Price of Veg seeds getting expensive.

Discussion in 'Edible Gardening' started by Peaceful Gardener, Sep 23, 2025.

  1. Adam I

    Adam I Super Gardener

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    The fewer people buy (saving/trading) the higher the price must be to make up for the manufacturers costs, the fewer people buy. This is why smaller specialists are usually very expensive, especially someone like real seeds who expects you to save seed. F1s were so successful as a business because it garentees repeat sales.

    A vicious circle that dooms many businesses and why scaling back is important in harder times (aka sacking staff), to keep prices down.

    The justification is everyone who gets sacked then gets a job somewhere else. I guess so. Doesnt seem like a great system to me, but has made humanity pretty rich so far. At least some of humanity.

    As @Obelix-Vendée said, its still cheaper to plant seeds, though less so than last year.
    Ive tried 3 times to get raspberries going chasing the delusion of not having to buy 20£/kg rasps ever again. Third times the charm!
     
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    • Selleri

      Selleri Koala

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      I have sort of learnt this, growing only what I love to eat and in quantities I can manage i.e. one Courgette plant, not three.

      That's the theory anyways. After donating half of my very healthy cucumber seedlings this year I still had I think 12 to deal with. :biggrin: All gone now, in jars and tummies.

      But otherwise it has worked OK this year. :)
       
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      • Allotment Boy

        Allotment Boy Lifelong Allotmenteer

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        I agree that seeds have become more expensive. I buy from various companies or GC'S. I find Franchii seeds are good value, lots more seed in the packet and good germination rates, but their range tends to be a little more basic. If you want something a bit specific or special you have to go elsewhere. I find you have to be careful with some heritage varieties. Sometimes there is a reason why it fell out of favour and was replaced with a new introduction. On the other hand some heritage varieties have stood the test of time for very good reasons.
        Seasonal variation can complicate things even more. Sungold toms are a good example, when I did the RHS course, me and another classmate were extolling the virtues of them, the following year we both agreed they were underwhelming as @Obelix-Vendée said. The bad year we had warm days but unusually cool nights in May and June and it really affected the flavour.
         
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        • simone_in_wiltshire

          simone_in_wiltshire Total Gardener

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          @Obelix-Vendée My friend in Spain sent pictures of their tin machine and shelves full with tomato sauce and other veggies. They are far more eaters in the family. live in a house, and they have no hosepipe ban.
          We are two of us, in a small flat, and especially after this year's summer, I'm even less keen on growing my own with smart meter and hosepipe ban.
           
          Last edited: Sep 25, 2025
        • shiney

          shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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          Everyone has their own particular reason for growing, or not growing, edibles. Over the years we have changed what we do but I agree that seeds have become relatively more expensive.

          We no longer grow root veg simply because of advancing years and the need for more bending and digging. With tomatoes we grow from our own seed and seem to have no trouble doing so. Saving the seed is simple as we (Mrs Shiney is our seed saver) and she spaces the seeds out on sheets of kitchen paper, about 20 to a sheet, leaves the sheets open in the kitchen until the seeds have dried and then rolls up the sheets and writes on the outside which variety they are. They are then stored for next year. for growing then the sheets are placed, just as they are, on compost in seed trays and watered and we get almost 100% germination. The same with our chillies except we no longer need to do that so much as they self seed in our our propagator from chillies that fall off and are not noticed (their propagator is 5ft x 3ft)

          We sell excess crops for the charity we support and excess plants but a lot of tomatoes also get cooked down to make tomato soup for freezing. We cook them with excess courgettes in the soup. This works very well for making cream of tomato soup as they help make the soup thicker without changing the flavour. We use tins of coconut milk (usually buy the tins that say there is about 60% coconut in the tins and not the ones that have a lot less). This also makes very little difference to the flavour but can also be used for people that have a dairy allergy. We use it for making most of our different 'cream' soups.

          We're lucky as we grow a lot of runner and French beans so I can buy them wholesale and friends buy their seeds from me. You can buy quite a lot of seeds in quantity if you get together as a group. I also sell the bean plants and the produce. As we go to a lot of different clubs between us we have quite a few people to be able to sell to.

          Having said all that, prices have definitely gone up a lot but some of the commercial sellers do have sales of some of their seeds around January.
           
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