Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Seedy Subjects! => Grow From Seed => Topic started by: Philippe on January 11, 2014, 10:26:46 AM
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Hi
I have a friend ( new to computer/web/online payments) who is considering getting seeds from whether chileflora or plant-world-seeds. He asked me if I had already purchased there, and answered I would question here, as I have never ordered myself.
Has someone feedback/opinion to tell about ?
Thanks
Philippe
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Philippe, I have seed in the past from Chileflora and no problems to report.
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Philippe, I have placed two orders with Plant World Seeds, and they have always been good at responding. Everything I have ordered in the past has germinated, though I did have problems with damping off, due to my own cultural errors. I have definitely ben happy with their service.
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I have ordered from both.
I've just checked my germination records of Alstroemeria from about 1999 to the present,
and I had a higher percentage of germination from ChileFlora.
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I do not have personal experience with these companies but I do have a critical remark. If you order seeds that are ephemeral much depends on how old these seeds really are and how they are stored. The big problem is that you can't see whether these seeds are old or not. But when I see that a company offers Daphne seed I'm always a bit weary because seed of most Daphne species has to be absolutely fresh for decent germination rates. When I see a company that offers Magnolia or Trillium seed that has been stored dry I likewise get very weary.
I think that many Germination Databases that you can find on the internet should be updated and to certain species a note should be added that seed should be fresh and/or stored properly (cold AND moist) to get decent germination rates.
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ChileFlora gives the date that seed is restocked, and a list of species that have recently
been restocked.
Silverhill Seeds in South Africa does this also.
If you are ordering seeds that need to be sown fresh, you can order them at the right time.
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In theory this is true but many seed companies do not collect seeds themselves. They are dependent on other people who do that for them. How old are the seeds really and how have the seed collectors stored the seed before it reaches the seed company? This is something we don't know.
And say that a seed company bought ephemeral seed but did only sell a small part of the total: how can we be sure that it throws away the unsold seeds? Isn't it tempting to use these old seeds as the 'new' stock?
My comments might seem overly suspicious but I have many bad experiences with so called 'fresh' seed. My best results with ephemeral seeds are usually with seeds that I collected myself or are from companies/ persons that I know (through experience) that deliver good quality seeds (Kristl Walek, Robin Callens, and Yuzawa Engei amongst others).
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There is also an interesting SA seeds supplier : http://lifestyleseeds.co.za/ (http://lifestyleseeds.co.za/) who lists for all seeds (or at least most of them, didn't check the entire website) when they were harvested as well as where they were collected. Knowing where they were collected is a usefull information for me to determine the likelyhood I will be able to grow these at my place. Just need to know the geography of SA by hard ;) I haven't purchased seeds from them, but let's say that my fingers are itching to do so when they will have some fresh arrivals of seeds I am looking for.
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Yes, I've been on a flower tour with them, and helped collect a few seeds.