Where do you order your seeds from?

Discussion in 'General Gardening Discussion' started by Lily1968, Sep 20, 2011.

  1. alex-adam

    alex-adam Super Gardener

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    Well, I must admit to being a bit of a scrooge, I don't grow a big range of vegetables and generally get most of my seed from our local 'Seedy Sunday' seed-swap. (I do of course take some of my surplus or saved seed to swap) - Like some other respondents I like The Real Seed Cataloge, very good range of heirloom varitities and very helpful people.

    a-a
     
  2. Madahhlia

    Madahhlia Total Gardener

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    I try to avoid impulse buys at the garden centre, a sure way to spend far too much.

    I make lists over the winter and jottings of plants I liked while visiting gardens, and pursue them, usually on ebay or Chilterns. I'm often after unusual things, so sources might be limited. I've used seed swaps in the past, also. Wilko/Lidl/Aldi are good sources of cheap basic flowers/veg seeds.

    I've had poor germination from various reputable sources so really don't want to pay too much for something that may not deliver a result. Seems to me that seed companies can get away with murder because most gardeners will never complain and it's hard to be sure that the seed was at fault. It's common to find seed on sale for plants where the seed is known to be non-viable after the first season - go figure!

    I'm a little bit wary of seed sell-offs at the end of the season. They've been kept in a super-heated, sunlit shed since February, not exactly ideal.
     
  3. OxfordNick

    OxfordNick Super Gardener

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  4. Neil@49aburnfoot

    Neil@49aburnfoot Gardener

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    i use premier seeds excellent service
    stores.ebay.co.uk/Premier-Seeds-Direct
    good prices great variety and never had a problem with them
     
  5. madmick

    madmick Gardener

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    Premier seeds Ebay 99 pence a packet usually 500 seeds & 59 pence P&P order as many packets as you want & you only pay the one 59 pence P&P. everything Ive bought upto now from them has germinated cauliflowers cabbage red cabage carrots beetroot all grown & cropped even the sprouts are going like crazy. I would highly recommend them no messing about with them & very fast delivery.
     
  6. Scrungee

    Scrungee Well known for it

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    Wilkos (mainly when reduced/on offer)
    Real Seeds
    Moles
    P&P (USA)
    Seeds of Italy (from local garden centre that sells them cheap)
    Kings Seeds (from a local shop that bags them up)
    T&M - only if they send me a £5 voucher!
    Car boot sales


    But mainly I try to grow as much stuff as possible from saved seeds
     
  7. HarryS

    HarryS Eternally Optimistic Gardener

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    Well Lily in less than 24 hours you have a very comprehensive list of the best seed sites :dbgrtmb:
    For my 2 cents worth...........
    DT Brown
    Mr Fothergills , both free postage - handy for that single packet of seeds.
    Packetseeds , all seeds at £1.10 to £1.25 a packet + free postage, min order of £5.50
    Ebay UK , some really good sellers - a few mentioned above.
    Ebay USA , very good for named seed varieties at half the price of UK . Just watch the postage charges , most are very cheap , some try it on at £25 postage !
     
  8. JWK

    JWK Gardener Staff Member

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    To add to my earlier post: if you are a member of the RHS then you are allowed up to 20 *free* seed packets. They collect the seed from their gardens and publish a list in October. It’s not for your run of the mill basic plants, but very good if you want something unusual. If a friend/colleague is an RHS member then ask them if they bother to request these *free* seeds. (*The RHS charge £12 handling so it’s not really free)
     
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