[SnooziSuzi]

I got some banana shallot sets from Wilko and everyone rotted

you got zombie people just from shallots? that's quite an achievement!

[JayG]

As GA has just explained you are statistically highly unlikely to get saved F1 seeds growing true - it's fine if you like to experiment (and may even produce a "super variety" completely by chance!  :happy:) but given that tomatoes take about 7 months to deliver it's a hell of a long wait to find out what you've got (and you could be mainly disappointed.)

Tomatoes can cross-pollinate, although it's pretty unlikely under cover as there are usually few pollinating insects to mix things up - they are easy to save seeds from although you will need to look up how to remove the protective coating before sowing.

In general, I've done pretty well with cheaper seeds - the variety does of course matter but most sources seem pretty reliable as long as you don't push your luck too far with storage times.

[mumofstig]

sorry, I forgot about all the f1 varieties  oops!
The ones I grow are Heritage varieties so will come true to type., and very rarely cross-pollinate 

[alancas]

thanks to everyone for their input much appreceated(think i sprlt that wrong).

[Trillium]

A friend of mine who's a commercial seed grower tried to grow out Sungold to the parent plants, but after growing back to 5 of the 8 generations, gave up.

I suspect Sungold is the one hybrid we'll have to bite the bullet on and keep buying. I tried to buy the largest pack I could find for better value but it still didn't have many seeds in it.

[Goosegirl]

IMHO you usually get what you pay for, but I've done well with Wilko's, both onions, other bulbs and seeds - have a read at the packet info, and you'll see the same blurb on a different firm packet (spotted by chance). Cheaper often means less seeds - good if you don't need that many, as someone said before on here. Best I can say is to look where the seeds are stored on display - seen them at Ps' and Queued and they were in full sun next to a window!

[Paul Plots]

A friend of mine who's a commercial seed grower tried to grow out Sungold to the parent plants, but after growing back to 5 of the 8 generations, gave up.

I suspect Sungold is the one hybrid we'll have to bite the bullet on and keep buying. I tried to buy the largest pack I could find for better value but it still didn't have many seeds in it.

I was lucky this year. I paid 20p for a special offer pack (should have been £2.99). Although it said "5 plants" from the pack there were enough seeds to give me 11 plants so I had a few to share. Lovely flavour - really quite different so worth it even at full price I think.

[tangojulie]

I too was disappointed at the number of F1 seeds in a packet.

This year for the first time I started off one plant of Sungold very early, mollycoddled it and rooted all its sideshoots. It was much easier than I expected and gave me 4-5 plants for one seed. Will definitely be doing it again.

[lizziesdad]

This year I ordered very expensive ( by comparison) seeds and onion sets from a company beginning with D ( not sure what the rules are on here about naming companies). Very, very disappointing results even given the poor weather. The best seeds I have bought are Mrs Fothergills and the four packets for 99p from the local pound shop. Fewer seeds and not as good a selection but who cares. At least they germinate. I also planted a 99p gooseberry bush last year and I've just picked more than five pounds of gooseberries from it.

[Paul Plots]

I too was disappointed at the number of F1 seeds in a packet.

This year for the first time I started off one plant of Sungold very early, mollycoddled it and rooted all its sideshoots. It was much easier than I expected and gave me 4-5 plants for one seed. Will definitely be doing it again.

Rooting tomato plant side shoots is a real doddle isn't it.  Well worth doing if you want more plants.

[yorkiegal]

I'm not paying extra for a packet of seeds just because they have a picture of an annoying tv chef on them.

[mumofstig]

I'm not paying extra for a packet of seeds just because they have a picture of an annoying tv chef on them.

nobody is forcing you  Some seeds are dear enough as it is

[Goldfinger]

I too was disappointed at the number of F1 seeds in a packet.

This year for the first time I started off one plant of Sungold very early, mollycoddled it and rooted all its sideshoots. It was much easier than I expected and gave me 4-5 plants for one seed. Will definitely be doing it again.

Rooting tomato plant side shoots is a real doddle isn't it.  Well worth doing if you want more plants.

What?? Tell me more please.....

[Auntiemogs]

I got some banana shallot sets from Wilko and everyone rotted

you got zombie people just from shallots? that's quite an achievement!

And mine did nothing at all.  They must have had a duff batch. Planted them last year and pulled them up last month.  No rotting, just not even a single peep of green. 

[BabbyAnn]

I got some banana shallot sets from Wilko and everyone rotted

And mine did nothing at all.  They must have had a duff batch. Planted them last year and pulled them up last month.  No rotting, just not even a single peep of green. 

And mine too 

"cheap versus dear" seeds are about profit.  Expensive seeds are usually sold by reputable well known seed suppliers on a business arrangement - the more expensive F1 varieties tend to be comparable with other seed suppliers but the cheaper open pollinated variety prices are raised to compensate for losses.  Well known seed suppliers often sell their seeds with a guarantee or money back (if you can prove their seed was duff and not your poor technique/weather etc) and a lot of people are swayed by that and will buy that supplier's seeds.

The seed business is complex - some suppliers grow some of their own and sell excess but also buy seed from other sources, and not surprisingly, these often come from abroad (anyone remember the sprout seed/E.coli incident in Germany the other year?)  Now seed packers may not grow any of their own to market but simply buy from various seed merchants in bulk and re-package and that is where the "cheap" comes from - fewer seeds per packet means they can sell them cheaper for a start and still retain a good profit, or simply have lower profit margins but a higher turnover because people would prefer to buy cheaper seeds.   

There are obviously independent seed suppliers who grow and have their own packing business - these tend to be small businesses with a smaller range of seeds but often unique or unusual varieties to attract interest, and most likely heritage/open pollinated.