GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post - Tomatoes

Moe DeLoughan · 06-04-2015, 07:18 PM posted to rec.gardens

On 4/1/2015 7:22 PM, wrote:

Question: I was suprised to see following envelope labels:

#1 from 2014 crop
#2 from 2013 crop
#3 from 2012 crop

Wondering if that means that #2 and #3 were unsuccessful so they're still
selling "older seeds.

Possibly, but probably not. More likely it means they had sufficient
seed remaining from the previous crop years that they didn't bother
purchasing more, they just re-tested the older seed and updated the
labeling for the packets. That's why you generally see the phrase
'packed for' on the label. Tomato seeds retain their viability for
many years, incidentally.

Also, most retail seed providers don't grow their own, they purchase
from third-party sources.

I worked for a regional seed company years ago. We were the
distributors of bulk seeds from many major and minor seed companies.
If you wanted to buy any of their seeds in bulk, you didn't buy direct
from the producers, you bought from one of their regional
distributors. They sold us the same seed they sold to all the
companies that package and sell the very same seeds under their
private labels. Burpee, Ferry-Morse, etc. - as long as it's the same
variety name, it's all the same seeds coming from the same sources.
Only the package and the price differ.