I love to spread the heat but on my own terms.

When I see a post about someone looking for seeds for whatever chile variety that I have a lot of I either send them an E Mail for a trade and usually do a S.A.S.B.E. or sometimes ignore the post.
Very few people have stuff I don't already have,in general.

I've been getting a lot of requests for commercial volumes of seeds FOR FREE these days-someone asked for seeds to grow 40 acres of peppers,offered a couple stamps and a baggie for seeds.
Even said they wanted me to set them up for making sales of peppers and sauce.
My opinion is if you can't afford seeds for a commercial venture you can't afford to grow the plants-ferts. etc.

When I tell people I don't like people googling for free seeds from me I get responces that I'm not cool-to put it mildly.
I did over 1000-1500 SASBE offers last spring.
I contribute seeds to several round robins without participating.
I am not obligated to send anyone seeds just because I grow a lot of varieties per year (1 plant per variety that I grow).
I also get some of the people I gave SASBE offers to in the past wanting me to send them seeds for anything i am growing for seasons after I helped them out before-expecting a sasbe.

Not all are from this site but a lot are.

I had to stop posting at some of the other pepper sites I visit because everytime I post a picture I get flooded with requests for stuff that took me years to find seeds for and grow sucessfully.

Basically I'm starting to regret my passion for spreading the heat at times and am thinking about not doing any more SASBE offers,which I like doing.
It's getting to the point that it's making my love of chiles and spreading the heat not as enjoyable anymore.

I don't know why some of these people are biting the hand that feeds them but it's getting too common these days.

Especially with the demand for super hots and insanely hot hot sauces with the seeds going for $1.00+ for some varieties.
A couple guys I trade with are seeing their seeds being grown out and sold (and made into expensive powders and sauces)by some people that got free seeds from them claiming they were new to pepper growing and read about that variety and wanted to grow them at home or whatever.

I'm just wondering if others are getting the same thing,there are people here that can easily beat my pepper collection and yearly grow.
I guess I'm tired of guys googling a pepper variety,finding a site I posted on about that variety,then joining the site so they can ask for free seeds for stuff I worked hard on getting in the first place.
I'm not a seed supplier or an expert on growing chiles.
I love spreading the heat but don't like being expected to give away seeds because someone is too cheep to buy the seeds they want for their commercial venture.

Between personal stuff going on and a really bad season last year,it's really getting to me right now with all the guys demanding that I sasbe them seeds after they googled a specific variety.
I don't sell seeds because growing chiles is my hobby.
Selling seeds would ruin my enjoyment of what I love to do.

I just deleated 15 or so seed requests/sasbe requests from the several sites I visit.
Some were from posts I did years ago.
Since I only hang out here I think it is the place for people that I'm posting about to read this.
I only grow non bell peppers and nothing else.
I guess since I've been getting so many Demands rather than requests for SASBE's I'm blowing off steam here.
I've met a lot of really cool people here and value the info I've read and hope I've helped a few Chile Impared people along the way.

You do a great thing spreading the heat!
I doubt many can top you!

And I think it is totally cool to blow someone off that is less than appreciative!
It is your time! and I like to know that people I share with are excited!
Thats what makes it fun!

Any man, I hope you dont let a few dips,stop you from enjoying the sharing that you do with soo many!

Kevin

Blessings to you,

Alan

Best Regards, T.............

DarJones

It's just that the last month I'm getting people wanting litterally oz. of seeds to start up commercial growouts and a few people are angry because I sent them 60 variety SASBE offers a while back and now they want another,but this time for rare or wild stuff.
A couple got angry when I refused.
It's only been a few percentage of the people but last night I got a dozen or more all at once.
I got upset enough to post as I did.
I hope anyone who I've sent seeds to as trades or SASBE offers gets nice healthy plants and tons of pods so they can spread some seeds around next season.

I really do enjoy spreading the heat to the Pepper Impared. LOL
Thanks for your kind words,I'll get over it when my new garden gets into shape in a few weeks.

I am very sorry that it started a rainstorm of requests for you. The people in the swap were in awe of your growlist, and many of them will benefit from your kind and generous donation to the swap.

It has happened to me too recently. Not for peppers, but just people that have done a search of GW trade lists, and then send me a grocery list of what they'd like. I'll usually check out their trade page, and if they don't have any that interest me, I just reply that I'm not doing any individual trades at this time. Like Romy6, my seeds usually come from commercial sources, or round robin swaps.

