Are seeds from Plantation Products (American Seed) any good

I purchased a bunch of seed packets a couple of years ago. About half are from Livingston Seed Co which I learned is a reputable non-GMO company. The rest are called "American Seed". I googled American Seed and found that these seeds are from a company called Plantation Products  ( http://www.plantationproducts.com/pages/cfHome.cfm ) and they have a LOT of bad reviews. There is another American Seed Co ( https://www.americanseedco.com/ ) which is a reputable supplier and they have a disclaimer saying they are not the company selling "American Seed" products to big box stores. My question is, are these American Seeds from Walmart and Meijer type stores a rip off? Should I throw them away or use them? Are Livingston Seeds ( http://livingstonseed.info/ ) as good as the website states? This is a lesson. Packages that say "American Seed" are NOT from the America Seed Co. Read your packages.

I have been very lucky with my purchases from American Seed Company. I have better germination than I get from other very reputable companies. My packages clearly state "Plantation Products".

I know we have planted green beans, spinach and corn.  Only corn was not a variety we liked.  I have purchased lots of flower seeds from them.  The price is much cheaper than the very reputable seed companies so I will continue to buy their seed.

When I do my research and decide what I want to purchase I look at them first, then look elsewhere for the things they don't have available.

By all means use the seeds that you have!  

"The Plantation Products Family of Brands Trusted by gardeners since 1850"  "Plantation Products manages the most well-known seed and seed starting brands in North America. Many of these brands have been around since the mid-1800's and have been trusted by generations of gardeners. Everyone at Plantation feels a deep sense of pride and responsibility to carry on the tradition of these brands by delivering the highest quality products to gardeners."    

Another plus:  100% non GMO seeds


http://www.plantationproducts.com/documents/PlantationProducts_GMO_Policy.pdf

Had moderate success with their alyssum
Moderate with their bachelor buttons
Zero success with their aster & petunia
Excellent success with their nasturtium tall mix and excellent success with their cosmos sensations, was able to save a lifetime supply of seeds from the cosmos I grew, think I spent .20 a packet, not a bad deal. I’ll peruse seed racks anywhere I see them, we unfortunately had a favorite chain hardware store named Benny’s ho out of business and they carried these seeds, I was able to buy dozens of packets for two bucks at their going out of business sale so if even a tenth of this stuff comes up it’ll still be a bargain.

Tripp Noonan wrote:
Zero success with their aster & petunia
.

Tripp, I have heard that petunias are hard to grow from seed so I have not tried them.  I have also heard you might need to use a heat mat to get them started.

One thing I do with seeds that I have not had success with is to do a germination test using the wet paper towel method.  If they germinate, I plant the seedlings into pots.

You can usually find these products at Dollar General starting at 4/$1.00 for seed packets or sometimes 2/$1.00; all depending on the variety and seed count.

I have had great success with sweet alyssum, both red and white; french marigolds; We get many of our vegetable seed from them.

So I probably planted those right in the ground in early April in zone 6
They never had a chance!

I bought lettuce seeds @ dollar General. I went out to plant them and there were no seeds in the packs. Very upset!

.

That happened to me with Ferris watermelon seeds.  I had planned to take them back since they are expensive ... just never got around to doing it.

At least at the Dollar General the seeds are cheap.

No they are no good. I had a pack of petunia seeds dated 2018. Planted them a couple months ago and instead of petunias what popped up was something that resembles a weed called clammy goosefoot. Yuck. Wiki says: It is native to Australia, but it can be found in other parts of the world as an introduced species, often growing in disturbed and waste areas such as roadsides and lots.

I planted you Pepper, Sweet seeds every 2 weeks staarted in Feguary to endd of Ajpril , nuthing came up. I wasted my money on your seeds.

I mostly have good luck with them.  My sweet peppers are always started from their seed and nearly every one germinates.  I did run into an issue with their beefsteak tomatoes last year though.  I don't know what variety I ended up with, but definitely not beefsteak.  

I bought your seeds in grande prairie Alberta and not one of the grew. Really disappointed I was so looking forward to a wonderful cro this year

Hi Claire,

Welcome to Permies.

2020, I bought what thought was sage and had snap dragon, this year 2021 bought what was supposed to be eggplant and got peppers!! Not happy

I purchased American Seed orange Tithonia/Mexican Sunflower. However, the description and planting instructions on the back of the package are for Solar Power F1 Sunflower. The seedlings need to be transplanted to the back of my border, but I'm not sure if I have a bunch of giant sunflowers or the orange Tithonia I chose for the color palette of my border.

L Kosciuch wrote:I purchased American Seed orange Tithonia/Mexican Sunflower. However, the description and planting instructions on the back of the package are for Solar Power F1 Sunflower. The seedlings need to be transplanted to the back of my border, but I'm not sure if I have a bunch of giant sunflowers or the orange Tithonia I chose for the color palette of my border.

Maybe the planting instruction is the same for both of them

Since the seeds might be of comparable size, I suggest the instructions are okay.

I guess your complaint is with the color in that you wanted orange flowers, which you will not know until they bloom.

Can you tell by the look of the leaf what flower you have? If I remember correctly something is different, Like the placement of the leaves and maybe the size?

If it turns out they are orange, don't save the seeds.  I did and the second year I had yellow flowers.  

Which was okay since the deer ate them.