VERY expensive seeds - worth it?

[JimmerG]

You know what? I reckon some of the seed companies - Unwins in particular are starting to get a little bit carried away.

Now I understand that F1 seeds are very fancy and are a product of expensive testing/tweaking, and of course their fabled 'hybrid vigour' is something we all get very excited about..... but £3 for 30 savoy cabbage seeds!!!!??? 10p a seed - I ask you! By the time some haven't germinated, some have been lost to pests, some get trodden on bythe children, these things are going to be MORE expensive than buying them in the shops.

Don't get me wrong, cast iron disease resistance is a good thing, as is a high germination and growth rate - but are these things slug/pigeon resistant aswell? - I suspect not!

The next seed packet was a similar looking cabbage and half the price for ten times the seeds - are these seeds twenty times less likey to produce heathy plants??

I recently produced a packet of F1 squash seeds at work, and I was roundly laughed at for spending £3 on TEN seeds. Now these seed are big, and could produce many fruits but its still 30p FOR A SEED!

Grrrrrrrrr

Sorry that turned into a bit of a rant - but so much money for something so so small......?

[zazen999]

I don't mind paying for yellow courgettes [gold rush] - I think they were £2.35 for 10 seeds - as I know I get a whole summer's worth from one plant and I always try and get 3 plants sown in case of disaster - so it should last 3 odd years.

This is why seed saving and swapping is so important....

[pigletwillie]

With F1 you pay for the uniformity of size, harvest and quality. However there are drawbacks to this, do you really want ALL of your cabbage to be ready at once. Do you really want to have to pay £3 for 10 seeds every year.

90% of my seeds are open pollinated varieties and to be honest, they are better than most F1'S.

F1's have their place, especially with some courgettes and squash but for most of us, OP seeds are just fine.

[Rhona]

I've been let down by F1 seeds before - can't actually recall which ones to be honest, but did teach me not to believe everything I read in the catalogue (although gullible will ALWAYS be my middle name...)

[Nicos]

I'm just as good at killing both types of seedlings!!!

[ixi1456]

being a novice grower i dont know the difference between a f1 and any another type of seed and to my way of thinking any seed will do if it grows

[JimmerG]

And to add further insult - you can't reliably harvest seeds from F1 plants!

Reckon I'll stick to OP seeds for most things - but I'll agree to F1 courgettes and squashes, these produce so many fruits its worth the extra cost.

IN FACT I'll try both types and see if it really does make a difference.

[Eyren]

I'm with PigletWillie on this one - F1s are OK for the occasional thing, e.g. a variety of a non-native plant that's been specially bred to cope with our UK weather (such as some of the modern butternut squash varieties), but to pay that much for a traditional vegetable like cabbage is extracting the michael!

[lynda66]

i was looking for sweetcorn seeds the other day, and you hardly get any in a packet, and they are all f1's can you not get open pollinated corn?? .... i do try to stay away from them, cos i'm hoping to save seeds this year.

i don't mind paying a bit extra for big seeds like zazen, or special varieties ....i got 50 self blanche caulis for £1.50 off ebay, and thought that was expensive lol but wanted to give caulis one last try.

[Eyren]

I guess with corn you're in the same situation as butternut squash - it needs a long hot season such as we haven't had lately in this country, and maybe the open-pollinated varieties just don't cut it for most home growers? Plus if you're growing it on the lottie, there's not much point saving your own seed anyway, because Lord knows what it's been pollinated by! A bit like brassicas in that respect - promiscuous plants are not seed-saver-friendly!

[lynda66]

they'll be in my garden, and no one else has a garden full of veggies, they are all flower lovers round here tis just annoying theres not many in a pack, and last year i only ended up with 2 plants...... no corn, cos i planted too late, but i got 2 plants so was dead chuffed

[Epsom Gardener]

I collect my open pollinated seed from my allotment regardless of what other varieties it has been pollinated by - it's fun to see what develops. Most of the time it is very much like the fruit I collected it from as well as edible.

[Beetroot Bob]

I've just had aload of seeds form Premier Seeds Cirect on ebay. All @ 99p per pack and 70p postage for the lot if you order them all at the same time. I've not got any in the mud yet to see the results but from all the searching I've done for reviews on them I've not seen a bad one !

I'll let you know how I get on. Thye also have a few interestign things I haven't seen with any other suppliers. Here is their Cabbage range :
Caggabe

[bobleponge]

Is Zazen really a big seed?

I grow almost all self saved, swapped or donated seeds, and wont pay stupid prices for F1 seeds. Precisely as has been stated, uniformity is great, and ideal for people who enter shows etc, but for the majority of us growers, we want good taste and freshness. F1 isnt any better or worse than OP (imho) in that regard

[Geordie]

This year I had an offer from T&M for 2 free packets of seed so for one i chose a variety of cucumber called Carmen - £7.99 for 5 seeds.....will let you know if the price is justified!