# Enormous Catalog of Free Heirloom Seeds



## AnnaS (Nov 29, 2003)

Here's one of those almost secret government projects, and how to use it to get seeds that are often very rare and not available in any seed catalog, anywhere. Packets are small- but enough to start your own seed saving-but cost is $0.

This is probably the biggest seed catalog in the world- 7,943 varieties of tomato, 639 kinds of radish- you get the picture.

You should have a scientific name, if you want to just look at all the corn, or a variety name, if you want to find out if some old seed is really extinct. You can also look under the state of origination for varieties suited to your climate.

Go to:
www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/searchgrin.html

Once there, go to "accession area queries". you can search for your seed in various ways. Once you find some seed that you just have to have, write down the PI number or other identification number and the station where that variety is maintained.

Now go back to the main GRIN page (above link) and click on "request germplasm" and fill out the request form.

I'm getting beans, corn, and a squash, all not available in the US (That I can find). Requested the beans on 30 Dec and got them 4 Jan. One of the beans is Blue Coco which is blue and turns green when cooked and is the "best flavored" green bean, according to the USDA testers.


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## DayBird (Jul 26, 2004)

Very cool site. Thanks for the link.

My first search I just put in my state. 100 varieties came up for Alabama. I could not find any common names though. I just started clicking. I guess when it talks about silk formation, it's talking about corn. I did find some muskmelons that were developed by Auburn that I'd like to try. 

I'm going to spend more time poking around there.

Thanks again.


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## DayBird (Jul 26, 2004)

Ok, I was doing it wrong. At the top of the search page is a simple search. Type in apple. There are pages and pages of apples.


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## willow_girl (Dec 7, 2002)

OMG. This is like the holy grail!  

Thank you!!!!


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

WOW!!! THANKS!!! All of the seeds are not heirloom, but they do tell you which are hybrids. And........ They have bamboo culms!!!! I am SOOO excited! You can't tell, tho, can you?


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## Jan in CO (May 10, 2002)

Wow, that's terrific! Thanks so much for posting the link! Jan in Co


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## Meg Z (Jun 8, 2004)

I was directed to the USDA's National Germplasm site, which offers free plant seeds and parts to _researchers._ How do I get to a part that offers them to regular folks? 

Meg


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## Ravenlost (Jul 20, 2004)

This is the most wonderful website anyone has ever shared! Thank you SOOOOO much!


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## willow_girl (Dec 7, 2002)

> I was directed to the USDA's National Germplasm site, which offers free plant seeds and parts to researchers. How do I get to a part that offers them to regular folks?


Meg, their home page indicates part of their mission is to preserve the diversity of the seed stock. 

I could be wrong, but I'd say if you were growing the seeds, and saving seeds from the plants and perhaps sharing them with others, and keeping tabs on what grew and thrived in your location and what didn't, you could rightfully say you were taking part in research.


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## Nan(TX) (Sep 13, 2002)

Wow they have an animal section but no fowl as of yet. Thanks so much for the link.:worship:


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## DayBird (Jul 26, 2004)

Nan(TX) said:


> Wow they have an animal section but no fowl as of yet. Thanks so much for the link.:worship:



:haha: :haha: 
That was the first thing I went to also. I imagined some government scientist sending me 25 baby chicks free of charge as part of heirloom research.


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## Nan(TX) (Sep 13, 2002)

DayBird said:


> :haha: :haha:
> That was the first thing I went to also. I imagined some government scientist sending me 25 baby chicks free of charge as part of heirloom research.


Hey birds of a feather! 

This could be a godsend for back yard hobbits who are trying to save breeds from extinction.


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## southerngurl (May 11, 2003)

Yea, I headed to the horse section. 

Frankly I find the site kind of confusing? Maybe it's my mercury and tin toxicity?


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

I may be a private individual, but, I keep a database of all the seeds/corms/bulbs/etc that I plant. I like to know where the seed originated, when I planted it, yield, what diseases or pests bothered it, etc, etc... I'm also willing to share seed with others when I have it, save seed to plant next season and not adverse to doing a bit of hand pollinating to see what crosses I come up with. I do believe that qualifies me as a 'volunteer researcher'!


