Date: Tue, 28 Jan 1997 19:16:02 +0200 From: Chris.Breckpot@olvz-aalst.be To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg413$foo@default> Subject: Lowrie seeds debate
Hi all,
From the reactions to my posting regarding germination problems
with seeds of Lowrie, it appears that some other growers share my
experience.
IMHO the quality of his seeds was the main reason for my bad
results instead of bad stratification, sowing procedure/medium/
conditions etc. The point is that I treated (stored, stratified,
sow) seeds from different sources identically and simultaneously.
It was clear that seeds from the ICPS (USA) and CPS (UK) seed
banks germinated much better. Those seed banks offer plenty
seeds of good quality and at low cost.
I do not know who is to blame. Part of Allen/s seeds seem to
come from other people, so maybe some seeds are bad before they
arrive in his hands. Despite the overwhelming choice, his system
has the major drawback that one never knows from where the seeds
come and how old they are. I am sure that most of his suppliers
are conscientious people who offer him viable seeds only.
Reality seems toconfirm the assumption that there might be others
too.
From Allen/s viewpoint, I understand that it is difficult to
solve this problem. I can think of indication of collection date
(or year at least) and anonymous indication of the supplier (#01,
#12 etc). Realistic, unfortunately not foolproof and time-
consuming. On the other hand, when I pay $3 for a few seeds, I
believe it is reasonable to expect some effort to improve
quality.
To close, I would like to stress that by mailing this I did NOT
want to offend Allen or anybody who offers him good seeds.
Best regards,
Christian Breckpot
'
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