# Price of seed.



## Wellrounded (Sep 25, 2011)

My late autumn seed order arrived today. Over the last few years I've seen prices skyrocket and quality dive. Out of curiosity how much do you guys pay for carrot seed, beet seed, onion seed, corn seed etc. I buy heirloom, organic seed from small family owned companies. I know they are having supply problems and are always asking for new growers. 
I've had some serious issues last year, pak choy seed grew lovely savoy cabbages, tomatoes were NOT the varieties I ordered, parsnip seed with 0% germination etc. Having any similar troubles up there?
:flower:


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## tonedef (Mar 17, 2013)

Here at a local museum I can get them for 2.00 a pack


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

I save a lot of my own seeds. I do pick up some hybrid seeds for the disease resistance and larger size but plant them in a different area. I always get them at the end of the season when the stores are clearing out their stock. They are often 2/$1 at that time. Back in February I was at the Dollar store and found a rack with seeds for $.25 a pack that were packed for 2012. I just planted the peas early last week and noticed the first few popping out of the ground yesterday. Don't be afraid to use last years seed.


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## biobacon (Aug 20, 2012)

I buy the Burpee organic seeds at Walmart for $2 a pack and also the cheaper ones at the dollar store they sell 3/$1. I have noticed that a lot of the smaller stores are just about out of seeds this year and I even had to wait for a guy to look through the rack at Dollar General last week. Im not trying to say there is a huge shortage or anything as all you have to do is go to Lowes or Walmart but what I am saying is I think a lot of people on a smaller budget are going to grow some of their own food this year. I think this is a good thing.


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## Wellrounded (Sep 25, 2011)

We can pick up packets of seed here for $1.50 or so from various stores but the quality is questionable. I only buy heirloom and I generally buy in slightly larger quantities. To give you an idea of our prices, last year sweetcorn seed was just over $125.00 a pound (for the cheaper varieties). I use about a pound a year. I do grow a lot of my own seed, have for more than 20 years but I'm gardening in a new area and still trialing suitable varieties. 
Uncle Joe I'll use seed for as long as it's viable.


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## squshnut (Sep 5, 2011)

I don't understand the need to buy organic seed.
Maybe because other people don't, (comparibly) the companies don't have the turnover conventional seed companies do.
I buy my seed from morgan county seed.
They might have some organic seed.
Their seed is fresh And I can use it till it's gone even if it takes several years.


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## Wellrounded (Sep 25, 2011)

squshnut said:


> I don't understand the need to buy organic seed.
> Maybe because other people don't, (comparibly) the companies don't have the turnover conventional seed companies do.
> I buy my seed from morgan county seed.
> They might have some organic seed.
> Their seed is fresh And I can use it till it's gone even if it takes several years.


I buy organic seed for a number of reasons. Mostly because it's grown on small family owned farms, also because I'm after older varieties that suit my growing methods and they are usually grown by organic growers. Conventionally grown seed is the same price as organic here with a few exceptions, with our small population seed sales of all kinds have little turnover. 
I'm curious to find out what you guys pay for your seed, brand name packets of seed are priced between about $3.95 and $9.95 here and rarely contain enough seed for a season. You can find cheap seed for 1 or 2 dollars a packet but they are rarely sold by variety. You can buy 'cauliflower' and 'cabbage' not named varieties most of the time.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

There is a huge variation in the price of seeds here. Some of the seed I have used a lot go on sale for like $.33, they are labeled by variety and are from the same company that sells for high prices, rarely they are labeled as #2 in fine print but for some vegetables it doesn't make much difference.
I always try to buy seeds that are as local as possible for a lot of reasons and I stay away from Burpee and other big companies out of personal preference. Having looked into epi-genetics more makes me more inclined to buy organic and local seeds as much as possible.

For just regular seed from a large reliable Canadian company large packets are best if you don't go actual bulk. An example of that would be 75g packet of sweet corn for 4.99, sugar snap peas 150g 3.29, dill 15g 2.99 (thats a lot of dill), carrots 25g 2.99, beets 25g 2.99. Have paid more and have paid a lot less (bulk).