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## GRHE (Jun 22, 2004)

Anna, thanks for the link. I have heard of the project several times but had never found the site. I will likely spend hours going through the catalog of specimen . I believe this network was set up and founded in responce to groups like _Seed Savers_ as the offical government outlet and clearing house to help organize those efforts. It is quite humourous though to see groups like the Dept of Ag sponsouring and effort directly opposed to the germplasm monoculture the rest of that organization so readily promotes :haha: .


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## apirlawz (Dec 26, 2003)

willow_girl said:


> Meg, their home page indicates part of their mission is to preserve the diversity of the seed stock.
> 
> I could be wrong, but I'd say if you were growing the seeds, and saving seeds from the plants and perhaps sharing them with others, and keeping tabs on what grew and thrived in your location and what didn't, you could rightfully say you were taking part in research.


That's pretty much what I did. I was honest...I said I was a market gardener in southeastern SD interested in heirloom/antique and wild fruits and vegetables. My goals were 1) to test different varieties to see what would thrive in my area, and also to start my own seed supply, and 2) I wanted to give my market customers some insight into the different varieties and tastes that were available to people prior to the more commercialized growing practices used today. 

I ordered seeds, blueberry plants, and a pear tree last night, and got emails this morning telling me when everything would be sent out. 

AnnaS, your are a wonderful person!!! Thank you so much for posting this site! It has a home forever in my favorites! :worship: :worship: :worship:

April


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## Hank - Narita (Aug 12, 2002)

Thanks for posting the website. We ordered cantaloupes so we will see how soon we get them.


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## Sondra Peterson (Dec 5, 2002)

Well I guess I am completely stupid I can't get the search (grin) to come up when I click on it. and if I use the other thing and put in anything I get all the botanical names , then if I put in texas the only thing that comes up is cotton or pecans. What am I doing wrong.


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## Nan(TX) (Sep 13, 2002)

I found it very difficult to navigate too. I also plugged in Texas and received over 800 hits. Most were ground cover crops for cattle. So what I did that helped but was still difficult for me to find things was I opened a new window for Google. I would find the botanical name for say squash and plug that into the search function on the site. I'm hopelessly lost but making good time now.


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## sylvar (Nov 2, 2004)

Holy cow.... Now that kicks butt. Took me a while to figure out how to find what I was looking for, but now I'm in like flynn. Thanks so much!

Sylvar


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## pamda (Oct 14, 2004)

Thank you for posting this. I went there last night and ordered some blueberries and just heard form the place they will be sent from this a.m.In Febuary I will have blueberry cuttings to try to root. Hope I can figure this part out.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

I was going to ask about that. I thought I saw something that said cuttings and figured they would not have been rooted. 

Get some sharp sand. Builders sand from the hardware is fine. Put it in your container and wet it down. If you can find some willows take some tip cuttings. Chop them finely and soak in water to make 'willow tea'. Use this to wet the sand. Stick your cuttings into the sand, butt end down and cover the whole thing with something that will let the light thru. Set in bright indirect light in a cool but not cold spot.


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## desnri (Dec 22, 2003)

I just got off of that site. Wow is right. I just placed and order for all kinds of stuff. Thanks for posting this site.


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## Kshobbit (May 14, 2002)

I ordered late last nite and still have not heard back. Now I am on pins and needles waiting to see if I get the apples and grapes starts. Sure hope I said the right thing to get them. Thank you so much.


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## southerngurl (May 11, 2003)

Alright, I've got it figured out now.  This is nice!

Let's post when we get our stuff.


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## pamda (Oct 14, 2004)

The other site I requested seed from emailed and will not supply seed because I am not actively a seed saver. Oh well. I didn't lie and just said I was researching market gardening for this area.


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## pamda (Oct 14, 2004)

Cyngbaeld said:


> I was going to ask about that. I thought I saw something that said cuttings and figured they would not have been rooted.
> 
> Get some sharp sand. Builders sand from the hardware is fine. Put it in your container and wet it down. If you can find some willows take some tip cuttings. Chop them finely and soak in water to make 'willow tea'. Use this to wet the sand. Stick your cuttings into the sand, butt end down and cover the whole thing with something that will let the light thru. Set in bright indirect light in a cool but not cold spot.


