Members Preferred Vendors for Tomato Seeds

[zeuspaul]

I was completely satisfied with my last year's order from Bounty Hunter.

[Hornad]

I'd like to add Quail Seeds to the list. I've placed a couple of orders with them, have had good germination. They are a small business and have some interesting varieties.
quailseeds.com

I second the recommendation. They sent me seeds on time that were the correct variety and germinated well. They also have a lot of Carol Deppe's (non-tomato) plant varieties

[AZGardener]

Two more vendors I'd like to recommend. Small family businesses, good germination, true to type, .etc.
Tim's Tomatoes:
https://www.timstomatoes.com
He also has an Etsy site: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TimsTomatoes

Mertie Mae: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MertieMae
She sells on Etsy.

Both sell mostly tomato seeds but do have some non-tomato varieties as well.

[rossomendblot]

Cultive ta Rue are no longer shipping to the US or UK:

"Outside the European Union, we have decided to suspend shipments to the United Kingdom and the United States. Current customs conditions do not allow us to ensure the receipt of seeds without risk of destruction or significant taxes charged to the consignees!"

Along with Tomatofifou, two of the best sources of tomato seed in Europe no longer available to me.

[MissS]

Cultive ta Rue are no longer shipping to the US or UK:

"Outside the European Union, we have decided to suspend shipments to the United Kingdom and the United States. Current customs conditions do not allow us to ensure the receipt of seeds without risk of destruction or significant taxes charged to the consignees!"

Along with Tomatofifou, two of the best sources of tomato seed in Europe no longer available to me.

That's a shame. I just got a shipment from them last month. I'm so glad that I did. They are a wonderful vendor and resource to the gardening community. I do hope that this doesn't last too long.

[rossomendblot]

Good news, Tomatofifou are taking orders again soon:

"Orders will be available again from October 30. Tomatofifou and Cycle en Terre have decided to join forces to offer you even more varieties. Nothing changes for your orders, because 2 are stronger and go further!"

[Laurrie]

'Tomato' Jim Wyant has quite the list of tomato varieties for sale, as well. He does not have a website. He is my main admin in Heirloom Tomato Addicts Anonymous on Facebook. Just ask to join, answer the admission questions and tag him. He'll PM you his list and it's quite the list! Ken Fry, of Forgotten Heirlooms, is also an admin in there. Kim Lund, with SSE, is a member, too.

[Cranraspberry]

Has anyone ordered from Holmes before? https://www.holmesseed.com/ Their prices look great, but it’s not a vendor I’ve heard much about.

[patihum]

I just ordered from them for the first time a few weeks ago. While I haven't grown their seeds before and can't say anything about germination etc. I can tell you that the seeds were shipped the same day I ordered them.

[Cranraspberry]

@patihum thank you!

[habitat-gardener]

Has anyone ordered from Gourmet Seed International?

[pepperhead212]

Has anyone ordered from Gourmet Seed International?

It's been several years since I ordered from them, but I've ordered from them a number of times, and had good luck with all of the seeds I've gotten. I was thinking of ordering from them last season, but so many things were "out of stock", that I ended up forgetting about it. There was an OP kohlrabi that was really good - Azure Star - and a Swiss chard I really liked - Barese - that are back now, but I didn't look at much more. The prices aren't bad, and I always got a lot more seeds than listed.

[sic transit gloria]

Dale Thurber at Delectation of Tomatoes is my favorite by a long shot.

stg

[BurgundySnail]

Bounty Hunter Seeds - https://www.bountyhunterseeds.com/

TomatoFest - https://www.tomatofest.com/

Maybe will be usefull.
I had mismatches from these 2 places.

Ordered True Colors from Bounty Hunter Seeds - not true to seed. No reply from them on this matter as well.

[karstopography]

My Black From Tula seeds were purchased from Baker Creek. The tomatoes have averaged 98 grams, not anything like the descriptions of these tomatoes running up to 14 ounces, and don’t look anything like shape shown in the photos on multiple seed vendors websites, including Baker Creek. The color looks correct, just not the shape or size. Most of the photos of the cut Black from Tula tomatoes on the various websites indicate a beefsteak interior, although, interestingly, Baker Creek’s do not.

Don’t believe the seeds I have are the true or predominant version of Black from Tula. No chance of a mix up on my end as the only other dark I grew this season was Black Krim and that was true to form.

I don’t like whatever I did get and have zero desire to try these seeds again. The tomato is rather bland and by far, the worst dark tomato I’ve yet to try.

[BurgundySnail]

Bounty Hunter Seeds - https://www.bountyhunterseeds.com/

TomatoFest - https://www.tomatofest.com/

Maybe will be usefull.
I had mismatches from these 2 places.

Ordered True Colors from Bounty Hunter Seeds - not true to seed. No reply from them on this matter as well.

OK, I am really angry right now with Bounty Hunter Seeds. I planted 14 varieties from them and turns out 2/14 are not true to seed.

True colors - supposed to be potato leaf, all 5 seeds that I planted are regular leaf.
Not purple strawberry - not purple, plain red tomato AND it's determinate.

Will not order from them again.

[karstopography]

Yea, when real estate is precious in a garden growing out something not as billed is frustrating.

Out of 15 tomato plants this season, I’m certain one is not as advertised, Aker’s West Virginia from the MMMM swap is not Aker’s West Virginia. What I got was a small round red, 2-3 ounce tomato, of indifferent flavor. I’m almost certain Black from Tula isn’t the real deal Black from Tula since my tomatoes don’t resemble that variety. I grew out a bland dark tomato that was tiny and not anything like the billing.

Two out of 15 grow out negative surprises is about my limit as far as being not completely frustrating.

These experiences inform my 2025 grow outs. Which seeds and from where?

[BurgundySnail]

Bounty Hunter Seeds - https://www.bountyhunterseeds.com/

TomatoFest - https://www.tomatofest.com/

Maybe will be usefull.
I had mismatches from these 2 places.

Ordered True Colors from Bounty Hunter Seeds - not true to seed. No reply from them on this matter as well.

OK, I am really angry right now with Bounty Hunter Seeds. I planted 14 varieties from them and turns out 2/14 are not true to seed.

True colors - supposed to be potato leaf, all 5 seeds that I planted are regular leaf.
Not purple strawberry - not purple, plain red tomato AND it's determinate.

Will not order from them again.

Strike that! I just looked at the "zebra ezel" and it's also not a match! Err, 3/14!

What I have:

IMG_20240705_224951__01.jpg

What it's supposed to be:
https://bountyhunterseeds.com/product/z ... el-tomato/

[karstopography]

So which vendor is the most reliable? I’ll order seed from a vendor that I feel confident that what was sold to me was as advertised.

As far as the swaps go, I totally understand seeds might vary, due to accidental crosses and similar events. Only a fraction of my grow outs will ever be swap seeds for this reason. My own save seeds are a gamble due to potential unintended crosses. Anyway, hate to understand that the professionals are flubbing seeds.

[MissS]

I doubt that any of the vendors bag their seeds. With hundreds of plants that would be very labor intensive and make the seeds unaffordable for us. So do realize that it is possible to get an off-type here and there. I wouldn't think that the whole package would be off-types as the seeds come from many tomatoes.

I find Delectation of Tomatoes, Secret Seed Cartel and Bunny Hop Seeds to be very good vendors that I do about 90% of my business with. This by no means is to say that there are not other exceptional vendors on the list.