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## Wellrounded (Sep 25, 2011)

cowboyhermit said:


> There is a huge variation in the price of seeds here. Some of the seed I have used a lot go on sale for like $.33, they are labeled by variety and are from the same company that sells for high prices, rarely they are labeled as #2 in fine print but for some vegetables it doesn't make much difference.
> I always try to buy seeds that are as local as possible for a lot of reasons and I stay away from Burpee and other big companies out of personal preference. Having looked into epi-genetics more makes me more inclined to buy organic and local seeds as much as possible.
> 
> For just regular seed from a large reliable Canadian company large packets are best if you don't go actual bulk. An example of that would be 75g packet of sweet corn for 4.99, sugar snap peas 150g 3.29, dill 15g 2.99 (thats a lot of dill), carrots 25g 2.99, beets 25g 2.99. Have paid more and have paid a lot less (bulk).


Your prices seem pretty close to ours.... 
Last seed order
Beetroot 50g $9.00
Lettuce 5g $6.00
Onion 10g $9.00 (price was much higher last year)
Parsnip 20g $9.00
Spinach 5g $6.00
Peas 1kg betweem $16 and $45.00

I buy bulk (not much sold in large pkts except peas and beans) most of the time as it's not much dearer than small pkts and I share some with my kids. 
Lettuce for example is $3.50 for 200 seed or 5g (minimum 3500 seeds) for $6.00. 
Once I have a variety I like I save seed. Topweight carrots have been great here, grew 500gms seed last year, I'll use that for 2 years or so then think about harvesting seed again (carrot seed is around $400.00 per kg this year). No I won't use that much seed, lol, just like to keep it fresh, and I allow for seed raising failures. If I have a single plant do something amazing I'll keep that for seed to reguardless of how much I have saved.

Just checked corn seed 10g $3.40 from 2 of the companies I shop with, no bulk available at this time.


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## squshnut (Sep 5, 2011)

just checked where I get My seeds and yellow bantam corn $4.30 ba pound. I had look up how many grams that is: 456 g To the pound.
I see onion seed is up to $6.70 per ounce. I got 8 ounces for $8.50 a couple of years ago. Have to keep them froze but they are still germinating well on their 3rd year.

I've set my garden up this year for optimal amounts of seed saving and added multiplier onions and shallots to my list of things to grow.
seed may be cheep but I have to buy other things to live so saving my own seed makes sense.


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## Wellrounded (Sep 25, 2011)

squshnut said:


> just checked where I get My seeds and yellow bantam corn $4.30 ba pound. I had look up how many grams that is: 456 g To the pound.
> I see onion seed is up to $6.70 per ounce. I got 8 ounces for $8.50 a couple of years ago. Have to keep them froze but they are still germinating well on their 3rd year.
> 
> I've set my garden up this year for optimal amounts of seed saving and added multiplier onions and shallots to my list of things to grow.
> seed may be cheep but I have to buy other things to live so saving my own seed makes sense.


The corn price I quoted was for yellow bantam. Wish I could get it for that price, lol.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

Does anyone grow veggies like corn commercially near you? I can't see large producers paying that much of a premium otherwise they would buy and ship it there. Heck we get a package of bees flown overnight from Australia/New Zealand for less than you are paying for a pound of corn seed


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## Wellrounded (Sep 25, 2011)

cowboyhermit said:


> Does anyone grow veggies like corn commercially near you? I can't see large producers paying that much of a premium otherwise they would buy and ship it there. Heck we get a package of bees flown overnight from Australia/New Zealand for less than you are paying for a pound of corn seed


We have sweetcorn growers in our general area. F1 seed is available much cheaper. There are a few problems even if I wanted to grow those varieties, the main one being that trying to get a bulk wholesale list out of a seed supplier without an ABN (Australian Business Number) is nearly impossible. The Australian Tax Office took ours away 12 months ago because we aren't making a big enough profit, still considered a business but they want us to jump through a heap of hoops to get it back. I've put corn and onion seed on my must grow list because of the prices. If I can grow enough I'll sell it to one of my seed suppliers, they have approached me before.......
It's not just the price of seed that is crazy here. The prices I read other forum members are paying for food and preserving supplies makes me a little sick, lol.


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## Wellrounded (Sep 25, 2011)

Just checked a retail seed supplier, F1 hybrids are $148.00 per kg. Only thing at a half decent price is popping corn $24.00 per kg.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

Wow, sounds like a market opportunity maybe. 
We have very similar things here regarding arbitrary numbers and taxes. Over a certain amount and a lot more paper work (federal sales tax etc.) under a certain number and you aren't a "legitimate" operation which makes a lot of other things difficult. Then there are all kinds of exceptions and b.s rules to make things more complicated, like what is farming, what is retail. 
I just did my taxes do I sound bitter?