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Thanks for the info I am so excited to get the cuttings and try this. Blueberries are a great seller here and I want to find more ways for this little acre to pay for itself. I will go buy the sand and find some willows and start soaking the tips as I understand that this can be used for other plant starts as well. Thanks again PAM


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## quailkeeper (Aug 18, 2004)

Don't waste too much time on this website!!! I spent four hours and found five different seeds I wanted and order them yesterday. I got an email today saying that they will not send to individuals only bona fide researchers. These are not for private use. But I also order a couple of blueberry plants and I got a seperate email saying they would be shipped mid-Feb. I would not even mess with the seeds. Just thought I'd warn ya.


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## AnnaS (Nov 29, 2003)

Glad that this site is useful to many of you!

I have received both the beans I requested (Pike and Blue Coco) and one of the 2 corns. The other is not being distributed this year. Waiting on the squash. All were ordered 30 Dec and came in the mail 4-6 Jan.

I do have to do a Performance Report for the corn, when it tassels, silks out, is ripe etc.

I wonder if the requirements for "bona fide" vary between the different stations. My reason was "to propagate rare varieties using traditional Native American techniques" which is what I intend to do. If the USDA's intent was to restrict use to businesses, not individuals, I think they would ask for a tax ID number or a tax exempt ID number.

They do intend to be the last resort for varieties. If a variety is commerically available from ANY source, they might not release it.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

Anna, that is my thinking too. A. that the varieties are not available to buy, and B. that one does not have to be a company, school or gov funded in order to help with the effort of preserving genetic diversity. Certainly be honest when you request material as to who you are and your intentions. I would keep records whether they asked me too or not and would willingly return the info they requested. I'm not ordering anything right now, because I don't have my farm yet. But they do have a number of varieties of bamboo and fruit trees etc that I could not find anywhere else. I'm very much interested in bamboo as an alternative to wood and plastic. Did you know that some timber bamboo grows 70 ft tall and 7 inches in diameter? And some is perfect for furniture, and other varieties for baskets? And they have a pear tree variety that is so old nobody has a clue as to when people began cultivating it!
Thanks again for sharing this.


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## desnri (Dec 22, 2003)

I ordered seeds from them. I got an e-mail this morning stating that they won't be shipping to me. They only ship to bona-fide research scientist. I also ordered some cuttings. I'm still waiting for that reply.


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## southerngurl (May 11, 2003)

Me too, desnri. I wonder if we should word things different...

I would be happy to do keep tabs on how the do in this environment, with certain pest, ect.


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

I would not get overly enthused by this for a number of reasons. It is NOT a catalog of free seeds. The rules were set up to maintain the varieties and to keep them available for serious preservationists, researchers, and plant breeders. It was not set up as a free source of seeds for the average gardener. To advise us to cheat and find a way around the intent is not the proper thing to do. That's giving us the OK to play Robin Hood and take from the rich to benefit the poor. Do that enough times and then the "rich" will no longer have it and the "poor" won't know what to do with it! 

There is no big government agency growing huge fields of plants just for free seed distribution for the everyone. It is not a bottomless pit where seeds can be mined and then magically replaced by some some natural process. Most, but not all, of those seeds were supplied by growers who knew what they were doing to preserve varieties and ensure purity. The exceptions, and there are many, are mixed and crossed seed which were replaced by those who did NOT know how to preserve them. In so doing, many old varieties have actually been hopelessly lost by the very act of saving them! If you take something out of that pit, you might find yourself in the position of being requested later to return something to that pit.

Yes, most of those seeds came from somewhere and they came from serious growers, not average backyard gardeners, who grew them out and then returned replacement stock. Thus there is no way to know how old the seed is and often the source is dubious. Those seeds don't last forever and many are finding that out. Many of the tomato and pepper grow outs are possible only because of special handling and chemical treatment of the seeds in order to get germination. Placing those seeds in the hands of an average gardener is almost a guaranteed one-way trip. Even in the hands of experts, there have been many reports of only 2 or 3 seedlings out of 20-30 seeds planted. That's how close it is with many varieties and why the USDA must be careful in the distribution. It's only when pure seed is returned that many of those older varieties can be maintained.

So, if you see a variety that is no longer commercially available, have the knowledge and facilities to get those seeds to germinate, can guarantee to grow it out with minimum standard accepted isolation, and return pure fresh seed for the next generation, then play by the rules and go for it!

As a side note to this, I wanted to grow a "lost" variety this past year but it was not in any of the regular USDA seed banks. Nor did any other grower or gardener have it. In the US, it was only held at a single university respository and not available outside the educational system. However, it was found in a Canadian seed bank which has very strict rules governing any releases. Due to my connections, it will be grown out by me this coming season and isolated at least 400 feet from any other tomato variety. If the seed was pure when the seed bank received it, pure seed will be returned to the seed banks as well as available to gardeners again after a 50-60 year absence. That's the idea that one should have when tapping the USDA GRIN seed stocks.

Martin


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## GRHE (Jun 22, 2004)

Martin and all:

I agree that participants should be fully forthcoming in their requests. Each of the administrators evaluates the requests in light of their available supplies and outstanding requests and set criteria for filling those requests. This program was born out of a project called the _Noah Project_ years ago. One of their mandates is that when specimen levels are available to do so, they are, as a publicly funded organization, charged with getting seeds back into the hands of the public. They will not do so with items that are in short supply, nor will they act as a free supplier. Be truthful of your intentions of uses for the specimen, but understand they are not just trying to supply you with seeds for your garden. I for instance explained that I am one of the organizers of a seed exchange in the small community where my farm is. We are interested in increasing the biodiversity and self sufficiency of our community and helping the locals obtain items well suited for the location via native and heirloom varieties rather than standard market selections. I made 5 requests for 8 samples. Three of those requests were of 5 samples of native items or specimens originally developed for the area, and have been approved. The others are more exotic and a bit more rare, and may involve quarantine issues with California, so are still pending.

I have also made an offer of specimen to them, which I have received a reply back that this will also be separately evaluated. I have two unique chance apple seedlings on my property that I have offered for evaluation (partially in exchange for scions that I hope to get from them in a request I have not yet made). There reply on this is that the evaluation is in part if they feel the samples would best be entered directly to them, or through the Geneva research station for evaluation of merit and virus screening. I would of course also have to sign away patent rights (not a big deal). We will see what they decide on that.

It takes some practice, but there is a huge amount of information available. I am doing substantial research on apples and after finding how to negotiate their pages a bit better, they have much of the fireblight research I have been trying to locate. Unfortunately, most of the old time cider apples I want to grow are highly susceptible, and fireblight is very prevalent in the area. This information alone saved me several years of frustration and will greatly change my selection of cultivars to grow.


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## george darby (May 10, 2002)

this is an important resource for many of the small seed companies seed savers exchange has many of the varieties available in thier grow outs that is easy to see in the varieties listed only by IP # ,please do not overload the system , it can be fun to look thru but only use it as a source if you cannot find that variety and are REALLY planning on growing out to seed and have some experience in maintaining pure seed lines ,there are a number of books available on that topic SEED TO SEED by susan ashcraft being the most available , the sysyem is severly under funded and under staffed ,grow outs are not always made on schedule . these varieties are there for research and propogation by seed companies and amature seed breeders , many of the varieties are not suted for most garden aplications being wild acessions or have unusual resistance to disease as thier only redeming point .DONT USE IT AS A FREE SEED CATALOGE ! join seed savers exchange if you want these varieties and order from the people who are multiplying the varieties ,then spread them out some more yourself, as for blue cocco bean its rather common in the hierloom seed cataloges you can look thru many of them on line with color picture ,,,,,,, and find allthe seed you would want


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## southerngurl (May 11, 2003)

I recieved the rice and wheat varieties. I don't think they are going to send me any of the other seeds. I wonder if they will send the cuttings. There was a really old apple variety I wanted especially.

I couldn't find the Koca wheat I requested and recieved anywhere on the internet at all. It comes from turkey, and Koca means, ancient.


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## Bigdog (Sep 20, 2003)

Ok i need to know how to order some of the seeds I don't see anywhere to do that did i miss something lol
Bigdog


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## stumpyacres (May 10, 2002)

I got my seeds from them...


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## Jim in MO (May 10, 2002)

:worship: :worship: :worship: 


Thank you!!!!!!!!

This is so great. Just wait till my wife get on here.......

Jim in MO


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## sisterpine (May 9, 2004)

what a great site, thanks! they have the fruits i have been searching for for a long time!


