Is it worth believing the beautiful picture on the bag and is it possible to reduce the cost of seeds? Let’s try to figure it out. And our consultant Andrey Tumanov, the host of the programs “Fazenda”, “Gryadka”, “Our Garden”, “Village Hour”, “Field Works”, will help in this.
April 7 2016
Now all summer residents are dissatisfied with seeds, any of us faced with poor germination and re-grading. Unfortunately, seed production, which was a serious industry in the USSR, is now experiencing a serious crisis. Breeding a variety or getting a hybrid is a task that requires knowledge, money and several years of breeders’ work. They can no longer afford this luxury. Therefore, the bulk of the seeds is now purchased abroad, cheap and not the best goods are willingly taken, and they are packed in beautiful bags already in Russia. So remember: when you buy seeds, you are playing the lottery, there is no guarantee of quality.
By and large, you shouldn’t trust all the information written on the back of the bag. Description of the variety, contacts, requisites – all this is readily forged by crooks. The smaller and more unknown the firm, the greater the chance that it works on the principle of “buy cheaper, sell more expensive”. Focus on large manufacturers, there are such in almost all regions. You can check the reputation of the company on the Internet. It will be great if you dig deeper and find out who is leading the organization. Great if it’s a professional! For example, in Russia there is a company, the head of which is a cucumber breeder, and they have the best cucumber seeds. Be sure to write everything down, keep information for the future, do not throw away bags and checks.
Make it a rule not to make spontaneous purchases. On your first visit, don’t take out your wallet, but arm yourself with a notebook. Seed companies know perfectly well how to grab a grower’s livestock with colorful bags and interesting descriptions. Before you have time to look around, you start buying everything. As a result, half will not rise, and half will not be suitable for our climatic zone. Therefore, calmly write down all the names, you can take a photo of the label. When you come home, calmly check the information on the Internet: how accurate the descriptions are, are the plants really so fruitful or beautiful, is it a variety or a hybrid, is it zoned, and so on. And on the second visit to the store, buy everything you need.
Avoid buying from hobbyists, especially online. Here the percentage of deception is simply off scale, there is a high probability that low-quality seeds will come, and, moreover, not treated against diseases. Here’s an example: the popular variety “Bull Heart” is highly advertised. More than 20 other varieties have this shape and size! However, they are often not resistant to late blight, a dangerous disease, and will infect all your plants. Another opposite is imported vacuum-packed seeds, packaged outside of Russia. The quality of these seeds is very high, but varieties and hybrids may not be suitable for your climate zone. Therefore, you cannot focus only on them, plant domestic and imported ones.