Wal mart cutting back on seeds.

I ran out of ?little brandywine hybrid? tomato seeds from a packet that I bought last year. It only had 60mg of seeds and found that Wal mart no longer stocks them. In fact they have seriously cut back on all their variety of vegetable and ornamental seeds.

This seems odd since according to the scum media vegetable gardening is suppose to be getting more popular. Luckily I found regular brandywine seeds at home depot.

Reply to
Mike
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I have had seeds from ChinaMart that did not grow at all, and an Amarylis bulb that never got anything but leaves. I was there returning an item and the man ahead of me was there with empty seed packets looking for his $$ back. The cashiers were laughing about him and I told them I would never buy seeds there again, and why. It is very frustrating to take the time and trouble to plant seeds and find out the hard way they were not viable. I've said all that to say, Maybe it's because the seeds were lousy to begin with. And I'll say I have had good luck with other already growing items from there. But no more seeds ever. Nan in DE

Reply to
nanzi

You might give some thought to joining the group I did. Your membership enables you to have availability of thousands (yes, thousands) of heirloom seeds. Not hybrids I'm not affiliated except by membership. check them out here;

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I would rather do business there than Wal-Mart any day, but that's just me.

Reply to
Thos

I had some seeds this year that didn't germinate at all. After reading this post, I went back to examine which ones didn't grow. They were ALL from Wal-Mart.

I have this theory that Wal-Mart sells the rejects from companies. Seems like you can buy a brand-name item at a different store and it will work fine, but if you buy the exact same item at Wal-Mart, it doesn't work. There have been times I have bought small, inexpensive things such as clocks, thermometers, and lamps, only to bring them home and discover they don't work AT ALL. The only thing I can suspect is that the manufacturers have batches of things that are damaged or defective in some way, and they sell them to WM.

So with this theory in mind, it doesn't surprise me that the seeds that WM acquired were ones that didn't work.

--S.

Reply to
Suzanne D.

I always check seed dates, so I know the ChinaMart seeds were current and fresh to me(not last years or any other weird thing). Nan

Reply to
nanzi

If the manufacturers want to sell through Walmart, they have to meet the price Walmart will pay them. Walmart is big enough to call the tune and demand that the piper play without proper pay.That means cutting corners and reducing quality.

IMO a brand name product sold through Walmart should be sold with a "Walmart grade" label on it to indicate that it is a lowered quality item.

What are the dates on the seed packets?

Reply to
phorbin

I had fair luck growing with wal mart Burpee brand seeds, it's just this year, here in so-cal they reduced the number of different types in the display panel. There is no more 10 cent seed packets.

Luckily I was able to determine from last years seed supply which peas grow well here. Maestro for shelled and Oregon giant for the sweet variety.

Reply to
Mike

I always check seed dates, so I know the ChinaMart seeds were current and fresh to me(not last years or any other weird thing). __________________

Yeah, mine were all current too.

--S.

Reply to
Suzanne D.

And how do you know that chinamart's suppliers weren't packaging year old stock, or worse, under current dates? And the conditions under which the seed was stored. Or the supplier of the suppliers seed? Walmart doesn't give a crap about your garden or the quality of the crap you buy. They care about profit.

You trust them or those that kowtow to their methods?

What a stoopit effing thread. You buy from walmart, you deserve what you get, for supporting the bastids.

Why don't you people support reputable seedsmen who supply a quality product with a concern for customers and the planet.

Feh, patooie Charlie

Reply to
Charlie

Don't forget, the seed packet says "Packed for (year)" not "seeds grown (year)". That's OK if the germination is still good, but don't ever assume* that the seed is the most recent year.

Grow your own seeds. They you'll know.

*yeah, yeah, I know...

Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

Reply to
Gary Woods

Charlie ranted nicely in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com... [snip]

"But that's all that's available to me" is usually the follow-up whine.

If the OP buys junk, especially CHEAP junk, you shouldn't expect much beyond CHEAP or JUNK.

Using Da Net, that piss-poor excuse of not supportting reputable businesses is silly and stupid.

Obsimilarrant: Walmart's Nine in Mordor won't ever see a dime from me or my clan.

The Ranger

Reply to
The Ranger

I am learning this too. My habit has been to get the unusual heirloom seeds from organic earth-friendly companies online, and the "basics" from local department stores. Now it is getting to the point where I think I may as well shell out a couple extra bucks to get the basics of peas, corn, carrots, herbs, etc. from the same companies from which I buy the more exotic seeds. It costs me more, but I am helping the right people with my money, and might have better results in the long run too.

--S.

Reply to
Suzanne D.

I also bought a couple seed packets at Home Depot this year because they were on sale for half off. I found out this year that the best places to buy seeds here(for the variety they offer, aka lots of heirlooms) are the 2 local feed/garden stores. Though now that we're getting very close to summer, I'm buying plants now, bought 2 strawberries which were berry-laden already($1 each), 5 tomatoes(65cents each), 6 pack of Red Sails lettuce($2.29), 1 Hungarian Hot Wax pepper and 1 bell pepper($1.50each), and

6 broccolis($3). Was also happy to see that 15 of the Walla Wallas I planted last year(I got a bunch of 50 for $2.50 at local nursery) are very happy right now. :-) The bargains are there, just gotta find them. Oh also got a 6pack of celery for...don't remember, but I know for sure it was under $5. Might have been $2.49. *can't wait for the weather to be decent so I can get these plants outside instead of in my bedroom*

Reply to
Lilah Morgan

I proved to one of my BILs (a founding member of "I got it cheap; so what if I have to buy ten of 'em") the silliness of buying from Walmart. So my one costs slightly more than his two or three of the same thing; mine don't fall apart or break within the first week of use, I'm not wasting time and money running back to "exchange" it for more useless crap, and I don't have to fight the mass of humanity that invades that acid-induced, Rorschach-inspired parking lot every weekend.

Right now, my two Brandywine plants are putting out HUGE branches and leaves, my jalapenos are a vibrant green, and my Japanese eggplants are overtaking the trellis (courtesy of Yamagami's Nursery). I'm happy.

The Ranger

Reply to
The Ranger

berry-laden

I think wal mart seeds were an ok starting point for the beginning gardener. But that was when they had 2 revolving carousels and 2 wall panels of seeds. Now all they have is only one panel of seeds tucked away in a back aisle.

Reply to
Mike

I wouldn't send a beginning gardener to Wal Mart. The other stores and garden centers will have the basics. The beginning gardener should have the best quality seeds available. Otherwise they will become very discouraged with lack of germination and not continue. They won't know that it is not their fault.

Reply to
The Cook

Yea you're definitely right on that. I paid a visit to walmart yesterday to buy some "4th of July Hybrid" tomato seeds and noticed the 2009 seed packet has changed from my empty 2007 pack.

What's new is that half of the labeling on the flip side is printed in mexican, plus down below the origin of the seed lot says China!

It's easy to see how walmart has destroyed another facet of America's cultural identity.

Reply to
Mike

The Wal Mart in my area is selling Burpee Seeds, a recognized company with which I have never had problems. I guess not every one of their stores has the same stock.

Sherwin

Reply to
sherwin dubren

Look back up this thread for Burpee's owner, and decide if you want to support them. It's your call, after all.

Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

Reply to
Gary Woods

As best I can make out, Burpee is not owned by Monsanto but they do sell Seminis' (which is) seeds.

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OTOH, dated June 1 2006

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anyone wants to boycott Burpee for any reason, this would be a good one.

Reply to
phorbin

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