Poor seed germination

A._Badger

Though not a subscriber to Gardening Which? earlier this year I read somewhere that they had been complaining in one of their reports about seed quality.

I didn't think a great deal about this until I achieved miserable results with the first batch of peas I sowed - a packet of Thompson & Morgan's Kelvedon Wonder.

Because of work being done in the garden, I'd sowed into toilet roll tubes using B&Q compost and left them in an unheated room, checking them regularly for water - which means they had about as perfect conditions as they could get - no mice, no frost. Out of the first 12 sowed only four germinated. Out of the second 12, only two.

The packet promptly went back to T&M (a waste of time, really, even second class, the postage cost getting on for the price of the seeds).

I next tried a packet of Suttons Hurst's Green Shaft. This time, I got six out of 12 to germinate - better, but still unacceptable (and, I suspect, below the legal level required for the viability of vegetable seed).

It's very easy for the seedsmen to blame poor weather, pests or faulty technique when seeds fail, but I'd say my test was pretty close to a reference.

So what is going on? Is Which? right suggesting we're being ripped-off? Have the seed companies let their standards slip?

Today I'll be sowing some of the replacement T&M Kelvedon Wonders. I'll report back!

Any views?

alanobrien

Interesting, overall i think my seed germination rates are about normal except i had
a whole packet of silene fail to germinate recently. I have taken to using heated propergators a little more these days to start some off and that seems to help. It shouldn't be necessary (expcept maybe for tropicals) though.

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

I've had realy poor germination with some of my flower seeds.Strangely enough with varieties I use regularly.Sweet peas and marigolds,all new packets of fresh seed.On the other hand some other varieties I have planted have shot up within a few days.You just can't have two years the same with plants.

Gardening-girl_5

I had a failure on all my Verbena "sparkles mixed" from Johnsons seeds...yet the ones i have had most success with is Thompson & Morgans! I bought some non stop begonia tubers from Spaldings bulbs and plants and they are pathetic, I also bought a blue trumpet vine climber and it arrived half dead and with a leaf with a big hole in that had been eaten before posting! I complained and sent a picture of it off to them and they sent me another...only for it to be nearly as bad as the first one, it is 50/50 at the moment if that one is going to survive! I should have complained about that one too but they have lost my future custom..they weren't cheap either at £6.95 each..never again will i shop with them:mad:

elsien

My courgette seeds aren't doing a thing, but I presumed it was because they weren't warm enough. The packet says 20 degrees, but I don't have a propogator (and the airing cupboard is full) so I stuck them next to the boiler and hoped that would do. Says 5-7 days and not a sign of life after a fortnight.
Also had poor results with Black eyed susans, which I did quite well with last year, so I don't think those are down to me.

troll35

My mum has had very poor results with sweetcorn this year, only 2 germinating out of a full packet of seeds. I will tell her to contact T&M for replacement/refund. I wonder if it was last years dreadful summer that has caused the problems with poor seed quality.

Farway

FWIW I always found T & M seeds to have poor germination results, so much so I stopped buying them over 30 years ago, I did write to them at the time, very apologetic, but sounds like nothing has changed in 30 years

MoJo

My Kelvedon Wonder have done okay, which I didn't expect because they were left-overs from last year - obviously a better batch than this years though!
I've been disappointed with my runner and dwarf beans, although my borlotti beans are going mad

aurorahelios

T&M claim in their catalogue that their seeds were found to have the best germination rate in the gardening which report. Can't comment myself haven't tried them myself yet, I'm still a bit of a novice because I only really started sowing seeds last year.

A._Badger

It's funny you should say that, Farway. I also stopped buying T&M seeds many years ago and for just the same reason. I only started again this year because, fool that I am, I'd read they had done well in the Which? test, so I thought I'd give them another try.

On the general subject of pea seeds, incidentally, the number you get in a packet seems to bear absolutely no relationship to the price charged, nor is it easy to tell how many you are getting, with some companies giving a vague 'length of row' number and others quoting the number of actual seeds.

Having looked around, I think I'll try Kings next year. People speak well of them and they seem to offer good value. I shan't be buying T&M again, that's for sure!

erewyn

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Seeds forever
Hi
Just thought I'd share a website I use to buy seeds from. Its run by a couple in south wales, who seem very nice!
They sell seeds, that arent modified or hybrids(like from most big seed companies), that are fertile. So you can keep the seeds of anything you grow and then plant them the next year.
Its good fun and money saving too!
The link is http://www.realseeds.co.uk/
They have a lot of veg that are rare/unusual too so can be fun to give them a try. I like all the mad little cucumber/gherkins.
Sx



I thought I would recommend the RealSeeds Charity/Company as I found out about them from the above post, first year for me to grow veg in the garden, I brought courgettes, sweet mange-tout, basil, gerkins, french bean,.. there are lots of interesting seeds, have a look, you wont be disappointed
:beer: