UK seed suppliers (delivering to NI)

Discussion in 'Propagation This Month' started by Aidan mc, Jan 14, 2024.

  1. Aidan mc

    Aidan mc Gardener

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    What UK seed suppliers are best for vegetable seeds, delivering to NI?
    Not all UK seed suppliers deliver to NI
    Thanks
     
    Last edited: Jan 14, 2024
  2. gks

    gks Total Gardener

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    Are you sure not all seed suppliers deliver to NI?
    Online seed suppliers don't just sell seeds, it's when you start purchasing bulky and heavier items with your seeds then they might not deliver to NI or there is a surcharge.

    If you just want seeds only, then they will have a flat postage charge, about £2.99 and probably no surcharge to NI.
    Does Marshall Gardens charge for delivery for seeds to the UK, yes, delivery is £2.99, is there a surcharge to NI, no. If you spend £40 on seeds only, delivery is free, with no surcharge to NI.
     
  3. pete

    pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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    I think its an EU thing, the EU claiming that NI must remain in the single market and as such nothing from the outside should be allowed in.
    Not from the UK that is.;)
     
  4. Aidan mc

    Aidan mc Gardener

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    Its something to do with Brexit/EU

    Seedparade 1. We cannot send seeds to the EU or Northern Ireland.

    Premierseeds direct - At present we are legally unable to ship seed top the EU or NI

    Exporting Seeds to countries outside the UK (Including Northern Ireland):
    We are not allowed to export seed to countries outside the UK (Northern Ireland included) without the customer purchasing a Phytosanitary certificate which costs anything upwards of £250.00. For more information, please contact us by email: [email protected]
     
  5. ricky101

    ricky101 Total Gardener

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    What happens if an individual in England sent a letter or small packet to you in NI, does it have to go through a customs check or would it be treated as normal uk mail ?
     
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    • Aidan mc

      Aidan mc Gardener

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      I don't really know, but i think it would be treated as regular mail.
      Some places do send seeds to NI though, was going to try Simply seeds - anyone use them.
       
    • NigelJ

      NigelJ Total Gardener

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      There are a number of good seed suppliers in the EU you could use, eg Jelitto.
      Why no sales to NI? recommends a couple of possible Irish companies.
      Nine times out of ten it will probably arrive fine
       
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      • gks

        gks Total Gardener

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        I agree, it will have something to do with Brexit. We also have to remember that England wants to ban peat based composts plus plants grown in peat for retail sale. This would mean plants grown in peat in the EU would be banned for exporting to England, there was going to be some exemptions though. So they could be making things more difficult or it's taking longer to come to a compromise.

        Seedparade has no contact details on their website, no postal address or phone number. Plus with the reviews on Trustpilot it would put me off making a purchase.

        You have to be registered and have a license to market seed, and going by the list this will be affecting all of them.

        Licensed seed companies in England and Wales - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
         
      • gks

        gks Total Gardener

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        It would be treated as normal mail, letters and small parcels not exceeding 2kg and the dimensions would be the same price being sent to N,Ireland as it would be to post and deliver within England. It's when you go over these weights and dimension's that the surcharges kick in.

        I use DHL and FedEx.

        To send a 25kg bag of fertiliser from my yard in Cumbria to the south coast of England it cost's £6.75 via DHL and £7.50 via FedEx. If I was to send 10 x 1.2m x 50mm round posts to the south coast it cost's £12.50 via DHL but still £7.50 via FedEx. I agreed a deal with our local FedEx to have a flat rate of £7.50 as long as the parcel does not exceed 25kg and 240cm in length, where as DHL wouldn't and have surcharges where the length exceeds 120cm in length, the longer the item the more the surcharge.

        To get a 25kg bag of fertiliser sent to N'Ireland would cost £17.39 through Parcel Force and to get anything sent that exceeds 1m in length would be close to £40 mark. England and Wales has a population of 60million where as N'Ireland is under 2 million, so not only do you have to cross water, with a smaller population the volumes are not there to get better rates off the couriers.
         
      • Aidan mc

        Aidan mc Gardener

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        I have gotten seeds before of some ebay sellers from UK, but i dont know if they were actually registered suppliers or not. I also wasn't satisfied with some of the seeds, on one occassion supposedly parsley seeds turned out to be carrots!
        I also got a little cactus sent over from mainland UK also last year, and it came with a UK plant passport label
         
      • Adam I

        Adam I Gardener

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        HappyGreenSeeds is a NI based seller i believe. theyre silly cheap and got me seemingly what i paid for.
         
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        • Aidan mc

          Aidan mc Gardener

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          Thanks Adam, that is very helpful
           
        • pete

          pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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          I cant read all that can you just sum up what it says.
           
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          • Obelix-Vendée

            Obelix-Vendée Head Gardener

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            Since Brexit took effect it has become illegal to import and export plant material, including seeds, from the EU to UK without a phytosanitary certificate. These are hugely expensive both in terms of bureaucracy/admin and financial cost of the inspections and license so only th ehuge commercial companies shipping huge quantities of bog standard plants will bother.

            There are plenty of good seed suppliers in the EU who can legally send plants to Eire and, presumably NI. Google the seed you seek with "EU" added to the search criteria and see what comes up.
             
          • pothead

            pothead Apprentice Gardener

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            for some reason it seems some seed companies are posting to Northern ireland but not others. Thompson and Morgan and its sister co Suttons refuse to send any. I have had seeds from mr. Fothergills several times and Moles seeds. can anyone explain exactly what the problem is when seeds can be diplayed in loads of shops here ?
             
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