James Wong - seeds

[smallfrog]

Inca berries are up or they might be weeds they are very small at the moment but will press on.
Back to cucamelon did those that got germination use a heated propegator? I have never grown cucumbers so i'm hopefully it might be me. What do the need? I set mine like i would tomatoes, seed compost, light dusting on the top. warm window sill no added heat. Window gets full sun early on so can get very hot may have set them a bit to early too. Toms, courgettes all came up.

[Samurailord]

Well, I complained to Suttons about the lack of seds in one of my packets by email on the 11th and I got a reply earlier today.

Thank you for your email from which I was sorry to learn that your seed packets have been incorrectly filled.
We have strict quality control procedures in place to guard against such things happening however due to the enormous number of packets filled an occasional mistake does happen. We have sold huge quantities of James Wong seed and have received very few complaints however we are keen to investigate. To help with this investigation please could you let us know the batch number printed on the back of the packet. You'll find it near the Sow By date and it will be shown as a letter followed by 2 numbers, e.g. T33. If you can't find it or no longer have the packet then please don't worry.

If you could please confirm your postal address then I will be happy to arrange for free replacement packets to be sent to you.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Their assertion that they have had very few complaints doesn't really fit with the experiences of fellow Grapes.

I have provided them with my address and the batch number, lets see how long it takes for them to reply. So far the customer service is pretty good, it's just a shame that the range seems to be having so many problems.

So far I have plenty of Dahlias coming up, with quite a few Electric Daisies and a cople of the Eucalyptus Lemon bush, but nothing at all from either the cucamelon or musk melons.

Andy

[zazen999]

My replacement packet was empty and they never responded to my reply PM about the matter. It doesn't bother me, I will simply never buy Suttons again, and when people ask which seeds to buy, will tell them the truth. If they think sending an empty replacement packet was funny, then they won't mind me discussing it with the many people that I encounter that want me to recommend seeds to them.

[Borored]

I spent over £12 on a range of the Wong seeds. After 3 weeks only the musk melons have germinated. I sent an email to Suttons and got the following reply;

I was sorry to learn of the germination failure you have experienced with our seed.


We consider the purity and germination of our seed to be very high and carry out germination tests in our laboratory prior to packing the seed. Consequently we would have expected you to obtain excellent results from the seed supplied.


There can be several reasons for seed failing to germinate but without knowing the precise conditions under which it was sown it is difficult to pin-point the exact cause - it may have been sown a little too deeply or temperature and/or moisture conditions may have been unsuitable for a time.




I appreciate your disappointment and if you would like to send me your postal address I will arrange for free of charge replacement packets to be sent to you.

[superfly78]

I am growing cucamelons this year and they took forever to germinate, about 3-4 weeks. They are very delicate but they seem to have got a growth spurt at last so hopefully I'll have some success. Word of warning, it seems they need to be hardened off very carefully, I put a tray of 8 outside for a few hours in the sun and it killed 6 of them!

[dandalady]

i rang suttons yesterday to complain about my non-germinating cucamelons and am being sent a replacement. there were no questions as to how I have sown them etc just a staight "we will send out another packet" which makes me think that they are having loads of complaints

[veggiechicken]

I've just sown Cucamelons, Edible Dahlias, Queensland Arrowroot and Lemon Eucalyptus - none of these are James Wong seeds but are sold by "him". My seeds came from Real Seeds and Pennards. I'll let you know whether they germinate

Sown 11th May.
Edible Dahlias were up in 3 days: Cucamelons just showing today (that's 5 days to germinate for Real Seeds' Melothrie - called Cucamelon by James Wong!
Who said their's took 3-4 weeks

[jokom]

I have also purchased some of the James Wong labelled seeds. My worst deal I discovered is little lanterns, he calls it Inca berries.. I bought last year from Dobies as cape gooseberries, and had masses, only a few of which the phantom slug in the shelves did not get. (yes I got the damn thing eventually!) This year I bought the James Wong seed, only a few in the packet and only TWO seedlings from the 8-9 seeds in the packet. Very disappointed - as the existing plants did not survive the winter and Mr two (grandson) adores them. Hoping two survive and are enough this year for him. Feel I have been ripped off.

[jokom]

Reading a few more posts in this thread. I have the following from his collection in unheated propagators on the windowsill:
Asparagus peas, (slow to germinate, but now like mini exotic trees)
Cucumelon,(slow now going like wild fire)
White strawberries, (S L O W just starting to appear nearly 4 weeks on)
gogi berries, (3 weeks, now growing well)
Inca Berries, (2 germinated after 4 weeks)
stevia, (just a couple germinated currently)
Outside I directly planted into a raised bed:
Callaloo (3 weeks no sign of germination)
Quinoa (3 weeks no sign of germination)
to be fair though The weather although not cold is not bright here either in Surrey.
yes I like to grow lots of unusuals in my kitchen garden, but I am disappointed at the success rate of these varieties, I know I planted some late, but the weather was just not worth planting in before.

[Likac66]

Out of the 8 cucamelons I sowed a week ago, 4 have popped up today. The pot is in a plastic bag on the kitchen windowsill. I will take them out the bag tomorrow though as I don't want them to go mouldy.

[Ader1]

I bought a packet of Mr Wong's Goji berries. There were around 30 in the packet and I think every one has germinated. Seeds are very small; that's why I think it was around 30. Anyway, have started transplanting them into individual pots. Although plants are not large, I'm finding they have quite long roots. (Warning:am not a very experienced gardener). It too around 1 week for the seeds to germinate in a heated propagator. they're now over 3 weeks old. Quite a few of the ones I've transplanted have wilted. I hope this is only temporary. I have watered them by putting the fresh 3 inch pots into water to soak up. I just hope the wilting isn't as a result of damaged roots during transplanting as they are very long as I mentioned earlier. I'm being as careful as I can possibly be. Is this wilting common during transplanting?

[*joanne*]

Not had any luck with the cucamelons been 2 weeks no life in them at all really wanted to try them this year will give them another week.

[superfly78]

Not had any luck with the cucamelons been 2 weeks no life in them at all really wanted to try them this year will give them another week.

Stick with it, they'll appear eventually cross fingers. The clear plastic bag on a sunny windowsill trick appears to work well as that is what I resorted to in the end.

[dandalady]

replacement cucamelons arrived from suttons - they germinated within 2 days! Therefore the other packet must have contained dud seeds as not one germinated out of 20.

[Borored]

A month down the line and I have finally I have signs of germination from cucamelon and inca berry