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## Locutus (Apr 24, 2012)

Seed packets from Ed Hume Seed Co. (a local company in Kent, WA) generally cost about $2.00. Yield per dollar, however, varies a lot. For example, a packet of carrot seeds might contain hundreds of tiny seeds, while a packet of tomato seeds might only contain a couple dozen seeds. Germination yield varies a lot, too. I got over 90% germination of my bunching green onions, but my tray of 72 Walla Walla Sweets only germinated two plants in a month under lights.

This year so far I spent over $60 on seed packets, about $40 on seed potatoes, and will use some seeds left over from last year too. I'll probably buy some onion starter bulbs too. All this to plant in 1200 SF of garden space in the community plots, plus about 500 SF in my back yard.


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## Wellrounded (Sep 25, 2011)

Locutus said:


> Seed packets from Ed Hume Seed Co. (a local company in Kent, WA) generally cost about $2.00. Yield per dollar, however, varies a lot. For example, a packet of carrot seeds might contain hundreds of tiny seeds, while a packet of tomato seeds might only contain a couple dozen seeds. Germination yield varies a lot, too. I got over 90% germination of my bunching green onions, but my tray of 72 Walla Walla Sweets only germinated two plants in a month under lights.
> 
> This year so far I spent over $60 on seed packets, about $40 on seed potatoes, and will use some seeds left over from last year too. I'll probably buy some onion starter bulbs too. All this to plant in 1200 SF of garden space in the community plots, plus about 500 SF in my back yard.


There is another thing that isn't available in Australia, onion sets. 
The worst value packets of seed I've seen here are a few pumpkin/squash varieties, seen as little as 3 seed in a packet, lol.
Germination % varies a lot in the seed I buy here too. Another good reason I grow a lot of my own, I know it has been stored properly and it's fresh.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

No onion sets, that's surprising I haven't been growing onion from seed much because they take a long time and our seasons are very short, we have to plant them a really long time ahead. That and the sets are so cheap, last year around the end of planting season I picked up high quality packs of 100 for around a buck! I thought what the heck and planted them way too close in a bit of "extra" space we had, they did great, pretty much touching each other by fall We eat onions like a vegetable we don't treat it like a herb or spice, I have no problem eating an onion or two myself

The thing about squash is that cross pollination can be a real problem if you are saving/selling seeds. I have tried to narrow down to just one or two from each group but all the varieties are so darn tempting
Just like tomatoes, the varieties just keep sucking me in


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## Wellrounded (Sep 25, 2011)

I tape and hand pollinate pumpkin/squash/zucchini etc. Working through a few new varieties at the moment and I haven't saved see for the past 2 years, I will next summer, picked a few that do well here.
I think the lack of onion sets is simply that there are very few serious vege gardens here and our seasons are longer on the whole. We plant onion seed in autumn and over winter it in the ground. I close grow them until they are about 1/2 inch across then transplant them into bigger beds, saves weeding a huge bed on tiny onion seedlings for months through the winter.
We use a lot of onions too, roasted, BBQ'ed etc. Love them.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

I use both heirloom and hybrid seeds from Annie's Heirlooms, Burpee, Renee's Garden and Ferry Morse. I have noticed a decrease in seed prices in the past few years in our area. Being that it was the city I'm not surprised. Now, where we are now- the mountains- I'm sure seeds would be a bit more seeing as how there are few people up here.

Some of the seeds I started this year were over 5 years old. 100% of the tomato seeds germinated and only 50% of the squash seeds.


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## AuroraHawk (Sep 12, 2012)

cowboyhermit said:


> Wow, sounds like a market opportunity maybe.


It could well be a market opportunity if Australia allows prepackaged seed in via ordinary postal service. A whole lot of seeds (20 pounds total weight) can be packed into a large Priority Mail box. It will cost $77.95 US to ship from Oklahoma, USA, to Australia.

I pulled my seeds out of the freezer so I could make a list of what I've paid for what I have, to give Wellrounded an idea of what seeds are costing in this area.

