[Viv_Logan]

Hey everyone,

My mum (Viv) and I (Lo) have decided to grow fruit and veg this year. I had success last year with my veggies and blueberries and it really spurred my mum on with growing out own.

So this morning, we went to Dobbies (uh oh) and for fifteen packets of seeds we were charged on average £2.99. This was painful for mum especially as she footed the bill.

So after we came home with our purchases (plus a small plastic greenhouse to act as a giant propagator and seed compost) we decided to have a mooch online. So far we've found massive reductions in prices on seeds on the net but I don't know what sites we can trust or what to do really.

Does anyone have any help where to start?
Also some good varieties of things to grow would be incredibly helpful! There's so much opinion on the net!
We're looking at growing the usual, Tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, onions, leeks, spinach, runner and French beans, bell peppers, corn, squash.
We'll also be growing fruit, strawberries, more blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, blackcurrants, apples and pears.


This is our first major year at getting growing and I'm well aware that apart from growing we're also setting ourselves up for subsequent years of growing.
So any help, again, hugely appreciated!

Thanks

Lo and Viv

[petehog72]

Seekay seeds are good, I got mine from them, got 12 packs of seeds for less than a tenner inc delivery

[m1ckz]

ive used most dealers on    ebay.com
all have been trustworthy an good seeds   you will find all you nee.d on ebay  gl

[surbie100]

Hello, and welcome to the site *waves*

Do you have a Wilkinsons near you? Or a £land? They usually do cheaper ranges of seeds and cover all the basics. There are some good seed offers with the big seed merchants, eg T&M who regularly run a 10 packets of seed for £10 offer. Premier Seeds, MoreVeg, VegetableSeeds.net and SeedParade all do fairly cheap seeds and have a good range.

Hope that helps!

Where are you growing? If you have an allotment people often give away spare raspberry/strawberry runners and might give cuttings for currant bushes. On our site anyways...

[Christine]

If you have an allotment association that sells seeds in  your area it might well be worth you joining as just members as the seeds there are usually at a discount.

Premier Seeds can be found on Amazon or on eBay and they have a good reputation. So do the seeds from Wilkos (used to be Wilkinsons - same seeds).

[gremlin]

Welcome. 2.99 sounds very dear.   But we have all done something similar in our enthusiasm

Some seeds do cost that much e.g. F1 varieties, especially cucumbers.  Most seeds I wouldn't pay more than £1 for. Good places are B&Q, Wilkinson, end of season stock clearance in garden centres in autumn, especially before the Ch****as tat arrives in September. 

You don't have to sow all the seeds in a packet at once.  The sow by date is only advisory.  My packets go on for years.   

Seeds can be harvested and saved for next year, even if is only a few peas, flower seeds and tomatoes

As for good varieties. What variety works for one person doesn't always work for another, even on plots side by side. The fun is in experimenting.  If in doubt and the price is not too different, I choose the seeds marked "AGM" (Award of Garden Merit)   

I also try anything marked 50p........what is a "cardoon" anyway?

[mrsbean]

Aldi seeds usually 39p pkt. not sure if in yet. You could buy and keep till next year if you have already planted.

[Norfolkgrey]

^^^I think lidl seeds were in last week, aldi are yet to get theirs.

[juvenal]

^^^I think lidl seeds were in last week, aldi are yet to get theirs.

From Aldi website...

Vegetable Seeds
24 varieties of vegetable seeds available while stocks last.

Choose from:

Beetroot Boltardy. 250 per pack
Broccoli Purple. 350 per pack
Cabbage Golden Acre. 250 per pack
Carrot Early Nantes. 1100 per pack
Chilli Pepper de Cayenne. 65 per pack
Cucumber Marketmore. 25 per pack
Herb Coriander. 150 per pack
Herb Parsley Envy. 500 per pack
Herb Sweet Basil. 600 per pack
Herb Wild Rocket. 670 per pack
Leek Musselburgh. 350 per pack
Lettuce Little Gem Cos. 900 per pack
Nasturtium Tutti Frutti. 25 per pack
Pea Hurst Greenshaft. 90 per pack
Perpetual Spinach Leaf Beet. 250 per pack
Poppy* Iceland Special Mix. 1900 per pack
Radish French Breakfast 3. 450 per pack
Runner Bean Scarlet Emperor. 20 per pack
Speedy Lettuce Leaf Salad. 1500 per pack
Spring Onion White Lisbon. 550 per pack
Sunflower* Giant Yellow. 50 per pack
Sweetcorn Gold Bantum. 35 per pack
Sweet Pepper (Capsicum) California Wonder. 45 per pack
Tomato Gardener's Delight. 75 per pack

[BabbyAnn]

If in doubt and the price is not too different, I choose the seeds marked "AGM" (Award of Garden Merit)   

Good point - AGM is the RHS award for plants that have been trialed where most people can grow them with relative ease, tastes great and the yield is usually good

.......what is a "cardoon" anyway?

a sort of globe artichoke

As well as ebay and Wilkos for cheap seeds (they usually have a 3 for 2 offer), when you get more confident and want to try different varieties, the other online sites are fine - if you do buy from them, often they send what may be annoying e-mails but some do offer the occasional promotional "Free P&P" weekend which is a good excuse to buy plants like rhubarb or asparagus crowns, onion sets and potatoes etc otherwise the cost of purchase often outweighs any sales.

