Oh so many seeds...

[BryanEmery]

So I was wondering how many packets of seed people tend to plant in a year? Some of my gardening friends seem to think I am crazy to be getting around 300 packets this year. That is of course just the specialty seed, seed ex and various lists. The number does jump when you include all the annuals veg etc. I assume in this group I probably am doing less then many. So how many packets do you plan on sowing this year?...

[razvan chisu]

So how many packets do you plan on sowing this year?...

pandora's box kind of question. i'm really curious what comes out.
I guess I'll be over the 100 mark, veg included.

[BryanEmery]

Well if we start counting veg I do 30-40 types of heirloom tomatoes alone....

B

[Hoy]

I've not counted exactly but so far I've sown about 100 pots (I quitted vegs some years ago) and still have a couple of hundred pots from previous years waiting for germination outside. Found 7 germinating pots yesterday from last year's sowing
I am still waiting for seed to arrive!

[David Nicholson]

Far too many

[Palustris]

I can beat you all. The grand total this year will be the same as the previous 5 years or so. NONE!
Before that I used to sow hundreds and germination was NIL so I gave up.

[Surreylad]

not including veg around 50-70, including veg blimey i've lost count 

[Ezeiza]

Now only the strictly necessary, perhaps 200 packets a year and almost exclusively bulbous plants. In the past and for a number of years 1500 packets a year (we were evaluating perennials and shrubs) but it was nightmarish. Too many seedlings to care for. They were planted directly in the ground when the roots had filled the pot and only pricked or separated durign their first dormancy. This saved a lot of time and labor.

[Lesley Cox]

Since I have had in the past and am now re-establishing a very tiny nursery, I generally sow about 100 kinds from the garden/rock garden. Then there are the seeds from SRGC, AGS, Frit Group of AGS, local Frit and Small Bulb Group. NZ Iris Soc, many many generous friends and Forumists and some commercial sources. Never mind the ones that appear only in my dreams. So probably about 500 vars in a year. Some germinate quickly and are dealt with quickly; some take a couple of years before they germinate; a few are NEVER thrown out - just in case - and some I do eventually throw out as the space becomes over-burdened but in general I'm quite good with seeds and in fact my first trip outside every day regardless of weather and dishes to do, is to look at my seed pots. Even in our (South Island) warm and VERY dry summer, things are germinating regularly, such as Asteranthera ovata, Pinguicula grandiflora, Rhodo pachysanthum along with Gentiana clusii, Ranunculus godleyanus and numerous rhizomatous irises sown in October. The bulbs generally are up in autumn through spring, very often at the same time the mature plants would be coming through the ground. I love seeds. I'm addicted to seeds and if I can't take them with me, at least I hope someone with sow many on my grave in due course.

[Peppa]

I've stopped counting... but probably around 300 or so. Not including my rose hybrid seedlings (my other secret obsession), which number more than 3000. I sometimes feel drowned by seed but when I see them growing and flowering, I'm reminded why I love doing this. Plus, when I see new shoots and flowers, it helps me forget about the ones I've killed.

[fermi de Sousa]

I refused to answer on the grounds it may incriminate me!
 
cheers
fermi

[Kristl Walek]

For the decade or so prior to my move to Nova Scotia, I sowed 500-1000+ ornamental species/year. I then had helping hands for transplanting, plunge beds, an unheated greenhouse, nursery and seed production beds and 10 acres of gardens. I was then also a member of almost every group that offered a seed exchange.

Now that I am on my own, with arthritic hands, about 1 acre of land, with little space given to actual seed production and only a new greenhouse to play in, I tend to limit myself to particular species I am keen to grow; mostly alpines and woody/woodland species to fill the spaces in the new gardens I am creating here. I have also entirely stopped membership in all the seed-exchange related groups. Consciously sown seed is almost always purchased from sellers of wild-sourced seed or procured through personal trades.

Of course I also have my own seed inventory from my business. During germination testing of seed, I normally dump the seedlings in the petri dishes once testing is complete, but put to the side the ones that really call to me to be potted directly from the testing containers. I am in fact doing this today.

[Stephenb]

Peaked at about 500 about 3 years ago, now in serious decline and I suspect I won't get much above 250 this year. All edibles, mostly perennial.

[Darren]

I guess around 100 - 150 packets but space is difficult so often they are bulb species of a kind I already have a few of, so i can squeeze them into the same pot eventually.

Crocus group and cyclamen society I've had no seed from for a few years (and am no longer a member of the latter)
Frit group i still have a few seeds each year despite surprising disappointments with misidentification.
AGS and SRGC exchange seed most years though sometimes i don't bother.
British Cactus and Succulent society and Mesemb study group most years.
South African Bulb Group occasionally

Purchased seed from various suppliers and gifted seeds from forumists.

[SueStephens]

I was always just a little bit embarrased about my seed 'habit' until I saw these posts... Now I feel as though I might have a long way to go before it gets to be a real problem! I am sowing/have sown about 130 perennials and about 50 veggies...
Sue