I've donated to newbie projects, and there are plenty of seeds available for SASBE's on the seed exchange, and on the wintersowing forum, so I don't let myself feel obligated to give away the store ... and you shouldn't either : )

Thanks again for your generous spirit! And for encouraging the "pepper impaired", of which I guess I could be categorized as.

Bonnie

Lol, dont sweat it bro. I have found myself in poor areas of cities on occasion and have been bombarded by people begging for spare change. I know the feeling. And i know that 90 to 100 percent of them are asking for that money cause they want drugs or a 40oz. Something for nothing.

Get a job!

Jimmy

If anyones to blame , it's me for posting my grow list every so often.
I know better.

It's like someone posting their bank account # or whatever on the net.Nothing good will come of it.

Google finds it no matter how big or small the site is that the post is on.

I been getting requests from posts on sites I haven't been to in years...
Some of these guys are refering to posts from several seasons ago.
They refere to stuff I grew a long time ago and haven't grown for years.

They google specific hot pepper names and have the nerve to even ask for large numbers of seeds to sell commercially as starts,seeds or sauces.
They offer a stamp and a baggie like I'm supposed to be impressed by not having to pay shipping...
Some of these guys were from overseas.That means they want seeds totaly for free-they can't pay for postage with their stamps.
Some requests are from people who cruise the Photo Bucket pics,then google Smokemaster to find a site I'm on so they can PM or Email me.

I'm not talking about 20 or even 100seeds.
I get requests for enough seeds to plant from 1 to 40 acres.
I especially like the guys who say they are new to growing peppers and don't know squat about chiles,but their list of wants is every wild,rare or super hot in the world.

The ones like that I see turn into instant experts the next year selling seeds,pods or whatever.

All from seeds given to them by people thinking they were helping someone with their little Victory Garden.

I think the requests are because all the media attention given to the different super hots these days and all the cooking shows and sites on the net pushing products made from chiles at off the wall prices.
$1.00+ a seed for a lot of stuff is very common.
Now with the race for the hottest pepper there are a lot of unstable hybrids showing up all the time too.

The tons of stupid videos of idiots eating peppers doesn't help either.

I just got too many people with the "Give Me" attitude in the last few weeks and got upset.
It usually doesn't bother me.
I send a reply that I'm out of sasbe seeds and thats it.
But I recently got guys who don't want to take "sorry,maybe next year" for an answer.

I'm sure I'm not the only one getting these type of requests either.
These type of people have their search system down and I'm sure send out tons of similar requests.

I prefer to send seeds only to those folks who maintain some sort of online "relationship"
in the growing community - and I like to give credit to those who have sent me seeds, including
sending them updates and pics of the plants that I've grown from their seed-stock.

I only send out a set number of seeds each year, and after that it's either wait until next year
or tough luck! If I feel at all suspicious about the request, I just decline.

You're an asset to this community of growers.

Josh

Though my last seed offer 2 years ago went well I've found the cut/paste of my offer on 3 sites (1 site's poster asked permission to repost, at least).

Luckily, everyone played it civil, though it kinda sucks I had to end my offer early due to extended volume of requests coming from communities I didn't reach out to.

I sent out about 120 filled requests from a limited seed supply and heard back from a total of 6 people either through this forum or my email giving me feedback.

Feedback wasn't required, but I would have liked to know how it worked out for people.

At this point I'm pretty sure a huge chunk of the filled requests came from somewhere other than this board.

I would never ask for free seeds. It's too much trouble to germinate them.

However, I was wondering if anyone would consider sending me some transplants that are about ready to set out. The rarer, the better. 20 or 30 should do. And I don't mean for free. I would send you a couple of those u-haul boxes and some stamps.

Please respond quickly as spring is just around the corner.

I am a newbie. I found GW last season, but not until after planting. The amount of information and knowledge you folks have, and so easily share with others was astounding to me. You all made the site feel warm and inviting to an old guy just beginning the journey into "Pepperland".

You all are an inspiration to me. Your conversations on GW are a like Pepperland 101 courses for those of us just getting started.

Thank you.

