and Runner beans, I only got 1 out of 4 varieties to grow yet my peas and dwarf beans grown on the bench next to them were fine. I ended up with a packet of Purple climbing beans, no idea of the variety, circa 1998. 100% germination and loaded with beans.
None of the peppers germinated. Red and Yellow Bull's Horn, and Baby Orange failed completely, and at £2.59 a packet I was not impressed. The ones I scraped out of the supermarket peppers grew just fine. I have saved some seed for next year. They can't be worse than the ones I bought. Basically, going by my own observation on vegetables, I'd say the article was right. The flowers were patchy. Petunias, pansies and violas were fine. Delphiniums and Lupins hopeless. I scavenged through the Circa 1998 leftovers, and got about 85% germination. 1998 was obviously a very good year for seeds. I didn't save them on purpose. The tea caddies containing the veg seeds, and flower seeds got shoved at the back of a dark shelf, and I didn't find them until this May when tidying out the shed.

[powerspade]

Last year I bought seed through Allotment scheme form Kings the seed order came back bearing no resemblance to the order I had placed and the germination was very very poor also I ordered from DT Brown, seeds orders was OK but again germination was poor. I thought it might have been the weather but it seems that the seed was crap all along. Well I have`nt complained to either companies but instead I shall be voting with my feet. The replacement seed I bought from Wilkos and do you know what all their seeds came up and flourished so it Wilkos this next season for me.

[Oldhippy]

I`ve found this a very interesting thread - because, as a fairly new gardener I always blame myself if I have a poor germination. I agonise over what I`ve done wrong and resolve to do better next time.
Hmmm - - not always me perhaps? :)

[Robert_Brenchley]

I had thought it was just specific flowers; it was ridiculous for them to be selling Meconopsis seed, for instance, when it was obvious it would be long dead by the time the packet was bought. But now it appears to be much more widespread. Theres some stuff in the 'Victorian Kitchen Garden' videos about sharp practice by Victorian seed merchants; I now wonder whether anything's really changed.

[Multiveg]

Some garden centres have their seeds displayed in an area where the sun shines through the glass roof - not exactly the best place for them to be stored.

[artichoke]

"an area where the sun shines through the glass roof - not exactly the best place for them to be stored."

Exactly - there is a large farm shop near my allotment where the seeds roast all summer behind large plate glass windows, so I never buy my seeds there. I have ruined seeds by keeping them in my shed which gets very hot in summer, so now I keep them cool at home.

[Multiveg]

"an area where the sun shines through the glass roof - not exactly the best place for them to be stored."

Exactly - there is a large farm shop near my allotment where the seeds roast all summer behind large plate glass windows, so I never buy my seeds there. I have ruined seeds by keeping them in my shed which gets very hot in summer, so now I keep them cool at home.

I seem to recall something from GQT a while back - Bob Flowerdew and his fridges! He stores seeds in them.