Poor seed germination?
 

Has anyone run into poor seed germination from seeds purchased presumably
fresh this year. I think it may be because the seeds may have been cooked
during storage.

In particular, I bought seeds several times from Target with the brand name
Fordhook. They are prepared by Burpee. Out of about eight banana squash
seeds, only one sprouted. Out of their IIRC Big beef only a few germinated.

Am I imagining this or do you really have to watch out for the retail
environment in which seeds are stored?

Bill

Poor seed germination?
 

On Mon, 04 Aug 2003 16:56:00 GMT, Repeating Decimal
wrote:

Has anyone run into poor seed germination from seeds purchased presumably
fresh this year. I think it may be because the seeds may have been cooked
during storage.

In particular, I bought seeds several times from Target with the brand name
Fordhook. They are prepared by Burpee. Out of about eight banana squash
seeds, only one sprouted. Out of their IIRC Big beef only a few germinated.

Am I imagining this or do you really have to watch out for the retail
environment in which seeds are stored?


That's one reason to buy either from a catalog or online.
There are other reasons, mainly the vastly greater choices.

So far, I've had this trouble only once: Golden Beets from
Pinetree Gardens and - in this case - they warn that the
germination rate is low. I essentially couldn't get them to
germinate at all, about one out of a two dozen succeeded in
spite of soaking them and scarifying them, etc.

Pat

Poor seed germination?
 

It's not your imagination. I've seen seed stored over the summer in 95+
degree heat with humidities upward of 50%. Overwinter some retailers simply
put the seedracks outside, sheltered, but uncontrolled temps and humidities.
Check the date on the pack for freshness. Buy only from retailers you know
store seed properly or directly from the producer via catalog.
Gary

"Repeating Decimal" wrote in message
...
Has anyone run into poor seed germination from seeds purchased presumably
fresh this year. I think it may be because the seeds may have been cooked
during storage.

In particular, I bought seeds several times from Target with the brand
name
Fordhook. They are prepared by Burpee. Out of about eight banana squash
seeds, only one sprouted. Out of their IIRC Big beef only a few
germinated.

Am I imagining this or do you really have to watch out for the retail
environment in which seeds are stored?

Bill

Poor seed germination?
 

Has anyone run into poor seed germination from seeds purchased presumably
fresh this year. I think it may be because the seeds may have been cooked
during storage.

Why would you say that they 'may have been cooked'?

In particular, I bought seeds several times from Target with the brand
name
Fordhook. They are prepared by Burpee. Out of about eight banana squash
seeds, only one sprouted. Out of their IIRC Big beef only a few
germinated.

I bought string beans(11/12 germination rate), Big Beef(15/16), and
canteloupe(18/18) from Target( Burpee's Fordhook )also, but have had great
success with them as the numbers indicate. And they're doing very well after
germination. The Big Beef were so small when I planted them that I thought I
never get any tomatos(2-inches in mid-May), but now they're all over three
feet with tons of fruit.

Am I imagining this or do you really have to watch out for the retail
environment in which seeds are stored?

My local Target has them in a rack in the gardening section of an air
conditioned store. I supposed refills could be stored in the store's boiler
room, but this particular one doesn't have that much movement of the seed
packets.

Rob

Poor seed germination?
 

I recently wrote to Burpee about the very same thing. They apologized and
said they were dealing with retail sales of there product and had no control
over how long stores kept the seed or in what environment it was kept. There
suggestion was to purchase seed from there catalog and if it did not
germanate they would replace it with two packages. They want all stores to
send back or log into them how many packages are left over after being on
the shelf for three months. Like that will ever happen !

Kathy


"Repeating Decimal" wrote in message
...
Has anyone run into poor seed germination from seeds purchased presumably
fresh this year. I think it may be because the seeds may have been cooked
during storage.

In particular, I bought seeds several times from Target with the brand
name
Fordhook. They are prepared by Burpee. Out of about eight banana squash
seeds, only one sprouted. Out of their IIRC Big beef only a few
germinated.

Am I imagining this or do you really have to watch out for the retail
environment in which seeds are stored?

Bill

Poor seed germination?
 

Repeating Decimal wrote in message ...
Has anyone run into poor seed germination from seeds purchased presumably
fresh this year. I think it may be because the seeds may have been cooked
during storage.

In particular, I bought seeds several times from Target with the brand name
Fordhook. They are prepared by Burpee. Out of about eight banana squash
seeds, only one sprouted. Out of their IIRC Big beef only a few germinated.

I had the same problem with OSC seeds this year. I went through about
4 packets of butternut and winter squash and only got one germination!
A relative took pity on my plight and bought some already growing
squash plants for my garden at a gardening store. But I still can't
account for the poor germination, and I bought those seeds in two
different cities in Ontario.

Jack