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## pamda (Oct 14, 2004)

I rec'd the beans I asked for. they were in the mail box today. Hurry up spring.


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## Ravenlost (Jul 20, 2004)

I received carrot seed (Japanese native) yesterday. I fully intend to send in all info requested...i.e. how well the seed do, etc.


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## southerngurl (May 11, 2003)

I've now recieved, altogether, the wheat and rice mentioned before, purple blossom sugar peas, and today Fedex showed up with Echinacea Pallida, Purpurea, and Angustofolia, and Japanese cucumbers. Todays shipment was the first one that asked for me to do anything at all. They want me to send back a postcard that was included with the seeds, and let them know in what condition the seeds arrived (perfect). Then they said a year from now I will recieve something in the mail, and I am to tell them how well the seeds performed. I have the echinacea seeds in the freezer, they have to be in there for 2 months (I believe, well it's mainly the angustofolia) before planting. I got 100 of each seeds. I think about half may stay in the freezer for next year, unless I have really poor germination.


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## fernando (Jan 11, 2005)

One of the questions asked when ordering is which repository to submit order to. How do you determine that?


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## southerngurl (May 11, 2003)

I just left it on the default one.


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## Ravenlost (Jul 20, 2004)

I got more seeds yesterday. I will not be planting the watermelon seed they sent as it carries a virus and is recommended for greenhouse planting only. Do you think I should return the seed since I do not plan to plant them?


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## jlowhigh (Jan 17, 2005)

I'm sure this would be great, but everytime I try to get on the site it says the page can not be found.


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## Ray_Scheel (Feb 24, 2003)

I did the honest thing as well, indicated I was an advanced hobbyist and was looking for lines not available in the local trade, and that I myself participated in plant swaps to get the stock distributed to other interested parties depending on what adapted well to this area. 

Also, seed doesn't keep forever, and they freshen thier stock, so long as they have enough seed to send to the researchers and professional propagators it is still well within thier scope to keep the hobbists set up as . Home hobbists that have discovered a great number of the interesting genetic lines. They sent me a whole mess of seed from a grove of species fruit (pawpaw) because the seed doesn't keep at all - if its not planted within a few months it doesn't sprout at all.


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## GRHE (Jun 22, 2004)

Ray_Scheel said:


> I did the honest thing as well, indicated I was an advanced hobbyist and was looking for lines not available in the local trade, and that I myself participated in plant swaps to get the stock distributed to other interested parties depending on what adapted well to this area.
> 
> Also, seed doesn't keep forever, and they freshen thier stock, so long as they have enough seed to send to the researchers and professional propagators it is still well within thier scope to keep the hobbists set up as . Home hobbists that have discovered a great number of the interesting genetic lines. They sent me a whole mess of seed from a grove of species fruit (pawpaw) because the seed doesn't keep at all - if its not planted within a few months it doesn't sprout at all.


Ray, good luck with those. I've not seen a pawpaw in a long time, but as I recall not only do the seeds not keep well, they are a real bear to get to sproat. I'm going to have a bit of a challenge as well, the first item that they are sending me is some rare sweet potatoes, _en vitro_. I haven't used test tubes in about 20 years, so I guess I'd better get back in practice. Then next month they will be sending some native wild strawberry and huckleberris _*seeds*_. I was really expecting cuttings on those. Now I've got to study up on getting those tiny seeds to sproat. I don't in the least remember what treatment either of those seeds need for successful germination so as soon as I can find what box my propogation text book got put into I have to do a bit of study  . At least the few other seeds they've promised are "normal" seeds and I can just put them in soil and water :haha: .


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## southerngurl (May 11, 2003)

You have to stratify pawpaw seeds for like, 3 months or they will not germinate.


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## willow_girl (Dec 7, 2002)

Well, today I received the four varieties of tomato I requested from the National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation! 

They never responded to my email, just sent the goods. They also didn't request any data from me, although I intend to provide it anyway.

I had indicated I am an organic grower looking for 'young heirloom' varieties suitable for chemical-free propagation in short-season areas. (I selected my varieties accordingly.) Apparently they felt that was sufficient. (I am delighted!)

I also ordered some from the Northeast Regional PI Station, but haven't heard anything from them yet.