Jim G (southwest Oregon)

I've received a few freebies from folks here on GW, but, only when offered, never gone begging for anything. I just don't have many seeds or varieties - particularly interesting ones for trade.

nc-crn - I got some of your last offer (IIRC). Sorry I never followed up. I didn't have the best year last year, I did get some ripe pods eventually and they were AWESOME!! Bagged a bud and saved seeds - going to do a germination test soon. The one I bagged just didn't want to turn. Love that sweet little guy!

I've given away quite a few seeds to a small farmer and to a friend who has a yearly plant sale. I've also given generous amounts of seeds to some of the newer traders.

I figure what comes around should go around.

It's the guys wanting acres worth of seeds and giving me crap for not sending them what they want at basically my expense sucks.
A buck + a seeds is greedy.
1 pod is worth a lot of money at those prices.

Several plants then become thousands of bucks when sold over the internet(free advertisintg etc.).

Sell the seeds and then the seedless pods for big bucks as powders or sauces, but they first get their seeds for an SASBE or free.
Not right.
Comes around goes around works for the guys on down the ladder.
The first guys who baught seeds from the snake oil salesmen still paid the price.
Some of them, backyard garden buyers, have limited growing space or seed $ to use and wasted a portion of their limited resources on bunk or expensive seeds.

Ya,a fool and their $ are soon parted but these days scams are sometimes what is More common than not.

Even if Karma catches up, eventually,they still laughed all the way to the bank for however long it lasted.

Doesn't make a difference to the common guy who splurged to buy seeds for whatever variety and got burned.

Like the guys that get busted for scams that ripped off retired people.
Jail time didn't make these people recover from their losses,just ruined their retirement by making them have to get a job and or loose what they have to just survive.
Karma still rips people off before things even out in the long run.
Like Reimers seed co.
They have,from what I've read,been burning people for years and still raking in the $.
Buying from them is generally a crap shoot.
But they don't care,they have your $.
I'm not angry at people asking for trades.I don't like being told I'm am ass because I won't set up someone with seeds at my expense or whatever,so they can grow acres of plants to sell peppers and or seeds and sauces.

smokemaster--People have asked for seeds to sow ACRES worth of pepper plants?!? I suppose it's supposed to make you 'feel good' or something to basically donate hours of your time/labor/energy to their commercial venture...

again, thank you very much for the time you spent growing, and posting, and harvesting the seeds you sent me. It was much appreciated and with a little knowledge and a lot of luck they will be enjoyed in my household for years to come.

Trent

You, Mike, are one of the main reasons I've ever been able to do the things I do now, and yes, most of the peppers I have now are from seeds (albeit 2nd or 3rd gen OP) that I originally got from you and others like you. ( A shout-out to NJA, Chris, Lyle, and many others, as well)

Thanks for what you do. Don't let the other greedy bleepin bleepers cause you any grief. (Send 'em my way if they do, and I'll mail them bags of cheatgrass seeds, lol. j/k)

Mike

Mike, I'm one of those greedy bastards trying to make money off your seeds! Actually, I'm not. I asked for some C2C seeds this year, and will send you some back, but like you, I've had it with the folks wanting free seeds and feeling like they are entitled to them.

Don't get me wrong. I have greatly expanded my collection by trades with GW members, and will gladly spread the heat along with you. But last year, I had two newbies wanting seed. Although they were somewhat pushy about it, I sent them several varieties and wished them well. They never even responded to my messages asking if they got the seeds and how well they germinated for them. It really kind of soured me on sharing the heat. I can't even imagine folks having the gall to ask for acres of seed for free. What the h&)$ are they thinking?

I don't blame you if you want to pull back. I know I wanted to after my experience with those clowns last year. But I do know that many here appreciate all you do and would never impose on you. I don't know if that is enough to convince you to keep on sharing the heat, but can tell you that you will be sorely missed if you decided not to.