*High Mowing Organic Seeds, non GMO, open-pollinated*
(I was going to place an online order with High Mowing until I learned that many of their seeds are available in an Organic garden shop, about 10 blocks from where I live. They are getting another order in on Tuesday and I'm am going to visit long enough to drool over the seeds that I haven't managed to purchase yet.)

Peacevine Cherry Tomato, 1/10 gram, $2.75
Brandywine Tomato, 1/10 gram, $2.75
Green Zebra Specialty Tomato, 1/10 gram, $2.75
Yellow Pear Cherry Tomato, 1/10 gram, $2.75
Touchstone Gold Beet, 100 seeds , $2.75
Cosmic Purple Carrot, 1/32 ounce, $2.75
Green Towers Romaine Lettuce, 500 seeds , $2.75
H-19 Little Leaf Cucumber (Pickling variety), 1/16 ounce, $2.75
Nasturtium Mix, 1/8 ounce, $2.75
Jasmine Scented Nicotiana, 1/64 ounce, $2.75
Echinacea purpurea, 1/32 ounce, $2.75
Catnip, 1/64 ounce, $2.75
Chives, 1/32 ounce, $2.75
Garlic Chives, 1/32 ounce, $2.75
Finale Fennel, 1/32 ounce, $2.75
Summer Savory, 1/10 gram, $2.75
Lemon Basil, 1/32 ounce, $2.75
Rosie Basil, 1/32 ounce, $2.75
Sweet Basil, 1/32 ounce, $2.75
Cinnamon Basil, 1/32 ounce, $2.75

They also carry Baker Creek Heirloom seeds so I purchased:

Fine Verde Basil, minimum 75 seeds, $2.75
Borage, minimum 60 seeds, $2.75

*Lake Valley Seed*
(Most of these seeds were purchased last year.)

Minnesota Midget Cantaloupe, 2 gram, $1.79
Easter Egg Mix Radish, 3 gram, $1.59
Lovage, 500 mg, $1.59
Broadleaf Sage, 750 mg, $1.59
Spicy Globe Basil, 250 mg, $1.59
Sweet Marjoram, 250 mg, $1.59
Picotee Cosmos, 500 mg, $1.79
Minowase (Daikon) Radish, 3 gram, $1.59
Yellow Pear Tomato, 300 mg, $1.79

*Livingston Seed Company*
(More seeds purchased last year.)

Muncher Cucumber (slicer, salad), 10 gram, $2.19
Select Salad Blend Lettuce, 8 gram, $2.19
Detroit Dark Red Beet, 10 gram, $2.19
Sugar Snap Pea, 26 gram, $2.19
Lemon Balm, 150 mg, $1.39
Garlic Chives, 450 mg, $1.39
Thyme, 225 mg, $1.39
Pistou Basil, 300 mg, $1.39
German Chamomile, 50 mg, $1.39
Borage, 650 mg, $1.39

*Burpee*

Red Velvet Celosia, 160 mg, $2.49
I've been looking for the seed for this flower for several years. Common name, where I grew up, was "Brain Coral Cockscomb."

*Ferry-Morse*
(Purchased this year.)

Oregano, 150 mg, $1.35
Spicy Globe Basil, 250 mg, $1.35
Bouquet Dill, 600 mg, $1.35
Johnny Jump Up Viola, 130 mg, $1.35

*NK Lawn & Garden*
(Purchased this year.)

Italian Flat Leaf Parsley, 1.3 gram, $1.10
Mint, 125 mg , $1.10
Long Island Mammoth Dill, 1.5 gram, $1.10
Helen Mount Viola, 150 mg, $1.10

*Horn Seed Company*

(This was my favorite place to shop for seeds and plants. They closed down last October after a large fire in their greenhouse killed all of their trees and perennials.)

Tarragon, 1/64 ounce, $2.98
Purple Kohlrabi, 4 ounce, $1.95
Bloomsdale Longstanding Spinach, 4 ounce, $2.50
Little Fingers Carrots, 4 ounce, $2.50
Sweet Slicer Hybrid Cucumber, 1/64 ounce, $2.99
Straight 8 Cucumber, 1/16 ounce, $1.49
Catnip, 1/32 ounce, $2.49
Mesclun, 2 ounce, $1.25
Crackerjack Marigold, 4 ounce, $1.60
Scarlet Runner Bean, 4 ounce, $1.25
Blue Lake Pole Bean, 8 ounce, $2.95
Heavenly Blue Morning Glory, 2 ounce, $2.50
Tall Mix Morning Glory, 2 ounce, $3.25
New Zealand Spinach, 1/8 pound, NC (The store owner gave this seed to me after trying to talk me out of buying it. He was correct...it doesn't taste like real spinach!)