[surbie100]

From Aldi website...

Vegetable Seeds
24 varieties of vegetable seeds available while stocks last.

Choose from:

Beetroot Boltardy. 250 per pack
Broccoli Purple. 350 per pack
Cabbage Golden Acre. 250 per pack
Carrot Early Nantes. 1100 per pack
Chilli Pepper de Cayenne. 65 per pack
Cucumber Marketmore. 25 per pack
Herb Coriander. 150 per pack
Herb Parsley Envy. 500 per pack
Herb Sweet Basil. 600 per pack
Herb Wild Rocket. 670 per pack
Leek Musselburgh. 350 per pack
Lettuce Little Gem Cos. 900 per pack
Nasturtium Tutti Frutti. 25 per pack
Pea Hurst Greenshaft. 90 per pack
Perpetual Spinach Leaf Beet. 250 per pack
Poppy* Iceland Special Mix. 1900 per pack
Radish French Breakfast 3. 450 per pack
Runner Bean Scarlet Emperor. 20 per pack
Speedy Lettuce Leaf Salad. 1500 per pack
Spring Onion White Lisbon. 550 per pack
Sunflower* Giant Yellow. 50 per pack
Sweetcorn Gold Bantum. 35 per pack
Sweet Pepper (Capsicum) California Wonder. 45 per pack
Tomato Gardener's Delight. 75 per pack

Small note of caution - Icelandic poppies are not edible. As far as I know, papaver somniferum and papaver paeoniiflorum are the only edible groups in the poppy family. Icelandic poppies are in the papaver nudicaule group.

[upthetump]

I ALWAYS  look in Poundstretcher or Wilko's at end of growing season, I picked up quite a few for 10p. if you buy now you will pay dearest. take a look at the Real Seed Catalogue online. they sell a very good variety and they give instructions on how to store your own (non F1) seed to cut down on purchases in following years. as said earlier Lidl and Aldi sell very reasonably, last week  Poundland had packets of collections of seeds for £1. eg salad pack with toms, lettuce, cucumber, spring onion etc

[Snoop]

Moreveg are reliable online suppliers of small packets of seeds at reasonable prices. I've just bought a lot of seeds from Premier Seeds Direct on ebay. They are very good value but you don't get much in the way of instructions, but growing advice can easily be found online.

I've also bought seeds from Lidl. Fantastic value and good germination rates.

[AnneB]

I admit to having a seed problem.  It's easy to acquire one.
My favourite sources for seeds are the following
Aldi - cheap but good
Wilko - cheap but good
The Range - cheap, occasional sales and their Italian range has unusual varieties and huge quantities for the price
Real Seeds - unusual varieties that will all save (no F1), germination uniformly good. Lots of good advice
Tuckers Seeds - large variety and good service
Simpson's Seeds - fair prices, tomato and chilli specialists
Seeds of Italy - always huge quantities of seed in their packets, their garlic bulbs are great too
J and L Seeds, either direct from France or via Amazon.  Great varieties, keen prices, good service.
Simply Seed - good range, good for onion sets

I have used others that are OK but these are my favourites.  I have used Thomas Etty, who has a lovely catalogue, but I had to wait a couple of months for my order to be put together, they do warn you, but it doesn't suit me.  I tend to avoid the big names, usually means big prices unless a special offer.   I have also fallen victim to things being substituted by big companies, and I am not keen on that.   Tends not to happen with smaller ones.  I do buy elsewhere if there is a sale. 

Once you get into growing a bit more, it is worth investing in membership of the Heritage Seed Library, you now have to join Garden Organic too, so pricey, but you get access to varieties you can't get anywhere else and I have had some great things from there.

I also swap a lot of seeds with others on our allotment site and via the Seed Circle and Pass the Parcel on here, all of which is fantastic.

Good luck!

[mumofstig]

I get most of my seeds in the Wyevale end of season sale, all 50p per packet.

In theory you should check what seed you still have left from this year, so you don't buy packets you don't really need......but at that price it's not a big disaster