Burpee....suspicious on some of their tomato names...

[shelleybean]

I don't know how I missed this thread the first time around. Anyway, I've wondered about a few of their "exclusive" varieties too. The one that comes to mind is their "Blue Marble" eggplant. Looks just like Prosperosa to me. And they say it's a variety from Tuscany, just like Prosperosa. Gotta wonder.

[elkwc36]

I've always had good results with seeds from Burpee. I did order plants one time and it was very hot when they shipped and I lost one. They refunded for it and another one and the others did well. I've bought hybrid and op seeds from them. Excellent germination. The Porterhouse and Brandyboy are two of my favorite hybrids along with Goliath from Totally Tomatoes who I've had good results with also.
There is only two I won't order from. Seeds of Change and Johnny's because of their credit card fiasco. When your credit card numbers have been used before you are notified I feel that it is poor customer service. There is too many good companies to put up with that in my opinion.
Tomato Growers Supply
Victory Seeds
Amishland
Tomato Fest
are some I use about every year. JD

[timeless]

I have many suspicions that Burpee's is claiming hybrids on many heirlooms, and calling them their own.

My first suspicion was "Big Mama'.
At first I thought it might be Rio Grande, but after 3 years of side-by-side growing, I realized this was Amish Paste.

Same thing with Delicious and another that I forget the name.
Now Burpees is calling it Delicious.

There are many more. Black Cherry, Snow White, Pineapple, and more.

1 years replant will prove it's not a hybrid.
This just ticks me off a little bit.

Valerie

[Jeannine Anne]

Off subject a bit but relevant I think.

I have to add, that I have exactly the same feelings about Thompson and Morgan who are very big in the UK but do have a US and Caanadian catalogue too. I swear they change the names of things to give themselves phony exclusives.. I refuse to buy anything from them if described this way..simply untrustworthy, and I do think they say hybrid to some things that are not.

XX Jeannine

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by timeless

I have many suspicions that Burpee's is claiming hybrids on many heirlooms, and calling them their own.

My first suspicion was "Big Mama'.
At first I thought it might be Rio Grande, but after 3 years of side-by-side growing, I realized this was Amish Paste.

Same thing with Delicious and another that I forget the name.
Now Burpees is calling it Delicious.

There are many more. Black Cherry, Snow White, Pineapple, and more.

1 years replant will prove it's not a hybrid.
This just ticks me off a little bit.

Valerie

Valerie, if you do some searching here at Tville for Black Pearl and somthing called ty die something and Bloody Buthcher andadd the word bBurpee to the individual searchs, I know you'll find some interesting threads from many others who have no use for Burpee at all.

The issue isn't just misrepresenting OP's as hybrids, but offering wrong seeds for a stated variety wjether it be an OP or an F1.

Given all the wonderful seed sites available, some better than others, for OP non-heirlooms, OP heirlooms and F1 hybrids I don't understand why so many still buy tomato seeds from George Ball, aka Burpee.

What they do, as some others do, is to have a place custom develop something, unnamed, and then they name it. I'm pretty sure that the connection between Burpee and Petoseed is still strong starting years ago when Dr. Schifriss bred Big Boy F1 when at Burpee and one parent is the heirloom Teddy Jones, and then John Peto left Burpee, went to CA and startred petoseed and Better Boy F1 was bred there using the same Teddy Jones as one parent, which John Peto took with him when he left Burpee.

[timeless]

Originally Posted by Jeannine Anne

Off subject a bit but relevant I think.

I have to add, that I have exactly the same feelings about Thompson and Morgan who are very big in the UK but do have a US and Caanadian catalogue too. I swear they change the names of things to give themselves phony exclusives.. I refuse to buy anything from them if described this way..simply untrustworthy, and I do think they say hybrid to some things that are not.

XX Jeannine

Just for 'fun' I bought Burpee seeds labled 'Delicious', from several local retailers.
Walmart, Menards and Ebay's local vendor.
I know what 'Delicious' is supposed to be, so I could compare plantings.
NOT EVEN CLOSE.
One came out a gnarly mess, like an overgrown beefsteak on steroids, one was a cherry and the other was close, but way too small.
The one off Ebay was the closest to the real deal.