I plan to plant only half the seed this year. I will see which varieties do well here, then sow the other half next year in isolated plots to prevent cross-contamination.


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## Leah IL (Aug 15, 2004)

I just ordered 3 varieties of blueberry and some echinacea purpurea/angustifolia. I was also honest and said that I wanted to introduce these varieties to my area for possible market use. I also added that I would like to experiment with different blueberry plants to see which would thrive best in our soil. I haven't heard back yet.

It was so hard to choose! There were like 100 kinds of blueberry to choose from, so I just went through and chose what I thought we could grow here. I must say it is a little overwhelming at first!


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## Windy in Kansas (Jun 16, 2002)

Thanks for posting the url and telling about this site. I haven't looked it over much, but I did request help from them in identifying some bean seed I have. 

I obtained if from a Pakistan or Indian family. BTW, the seed was grown in Texas by family members, so wasn't smuggled in or anything like that---at least not recently. 

I'm hoping that they will help identify the seed, or accept seed from me in order to propogate more of it since I can't find it in any catalog.

Again, thanks.


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## beginablarp (Jan 14, 2005)

I received some of the bean seeds I requested in under a week ( from the Western PI-no word yet from some of the others). I told them the truth- that I am new to my area, and have a lot of experimenting to do to see what works for me here, and that I had a strong but amateur interest in genetic plant diversity and unusual varieties. I want to thank AnnaS for the info, the site contains so much interesting information. I was kept occupied for hours this week just poring over all stuff on there.


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## Windy in Kansas (Jun 16, 2002)

Again I thank you for posting the GRIN location and about the program.

Unlike many here, I wanted seed I already had identified so that I could get more. After making contact with them they have agreed to try to identify what I have, or propogate from the ones I send until there is enough for me to get a start again. (I only had 8 seed, and can only hope they are still viable.)

I was referred from my area GRIN to the one in Washington State. They hold 14,000 different bean accessions, so identifying and getting more seed may be as simple as comparison and shipment.

The bean I speak of is highly sought by the Eastern population. I understand they are quite willing to pay $2.50 per pound to obtain them for eating since there is little availability. If I'm bent over picking green beans I might as well be picking $2.50 ones rather than 69Â¢ or 99Â¢ ones. One fellow told me he could sell all that I could grow. Hm, maybe we'll see.


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## goatee (Sep 30, 2004)

Just got email back and they said only to legit research scientists and they are for long storage purposes only.


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## Ray_Scheel (Feb 24, 2003)

GRHE said:


> Ray, good luck with those. I've not seen a pawpaw in a long time, but as I recall not only do the seeds not keep well, they are a real bear to get to sproat.


~ I'm going to need it. They don't trasplant well either, and require deep pots for an oversized tap root, plus the need to protect them from sunlight for the first 3-5 years.

This is actually a second attempt, as I'd gotten about 15 from a seed swap and only had one germinate, and it didn't survive July. I'm trying a couple of stratification strategies his time and am direct planting several in protected locations. Out of 55 seeds I should get *something* this time. 

You might be interested to know that with sparkleberry / farlkeberry (V. arboretum) seeds, I've had luck barely covering the seeds in a moist medium in a cold frame over winter.


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## Mrs_stuart (Dec 24, 2003)

For those of you that have actually recieved you seeds, did you email your request in or did you snail mail it? That may be the difference. I email my request in for seeds and fruit trees...i received 2 emails back from different persons...one for the seeds say they will not send to gardeners and the one from the trees said that they only have dormant grafts and do i want those, which i did and returned the email saying so and then they reemailed and said they would send them....

I used them last year and i received only part of my order...and received an email saying the same thing but i did receive 2 different pepper seed packets.

I guess i will just wait and see. 

Belinda


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## southerngurl (May 11, 2003)

I used the form on the website.


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## Pat (Jul 24, 2004)

I used the form on the web also, but until I only used the identifying numbers only (i.e. PI 500793 ((not PI 500793 Urena lobata L. MALVACEAE that I used the first 2 times))) I never got a response. I got a response (but the same negative that was reported here earlier), but today I got another response from the Hilo repository. They suggested even though I had requested Tea cuttings, because they were not rooted, and it would take 3 - 4 months to get them to root (and very difficult to actually get them to root), to try their package of seeds (55). 

Pat


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