New to ordering seeds online....company suggestions?

11 years ago

I am a fairly knowledgeable hobby gardener but I just learned something new after reading through some posts in this forum....you can purchase named hybrid tomato F1 seeds. I just always assumed the F1 seeds could not be ordered by the general public and only by growers licensed to grow varieties like that. I wanted to give greenhouse tomato growing a try and assumed I'd have to go with heirloom varieties, (which I may also try) but I'd kinda' like to start with something I'm more familiar with like Better Boys now that I know that's an option.

My question is: Are all F1 seeds from these companies the same or is there anything I need to know or look for when ordering from them besides who has the cheapest price?? Are there any kinds of treatments or coatings on seeds from some places but not others or is that even a factor? In other words regardless of source, are all Better Boy F1 seeds created equal?

Thank you for any advice.

Danielle

Comments (3)

remy_gw
11 years ago
Hi Danielle,
Yes, they are all the same. So look for the best price among well regarded companies for the amount of seeds you need. A poor company will either not send the product or might send the are old or not stored properly which would affect the germination rate some. The Garden Watch Dog is a good place to see company ratings. (GW does not allow linking to them, so you need to Google it.)
And you should try a few heirlooms! There are some that are wonderfully productive :)
Remy
squirrellypete
Original Author
11 years ago
Thank you for the info Remy! I will do some homework then and figure out who I'd like to order from. I did have great success one year in the garden with what I think was an heirloom variety called German Queen? I wasn't able to find plant stock of it this year and I don't know if it would be suitable to growing in a greenhouse. But I've been given some suggestions on suitable heirlooms for the greenhouse so I'll experiment with some in addition to the hybrids.

Thanks for the tip about Garden Watch Dog too, I wasn't aware of this.

Sincerely, Danielle
remy_gw
11 years ago
Hi Danielle,
Glad I could help.
Yes, I don't imagine German Queen would be good for the greenhouse. When I think of greenhouse varieties I think of determinate to semi-determinate ones so they don't outgrow their allotted space. Many heirlooms in those categories produce as much is not more than hybrids.
Good luck!
Remy