So, Burpee doesn't package the same seed for everyone.
Funny, I think.

Val

[sailspin]

Hi I'm new to site but looks , I'm very sceptical with burpee seeds sold at the Home depot seems I've gotten something other that what I payed for I do believe they have gone the way of BIG CORP greed. and I wonder what they do with all those seeds the pick up at the end of summer? Humm just a thought

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by sailspin

Hi I'm new to site but looks , I'm very sceptical with burpee seeds sold at the Home depot seems I've gotten something other that what I payed for I do believe they have gone the way of BIG CORP greed. and I wonder what they do with all those seeds the pick up at the end of summer? Humm just a thought

Could you share with us which Burpee tomato seeds you bought and thought you had as opposed to what you actually got?

I see you're new here, so welcome.

[Mischka]

Originally Posted by sailspin

I wonder what they do with all those seeds the pick up at the end of summer? Humm just a thought

Burpee instructs their retailers to destroy seeds that haven't sold at the end of the season. They actually specify that the packets be exposed to water to do this.

Burpee also prohibits discounting below their pre-printed packet price, although this rule is often broken.

[KLorentz]

Originally Posted by elkwc36

I've always had good results with seeds from Burpee. I did order plants one time and it was very hot when they shipped and I lost one. They refunded for it and another one and the others did well. I've bought hybrid and op seeds from them. Excellent germination. The Porterhouse and Brandyboy are two of my favorite hybrids along with Goliath from Totally Tomatoes who I've had good results with also.
There is only two I won't order from. Seeds of Change and Johnny's because of their credit card fiasco. When your credit card numbers have been used before you are notified I feel that it is poor customer service. There is too many good companies to put up with that in my opinion.
Tomato Growers Supply
Victory Seeds
Amishland
Tomato Fest
are some I use about every year. JD

The credit card thing was taken care of some time ago. I have ordered from them a couple times since with no prob.

Kevin

[KLorentz]

Originally Posted by Ruth_10

Burpee is rapidly spending down the good will they built up in years gone by as the country's premier home gardening catalog. I've heard a number of people comment, "Oh, Burpee. My folks always ordered from them when I was a kid" and the warm-and-fuzzies would be flying all over the place. Now, the name is the same but otherwise,.

It has not been the same since the Burpee family left and went through several owners and to it's current owner George Ball. I miss the days when a smiling David Burpee would be on the inside cover of the catalog talking about the upcoming season and the new seed offerings. I really do miss that but at least we have not only good folks here to ask for seeds from there are still some great companies to buy from.


Kevin

[goodwin]

I miss the old Burpee's as well. However, you have to admit Burpee is now on the cutting edge. This year they are offering 'hybrid heirlooms'. A new cherry tomato plant is 9" high and 44" wide! Last year their 'seedless tomato' was apparently a huge hit. They also offer 'expert advice'. Can't wait to see what Mr. Ball comes up with next!

[Hermitian]

Many gardeners don't understand the meaning of hybrid or heirloom.

First: All tomatoes are hybrids. This was true when the Spanish and Dutch first brought them out of the Western Hemisphere in the 1520's.

Second: Heirloom plant (by case law) means "reproduces true from seed" and "off patent". Now I know many people that think there are more requirements as well, but sellers in the U.S. are only bound by the "reproduction" and "off patent" clauses.

For example, Burpee's "Better Boy" is both a hybrid and an heirloom.

[goodwin]

Just a clarification...
Hybrid seeds or plants that you buy, such as Better Boy, are (almost always) F1s, or the first generation cross. Seeds saved from the F1 generation produce plants where the genes have segregated. That is, they are not genetically the same as the parent, and are often quite different.
Heirloom varieties are genetically stable and because the flowers are self-pollinated, the seed, in this case, reproduces true to type.
Happy New Year everyone! Best of luck in the garden this season.

[Worth1]

Above two posts, SAY WHAT!!!!!!!

Worth