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I sowed some gardeners delight  seeds 10 days ago, they were organic. I also sowed 6 other non organic, 2  out of 12 GD have germinated where as all the other I sowed have germinated. Has anyone else had this problem with? They were only bought last year.
Janet

Don't worry if you only have two tomatoes because you can take off the side shoots, the ones we usually remove anyway and simply pot them up.  Then you will have as many tomato plants as you take cuttings to produce.

Quote from: PurpleHeather on April 25, 2009, 07:24:14
[Don't worry if you only have two tomatoes because you can take off the side shoots, the ones we usually remove anyway and simply pot them up.  Then you will have as many tomato plants as you take cuttings to produce.]

you learn some thing new every day on A4A

I don't use organic seed any more. Just about everything I tried either germinated very poorly or produced weak and deformed seedlings.

Quote from: labrat on April 25, 2009, 08:57:25
I don't use organic seed any more. Just about everything I tried either germinated very poorly or produced weak and deformed seedlings.

That's an interesting observation. :-\

I confess I do not go out of my way to buy specifically organic seeds, I prefer to control how plants are raised, and then save my own seeds if possible.  Also, most varieties I grow would not available in an organic seed.

I have never really got the point of it to be honest, I don't see how having seed from an organically grown plant is preferable to an 'ordinary' seed that is subsequently grown organically. It all seems like a bit of bandwagon jumping (as of course the price of such seeds is bound to be higher), or perhaps that's me getting grumpy and pessimistic! ;D

I'm sure someone will be along and be able to inform me of the error of my ways..... ::)

Hi Deb. I agree with you. I only bought the organic seed as they were out of stock on non organic. I might send them back & see what happens. I grow lots of tomato seeds so I can give lots away.
Janet

can't see how they can be organic, if a bee goes on an organic flower, then goes on an ordinary plant, is the seed organic ?  ;D

Hadn't thought of that one but I did buy some honey recently & from the same supplier (in Warrington) you could also buy organic honey. How do the bees know which are organic plants? I would love to know. Who are the bee keepers on this sight please?
Janet,

Organic honey has to come from hives at least six miles from anyone using agricultural chemicals, so the honey can't possibly be polluted with them. That's almost impossible to achieve in the UK. On the other hand, there are chemicals you can use in the hive and still call it organic. It all seems a bit arbitrary to me, but then the standards were dreamed up by non-beekeepers.

That doesn't suprise me! ;D

To answer your original post grannyjanny, I would ask for a refund if you got zero germination with any seeds. There was an article last year that showed germination rates for the same seeds from different suppliers, some were appalling! :o

I planted a packet from a seed swap, and had excellent germination.

Real Seeds are all organic and have some of the best germination rates around.  Whether a seed is coated in fungicide or not also effects its organic status.  Having said that, I am not overly fussed with the organic status of my seeds.  I do grow a lot of Real Seeds seeds and save my own which are all organic. But I find that most of the mainstream organic seed brands consist mostly of F1 which I do actively avoid (although following TeeGee's advice I might go for F1 sprouts).

I'm a big Real Seeds fan too, particularly because of the seed saving aspect because they are not hybids. Having said that, I've had two packets of seeds from them with zero germination in the past couple of years, (a lettuce and a pepper) which I let them know about and Ben replaced with alternative varieties straightaway. ;D