Recommendations for seed suppliers.

[Newbeeneil]

Hi all,
Where do you lot get your seeds from?

 

[Wilco]

Cotswold seeds for me.

 

[JamezF]

I'm trying to get my vegetable seeds from The Real Seed Catalogue these days, partly because they only sell seeds for open-pollinated plants which means I can save the seed for next year (and often they have "more interesting" varieties of plants). The problem is they're a small business and can run out of seed or even have a complete failure of a harvest for some crops and have no seed for sale. But actually I like to support them for that reason too.

Otherwise I tend to use someone like Dobies or Suttons (effectively the same place I believe), Simpsons Seeds, occasionally Thompson and Morgan or Premier Seeds, depending on who has what I'm after. If all else fails, ebay can sometimes work. I wanted to try growing loofahs last year and ebay was the only place I could find seed. Generally I prefer suppliers who use paper packaging without lots of glossy colour pictures and a minimal amount of foil because I'm led to believe it's more environmentally friendly.

I suspect that in many cases most of the large seed vendors are actually selling the same stuff in their own packaging, having outsourced the actual production of seed to third parties. In fact, I'd not be surprised if a large amount of it isn't sourced off the back of commercial production. The volumes required for domestic use in the UK must be really quite small by comparison and probably difficult to make a profit on as a separate business.

James

 

[Apiarisnt]

Horses for courses, but for native wild flower seed and wild grass seed, I have found these chaps to be good: Wildflowers, Wild Grasses and Mixtures | Emorsgate Seeds – (01553) 829 028

 

[Curly green finger's]

King's seed wholesale.

 

[JamezF]

Horses for courses, but for native wild flower seed and wild grass seed, I have found these chaps to be good: Wildflowers, Wild Grasses and Mixtures | Emorsgate Seeds – (01553) 829 028

Oooh, I shall look into them. I'd like to sow some space with wild flowers but whenever I've looked at seed prices in the past it's been hideously expensive.

James

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Hi all,
Where do you lot get your seeds from?

We used to buy seeds commercially from D T Brown, Poulton Le Fylde but that was years ago. Don't know if they deal with the public (or even still trade)

 

[elainemary]

Highly recommend Emorsgate for native wildflower seeds - great website. Then ‘Real seeds’ for vegetables.Use Peter Nyssen for flowering bulbs. Have tried others but these are the best for reliable germination and good service .

 

[JamezF]

DT Brown do sell direct and I use them occasionally if I can't find things elsewhere. They're not my favourite. Often they use non-recyclable packaging and send me freebie plastic plant labels that I don't want and won't use, so it's just more plastic waste really

James

 

[enrico]

DT BROWN mainly

 

[Erichalfbee]

GeeTee bulbs are supposed to be non neonic treated. It’s where I’ve sourced all my apiary crocuses

 

[Bryang]

Deleted..

 

[Newbeeneil]

Thanks for all the recommendations. I'll look into them.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

DT Brown do sell direct and I use them occasionally if I can't find things elsewhere. They're not my favourite. Often they use non-recyclable packaging and send me freebie plastic plant labels that I don't want and won't use, so it's just more plastic waste really

James

Our dealings were long before plastic packaging became common. I came across one of their paper envelopes tomato seeds came in a while back.
I do recall switching from clay pots to plastic for bringing on tomato plants from seed trays ready for planting out. No more annual heaving strings of clay pots into the old coal-fired washboiler to sterilise them prior to re-use. 3000 pots was quite a chore and the strings were heavy.

 

[Moobee]

Seed Parade as good value basic seeds, Vital Seeds for interesting stuff.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I do recall switching from clay pots to plastic for bringing on tomato plants from seed trays ready for planting out. No more annual heaving strings of clay pots into the old coal-fired washboiler to sterilise them prior to re-use. 3000 pots was quite a chore and the strings were heavy.

That came to mind a few days ago - the local nurseries was a few doors up from my grandparent's and at the beginning of the season all the neighbours (five houses then) would pitch in and help with the potting etc. (with little thanks from Brian) I can still remember the old coal fired heating boiler, sunk into it's own pit like some great monster waiting to pounce. All his children were a bit older than me but I was always roped in to help there was a massive stack of earthenware pots behind the old carthouse which we had to sort out and clean. Although the nurseries closed down about twenty years ago, the pots were still there, the pile was over head height, just covered in moss and brambles when they levelled the whole site (there were at least six massive greenhouses) they just put a bulldozer through the lot. the whole site went on the market a few days ago (outside the development area now thanks to some pig headed councillor ) four acres where the gardens were, another acre with a small lake and a few acres of ancient woodland with a disused victorian quarry. Plus a bungalow, and the original nurseries house)
Hoping our number come up on the lottery tonight

 

[Pembroke]

Okay so they're plastic but my local garden centre imports lots of seedlings in the spring in 3 inch pots when he pots them on he gives away the now redundant pots and compartmented plug plant trays to the locals for their growing. You just need to make sure you wash them first.

 

[Amari]

Dt Brown - their catalogue is less glossy than most others. Poulton-le-Fylde? - their current address is not far from here in Newmarket.
Yes, I believe Suttons and Dobies are one and the same, and maybe even Unwins and Thompson & Morgan in the one mega-conglomerate?

My inbox is inundated with time-limited 'bargains' from all the above, including selected seeds @£1 per packet - but limited choice. A slim paper catalogue from DTB has just arrived advertising seed packets @ £1.

 

[JamezF]

I hate it when people send me catalogues. No-one should feel it is acceptable to send me stuff that I haven't specifically asked for that I have to pay to dispose of (assuming it's not suitable to compost), nor indeed to incur the environmental costs of printing and delivering it.

James

 

[Gilberdyke John]

That came to mind a few days ago - the local nurseries was a few doors up from my grandparent's and at the beginning of the season all the neighbours (five houses then) would pitch in and help with the potting etc. (with little thanks from Brian) I can still remember the old coal fired heating boiler, sunk into it's own pit like some great monster waiting to pounce. All his children were a bit older than me but I was always roped in to help there was a massive stack of earthenware pots behind the old carthouse which we had to sort out and clean. Although the nurseries closed down about twenty years ago, the pots were still there, the pile was over head height, just covered in moss and brambles when they levelled the whole site (there were at least six massive greenhouses) they just put a bulldozer through the lot. the whole site went on the market a few days ago (outside the development area now thanks to some pig headed councillor ) four acres where the gardens were, another acre with a small lake and a few acres of ancient woodland with a disused victorian quarry. Plus a bungalow, and the original nurseries house)
Hoping our number come up on the lottery tonight

We had a.60 foot by 10 foot propogating greenhouse which had raised beds either side of a central walkway. Under the beds ran 4" diameter cast iron heating pipes. These were heated by a Robin Hood coke boiler sitting in a pit next to the entrance door to the greenhouse. Because it was lower than the pipes gravity circulation warmed the whole length of the beds. Plant raising started in January each year and the boiler remained lit from then through until mid April (ish). The warm greenhouse was a favourite lunchtime haunt for various outside workers such as road sweepers, and neighbouring farm workers. The local signwriter used to unbolt the signs from their posts, bring them inside and repaint them in warm, dry comfort plus the paint dried better.
I recall my dad used to stoke the boiler late in the evening by the light of a paraffin hurricane lamp.