[jambop]

Just posting about buying seeds. I don't know if people on here have tried them but I have bought this seasons seeds from Seeds Direct on ebay. The do small packs which are really more than enough for one season, so you don't have to bother about saving them for the next year unless you really want to. And the bonus is the are only 99p per pack and postage is free ! I will be using them again next year and buying new seeds rather than worrying as to whether or not the old ones are still viable.

[boddy]

I'm off to have look, thanks

[mumofstig]

Was that from Premier Seeds Direct?
Quite a few of us buy from them.

[jambop]

Yes mum that them
 They are Really good because they are cheap and you don't get too much seed... although I got a huge bag of Cylindra beet seed for 99p, I will never be able to use them all up this year! I have to pay a lot more for seeds down here and then throw half them away because they are not used. I just don't trust saving seeds for more than a year after opening.

[fizz]

Got all my flower and veg seeds this year and last from premier seeds direct on eBay, highly recommend, no different than the big companies just much more affordable especially when your buying for an allotment.

[DD.]

If buying for an allotment, you ought to have a look at Moles Seeds. Not saying for all, but an example.

Autumn King carrots:

Premier are £1.43 inc postage for 2g.

Moles are £2.60 for 25g.

That's over ten times as much for less than twice the price.

[fizz]

Thank you for the info, now going to look up moles seeds.

[Kristen]

I think that you can get seeds for 50p rather than the (typically) 99p of Premier Seeds - might need a bit of shopping around. But ... I am, nowadays, fussy about variety.  We grow for flavour (and provenance, but if I were to grow bland vegetables I might as well save myself the bother and buy the Supermarket stuff ...)

For anyone on a tight budget all saving is important, but for me the cost of seed compared to the value of the crop is not enough to worry about 50p a packet, or a £1 or £2.  Sure I buy whenever I see a good deal, but if the good deal is for a variety that doesn't suit me I walk on by.

I may be deluding myself because any veg, 5 minutes old picked from the garden and straight into the pot, is going to taste better than supermarket veg which, with the best will in the world, will have travelled for a couple of days before I buy it, and if I buy for the week ahead is going to then spend several days in my fridge ...

But we do taste-test some different varieties each year, and the ones the family says they think taste the best / better than our "regulars" are the ones we then grow ... until we stumble over a better one

[jambop]

25g of carrot seed! I have what would be regarded as a large veg plot but that is enough for a field If quantity is your yardstick then they sound like a good source of seed possibly good for some sort of allotment seed club? I want small amounts that will do say three or four 5m rows 2g is more than enough for that. I think that premier give a sensible amount of seeds for the average plot holder ands their seed is very clean no chaff in there. I have a veg garden for two peoples needs and even then give some stuff to friends. For example last year I grew the French been talisman bought as a small 50g pk enough for three 6m rows and we could not use the number of lovely 9 inch long succulent beans we got from just two rows! Moles are selling 500g lots as their smallest pk ! I am not knocking them it is just that the quantity of seed is way more than a single gardener can use in one season but as I say great for some sort of club.

[mumofstig]

I know some people don't like to, but you can easily save what you don't use this year for the next few years (apart from a few things like pasnips and sweetcorn)

I've grown lettuce seed that was on it's 5th year 

So don't necessarily be put off by bigger packets, they can be good value - especially if you pick them up in the end of season sales 

[Kristen]

I've grown lettuce seed that was on it's 5th year 

So don't necessarily be put off by bigger packets, they can be good value - especially if you pick them up in the end of season sales

Slight tangent on that is that I buy enough seed for two seasons in the end-of-season-sales.  I figure that, next year, the variety that I want might have run out before the sale ...

(Not short-viability things, like Parsnips ... nor [if I remember!!] ones I already have ample of)

[jambop]

Mum
Yes some seeds are OK for the next few seasons tomatoes spring to mind peppers and onions though... hopeless. I am trying out a wee experiment this season. Last year I bought some white onions sets and they gave a good onion so a couple of them bolted and I saved and sowed the seed. Great germination and growing on nicely , under cover,considering the weather is so cold and wet just now. It will be interesting to see what is thrown up  I have some butternut and courgette seed that I saved as well so it is going to be fun I always save bean seeds for the next year they seem to always be fairly true to type.

[surbie100]

Mum
Yes some seeds are OK for the next few seasons tomatoes spring to mind peppers and onions though... hopeless. I am trying out a wee experiment this season. Last year I bought some white onions sets and they gave a good onion so a couple of them bolted and I saved and sowed the seed. Great germination and growing on nicely , under cover,considering the weather is so cold and wet just now. It will be interesting to see what is thrown up  I have some butternut and courgette seed that I saved as well so it is going to be fun I always save bean seeds for the next year they seem to always be fairly true to type.

I don't have any experience of onion seeds, but personally I wouldn't save seeds from sets that have bolted early - you're saving seeds with a genetic predisposition to bolting early. Some of my pepper seed is a few years old, and while not every seed germinates I am still getting 60-75% from them. It's always worth trying. I got 60% germination from 2-year old chitted parsnip seed last year, but then forgot to keep the paper damp and they died. 

[jambop]

"I don't have any experience of onion seeds, but personally I wouldn't save seeds from sets that have bolted early - you're saving seeds with a genetic predisposition to bolting early."

No not at all! Sets very often bolt because of the way the have been treated nothing to do with the genetics of the plant. Had I grown an onion from seed and it bolted early and took seed of that you may have had a point but sets are another form of onion plant altogether there was a time when sets were very prone to bolting but heat treating them has helped cure that to some extent simple soil nutrient imbalances and structure can also case bolting. Anyway as said should be fun I will of course come back an apologise should I be wrong and end up with a good show of onion flowers

[Hampshire Hog]

Hi all I tend to just collect seeds at the end of the season when they are being sold at silly prices.
Germination seems pretty good for things such as beetroot generally pick up Boltardy when I see them.
Lettuce appear to last a fair while too.
Agree though that you need to avoid parsnips as they are only good for one season.
Not ventured into the realm of onions from seed so can't comment on that. Sets work for me.

Cheers HH