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## Wellrounded (Sep 25, 2011)

AuroraHawk said:


> It could well be a market opportunity if Australia allows prepackaged seed in via ordinary postal service. A whole lot of seeds (20 pounds total weight) can be packed into a large Priority Mail box. It will cost $77.95 US to ship from Oklahoma, USA, to Australia.


Seed is on the list of prohibited imports. It is possible to import seed but it's a pretty involved procedure including inspection of place seed was grown etc. That's one of the reasons seed prices are so high here. They changed the rules 10 years or so ago, I used to import quite a lot of seed from the UK (they still took quite a bit of it without cause or explanation) once or twice a year, was easy and cheap back then.

Thanks for the seed list. Our prices are generally double or more and a fair bit of that would list would have to come from a specialty grower.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

With Australia's history of invasive pests I guess they are right to be careful:dunno: By the way, Australia and New Zealand are the only places we can order bees from in Canada, due to the fact that they have been able to exclude certain parasites. We cannot buy even from the U.S.
I still see a potential opportunity for someone in your area though, and I really do think it is best to buy plants acclimatised to your region if possible.


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## Wellrounded (Sep 25, 2011)

cowboyhermit said:


> With Australia's history of invasive pests I guess they are right to be careful:dunno: By the way, Australia and New Zealand are the only places we can order bees from in Canada, due to the fact that they have been able to exclude certain parasites. We cannot buy even from the U.S.
> I still see a potential opportunity for someone in your area though, and I really do think it is best to buy plants acclimatised to your region if possible.


Have to agree about acclimatization. We do need more seed growers but it's unlikely that they'll suddenly appear. I could do it on a very small scale but we just don't have the water to do much.


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## Jim1590 (Jul 11, 2012)

Sorry I did not see this sooner. 

Wellrounded, we ship to Aus all the time. (see my signature) You can order what you want and with some exceptions, it will have no problem getting to you via UPS or FedEx or such. You would have to pay for the paperwork called a phytosanitary certificate which is done by us and our local department of agriculture. He has to come out and physically inspect everything and it should all be done. I do not "think" there is usually a hold on your end, but like I said we ship to Aus and worldwide all the time. Now trying to get seeds to moscow, thats a hard nut to crack.

As for pricing, yup seed prices have gone up. Just wait to see what happens to clovers and grass seeds down the short road. No clue where it will be, but it won't be as cheap as last fall. We recently lowered the prices on most of our beans and peas, rest of our packets stayed the same. Be careful of who you get the packets from, some companies take them back and repackage them. Ask the store what they do with their unsold ones.

Personally I would not buy packets because they have very little seed in them for their cost. I do however stock them as I have several hundred that did not meet the weight and were being tossed. It is actually cheaper to throw them away instead of paying someone to open them and dump them back into the bin. So the dumpster was replaced by my closet.

But if you look at beans, you can buy a retail pack sticker price for 1.49 for the Kentucky Wonder Green (HL) which has 3/4 oz of seed in it. Or buy 4 oz for 4.95. 8oz for 6.95. And thats just one example.

Anyone that wants more info, hit me up on a pm. I do not want to shill too much for my workplace. But I can help with anything but making the payment for you.


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## Wellrounded (Sep 25, 2011)

JimMadsen said:


> Sorry I did not see this sooner.
> 
> Wellrounded, we ship to Aus all the time. (see my signature) You can order what you want and with some exceptions, it will have no problem getting to you via UPS or FedEx or such. You would have to pay for the paperwork called a phytosanitary certificate which is done by us and our local department of agriculture. He has to come out and physically inspect everything and it should all be done. I do not "think" there is usually a hold on your end, but like I said we ship to Aus and worldwide all the time. Now trying to get seeds to moscow, thats a hard nut to crack.
> 
> ...


Thanks, going to follow this up.


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## thillprepper1 (Apr 4, 2013)

What is the best method for saving seed from year to year. Freezer , etc thanks


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