Frogleg wrote:

On Sun, 02 Jan 2005 17:22:34 GMT, Dawn
wrote:


Now that I'm being inundated with seed catalogs, I find myself wondering
if there is a difference between the seeds I can buy at the local
drugstore and the seeds from these catalogs --other than the catalogs
having a better variety. Are the mail order seeds going to be more
likely to germinate, or to produce stronger plants?


I would say that on average, regular ol' seeds from any commercial
source are about the same. The advantage of brand-name catalogues is
the variety and usually guarantee of satisfaction. If I want to grow
generic flat-leaf parsley, I pick up a 10-cent packet at the dollar
store. If I want to try a new pepper hybrid, I go with a catalogue (or
a well-stocked garden center). I think my own care in starting seeds
has a lot more to do with germination rate than brand, 'though
statistically, the respectable seed houses performance *could* be
superior. Since one of my perpetual problems is too many plants, a
failed seed here and there doesn't bother me much. :-)

I'm the same way, I'll order from catalogs to get the less common
varieties I like to grow but I also use the 10 cent a pack seeds from
the dollar store and the 25 cent ones from Walmart quite a bit, mostly
for ornamentals but for many edibles too. I've never noticed any
significant difference in germination or quality. The only real
difference is sometimes the cheap packs have not so many seeds in them,
particularly for the large seeds like nasturtiums which may have only 5
or 6. But like you say, too many plants can be a problem.if

Lorenzo L. Love
http://home.thegrid.net/~lllove

“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”
Cicero