Seed Comparison!

This past season, I purchased some Cuostralee seed from a vendor and it grew true to description. In the fall, I ordered some more Cuostralee seed from a well known vendor, but a vendor about whom I have seen a number of comments regarding having sent the wrong seed.

The true to type seed from the first vendor was very large like a "typical" beefsteak variety produces. The seed from the second vendor is tiny like one normally finds in most cherry tomatoes.

Is it normal for seed of the same variety ordered from different vendors to be significantly different in size and appearance?

Ted

[dice]

Is it normal for seed of the same variety ordered from different vendors to be significantly different in size and appearance?

No. How many plants? If you only had the one plant of the small
fruited version, that seed could have been a bee-made F1 or
a stray seed. If you grew multiple plants and they were all like
that, then it was likely a seed mixup, someone simply putting
the wrong variety in a packet.

[amideutch]

But, it does happen and some vendors out their seem to have this problem more often than others. See the "Seed & Plant Sources" forums for the offenders. Ami

I guess I didn't explain it well. I planted and grew four plants from the original seed source. They grew true to type. I gave or traded most of the remainder of that seed away so I ordered more from a different vendor. The seed from the second vendor is only 1/2 as large as the original vendors seed and has a totally different appearance from the original seed. It was my intent to grow some plants from the second vendor next spring, but since I suspect it is not Cuostralee seed and my space is limited, I probably will not grow it.

I'm only making that decision based on the appearance of the two seeds. Is it common for seed of the same variety, but from different vendors to not look similar in size and appearance?

Is it reasonable for me to suspect the seed from the second vendor is not Cuostralee seed based only on size and appearance of the seed when compared to proven Cuostralee seed?

Ami,

The "seed and plant source" thread is where I first read about problems with the second vendor often getting the wrong seed into pre labeled seed packets.

Ted

[les matzek]

hi tedin,
i got a pack of mesclum seeds from burrpee last year
and kept waiting for the seeds to germnate and whenthey did the leafs looked strange to be lettuces
after 3 weeks i pulled one and low and behold there
was a small carrot,so yes even the big ones send
out the wrong seeds,regards and happy holidays.

les

[alamo5000]

I have had exactly two problems with seeds and neither turned out to be 'that bad'...

One, I ordered were supposed to be a big pink beefsteak... someone mis packaged the seeds as when they were grown out they were small globe shaped black tomatoes of some unknown variety.

I was mad about it, naturally, especially after months on end of work... but they tasted great actually. It was my first black tomato ever.

The company gave me a full refund by the way.

The other time I had a potato leaf plant sprout up...the only problem was, it should not have been potato leaf. It was one plant and all the rest were the right. Turns out I was growing a hybrid and the gene of one of the parents (a potato leaf) came out... it was pretty neat actually. A very good learning experience.

I was warned from good sources to only buy from reputable companies. Not everyone in the seed business will give you 100% what you pay for.

[hillbillyBob]

yep I had three potatoe leaf plants last year out of a package of 6 brandywine plants, the potatoe leaf grow well but just produced small tomatos. so which seed company should I trust ??

[amideutch]

Now I get it. I have saved seed from the fruit of the same plant (variety) during the course of the growing season and have had differences in size and appearance of the seed. Fruit size, maturity of fruit when seed is harvested and seed saving techniques are all players in size and appearance of saved seed.
To question the integrity of a specific variety of tomato by the appearance of the seed I would say no. The only thing you have left as you have done is question the track record of the supplier. Ami

[dice]

Oh, right, he means the *seeds* were small, not the fruit
itself (he has not grown any of the seeds out from the second
vendor yet).

That does not necessarily mean that they are wrong. The first
time that I grew Box Car Willie, my saved seeds were twice the
size of the seeds that I got from the vendor. Later I got seeds
from Remy from plants grown from seeds from Carolyn for the
same cultivar, and the plants and fruit were exactly like the
plants and fruit grown from the small seeds from a seed vendor.

I think that the fruit that the vendor seeds came from were
simply harvested early, mature green, and separated from
the pulp and juice by some mechanical process that works
just as well on mature green fruit as on ripe fruit.

In cool summers, I often get "half-sized" seeds that are all
smaller than what I planted. (Sometimes ridiculously small:
I had a Cowberian plant back in kind of a shady corner this
year, right beside a row of raspberries, and the seeds were
the size of pinheads. Last year's seeds from the same cultivar
in sunnier spots were normal sized tomato seeds.)

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by tedln

This past season, I purchased some Cuostralee seed from a vendor and it grew true to description. In the fall, I ordered some more Cuostralee seed from a well known vendor, but a vendor about whom I have seen a number of comments regarding having sent the wrong seed.

The true to type seed from the first vendor was very large like a "typical" beefsteak variety produces. The seed from the second vendor is tiny like one normally finds in most cherry tomatoes.

Is it normal for seed of the same variety ordered from different vendors to be significantly different in size and appearance?

Ted

Where did you guy's misunderstand this. sorry.

I just though I would put my 2 cents in, yes sometimes seeds are smaller than others of the same cultivar (SP) but from what I have seen cheery type seeds are small, and egg/teardrop shaped where as larger tomato seeds are more flat like, somewhat like a wee little UFO.

Worth

[amideutch]

Where did you guy's misunderstand this. sorry.

Worth, it's called HTW. Affects a lot of people this time of year.


Heirloom Tomato Withdrawal



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Raybo, not a word!