Most of the people I trade with or SASBE to are cool in general.
It's only that I got a dozen or so demands all in 1 day that I got pissed off and started this whole thing.
As I wrote before,this has nothing to do with any one post or site I post on.
These guys google around trying to get quantities of seeds to grow commercially from anyone or anywhere they can.
They think that since somebody grows a few varieties they should set them up for nothing or close to it.
It also has nothing to do with the C2C thing.
As I said,selling a few seeds or whatever isn't the problem,it's guys thinking that asking for an oz.+ of seeds or saying they want enough to plant acres of seeds for free is just wrong.
If you have $ to grow acres of plants for sales purposes you should have enough $ to buy seeds.
If I remember right 1/4lb. or 1/2lb. of orange hab hybrids was only about $30.00 or $40.00. from one of the suppliers I get a cataloge from every year.Wax peppers,Jalapenos and cherries were cheeper.
I wouldn't even mind if people asked about getting that quantity of seeds but some of these guys demand that since I grow a lot of varieties and do so many SASBE's that I should also give them what they want.
They don't see any difference between what I think is acceptable requests and just plain greed.
A lot of the guys doing the asking are googling some very old posts and not reading anything in the posts but the list of stuff people have as to what they are trying to grow out that year.
One guy refered to a 3 or 4 year old growout list I had posted on a site that I haven't visited in a couple years.
Another asked about stuff from a post on a site thats gone now but there are posts that were coppied on another site as a referance.
All the requests/demands were from a lot of different places I've visited from time to time.only a couple were from here.
Like you I've had people ask for somewhat rare stuff and sent it to them and didn't even get a thank you.
I just remember who they are and the next time they ask I don't respond back or put them on the Spam list so I never even see their E mail next time they write to me.

At the same time there are also a lot of people I've sent SASBE's to that whenever they run accross stuff they think I might want send me an E Mail asking if I would like some seeds for whatever it is.
I think a few of the SASBE recipiants take it as a challenge to find something I don't have so they can send me seeds for whatever it is.
Thats really cool I think.
It's not all bad and I'm sorry I might have given that impression to anyone.
Like I said,I got overrun with a dozen or so demands that I think were off the wall , all at once , and vented by writing about it here a few days ago.

When I started out a LOT of people helped me out with more than generous trades and SASBE offers.
Now I like returning the favors I've received by passing it on down the line.
I've met a lot of great people via the pepper sites I visit and have made some pretty good friends with people all over the world that I've never met face to face.
Between loosing my garden space this year and the mites destroying last years growout,the demands set me off and I vented here.

Since I've started this post I've gotten several E mails from people about how last years SASBE seeds did in their gardens too.
Pretty cool,I got a few people on their way to being chileheads.
I've sent out seeds for stuff they probably wouldn't have tried except that they were sent seeds for that pepper in an SASBE.
Some of the SASBE recipients were suprised by the different tastes and heat of the different pepper varieties because all they grew before were bells,jalapenos,cherry peppers and wax type peppers.
Baccatums seem to really suprise some people with their unique taste.
I think the local post office workers here would get bored if I wasn't there sending out seeds every couple days.
Today I sent stuff to Moscow as a matter of fact.2 days ago it was Australia and Sweeden.
South Korea and Italy were before that and China and the netherlands before that...
They,the post office ladies, started sniffing my bubble envelopes because when I send out smoked pepper samples with seeds my mail has a great aroma to it.
One lady says when it's pickup time all the mail in that container starts to smell like BBQ if I sent out some powders that day. LOL
Pretty cool,the ladies at the P.O. don't eat chiles but like the smell of my mail.
Just sending out seeds to someone brings joy to the people at the P.O. that aren't even into chiles,just their aroma.
Can't beat that I guess. :)

I'm so sorry to read about your frustrations. It really is unfair for people to ask you for such great demands. I hope this doesn't discourage you from posting here or from posting your grow out lists. I've learned so much just by looking up the different peppers on your seed lists. It's hard to imagine that several years ago I only know about a handful of them. I still have lots to learn! Its people like you, Fiedlermeister (where is he? Has he been posting?), Ottowapepper and several others that I've really learned a lot from and benefitted from. Maybe more people should be telling you things like this!

A sincere thanks for your generosity in wisdom and seeds!

Please continue posting!

Over 1,000 SASEs? Damn!!!!!! I've done my share, but you hit the turbocharge button and flew past me.

By the way, do you have any free seeds of that Guatemalan Insanity Pepper that is purple and white striped with more craters than a 7 pot and larger than a giant Rocoto. The first C. chinense x C. pubescens cross ever. If you have them, please send me only plants because it's too much effort to grow the seeds. But in the meantime, could you pay my monthly electricity bill to pay for the lighting used to grow my 50,000 plants for my hot sauce business?

On a serious note, I know exactly what you mean. I will say I've made a LOT of great contacts worldwide in this hobby that have been very loyal over the years.

After all,fair is fair.

Sorry,I only have the white and purple striped variety of insanity pepper.
Mine are from Tijuana and they are all basketball sized not softball sized.
Did you get the seeds I sent you yet?

by the way,do you mind sending a couple chocolate hab seeds
my way

Chewy treats for Heidi...

VERRRRRYYY Tempting.

Depends on what size they are.

She's getting bigger by the day.
Eats 3/4 lb. of puppy chow a day.
I got a swimming pool sized water bowl Bone shaped of coarse) that needs filling 2 times a day.

I'm getting a new Purple Pepper variety in a day or so from a seed company.
I'll send you an E Mail.

Now you can get back to shopping... LOL

Seriously Mike, it's "your" seed; "your" time; "your" effort and "your" generosity. Do it on "your" terms and don't sweat the jerks out there.

Bill

A couple years ago, I grew tomatoes and other veggies but not peppers. And I wandered into this forum one day and saw a post by fiedlermeister offering seeds for SASE (i don't believe he has this offer anymore). And I had never heard of ANY of his varieties, lol. But I did some research on some that sounded interesting and not too hot, and followed the instructions, and he sent me a package of about 8 varieties of seeds. I learned how to sprout them, planted them and have kind of gotten hooked on growing peppers ... I'll be grateful for that offer for years to come, started a wonderful new pepper experience for me, and I really appreciated it! Now, I'm trying new varieties, and I'm able to trade and share with other people ...

So I just wanted to say that for every scammer out there who is just trying to get something easily (and believe me, I get those shopping list requests from "newbies" too for flower seeds in the fall), there is a true newbie out there who really appreciates the start you give them when you share seeds, or share knowledge and experiences, and answer their silly newbie questions for them! Because they are just getting into the obsession and really appreciate any help along the way :)

I just got over run by a dozen or so Users and it upset me enough to post what I did.

As you can tell by several of the posts above,I've made several new ChileHeads along the way along with a lot of friends.
I haven't given up on spreading the heat.

I sent out 7 SASBE offers and made 3 trades in the last 2 days.
I have a couple more SASBE's going out Monday.
It's that time of the year.

If nothing else , my original post stopped the users from E Mailing me for the last week or so.
Whoo Hooo! back to enjoying my addiction. LOL

Now I can get back into what I like to do.

Trade chile seeds and spread the heat to the Chile Impared.

While I enjoy being generous, I prefer to be generous when I offer, not when someone demands.

Smokemaster, I suggest that you simply make up a price list and whenever anyone writes demanding their share of free seeds, you send them a copy of the price list. They will probably go away, but if they don't, you can make a few dollars to pay for more potting soil.

But please don't let a few self-absorbed clowns ruin it for others. I'm sure there are a lot of people who would never dream of insinuating that you *owe* them something. Thing is, you won't be getting emails from those people, so it's hard to tell how numerous they are.

These rude so-and-sos don't deserve the time of day from you!

thanks for everything brother

souf

Hopefully next year Ill have some more interesting things to contribute.

All that said, I think it's awesome that folks here will share seeds that represent thier hard work and passion for peppers!This thread was the first time I had become aware that it was a common thing to do. So thanks to all you guys who do such a cool thing.

Tim

Seriously though thanks for the help setting up my containers this year, you and Josh really helped me out and my plants are looking a lot better! Now if the sun would just come out.

I can't speak to whether you continue to offer SASBEs, since I'm usually too much of a space cadet to even remember who is offering what, but I would like to point out that even if you never do another SASBE or even another personal trade, I have learned SO MUCH from you and all the other amazing pepper growers here on this forum. You are very much appreciated.

ButchT

I had to stop eating the seeds.
People said they didn't like the seeds shipped in their own fertilizer...Took too long to dry them out for shipping too.

I was on the recieving end of some 7 Pot and Trinidad Scorpion Jonah seeds from you a few years back.

I'm still spreading around seeds to the chile impared.
Sent out a couple SASBE's the other day.

I'm getting really good at raising mites too.

I keep them clean and shiney with daily soap and neem showers too.
They line up in their webs every day wearing their little bath robes while holding a scrub brush and towel.

The Green Lacewings are starting to lay eggs in my plants and should be getting plenty of mites to eat when they hatch.