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Tomato Seeds for Sale: What to Look for When You Buy Tomato Seeds

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What to look for when you buy tomato seeds with Tomato Dirt #growtomatoes #HomeGardening

Images of tomato seeds for sale fill garden catalogs. Seed packets are stocked at nursery centers. But what should you look for when you buy tomato seeds? Use these guidelines.

1. Selection

Garden nurseries and home improvement centers carry seed packets of all kinds ranging from flowers to herbs and vegetable seeds for sale, but usually just a few varieties of tomatoes in the mix.

Retailers simply do not have room for a large volume of seed types.

By all means, purchase your seeds locally if possible. Yet if you would like to grow tomato varieties not offered by your local retailers, then consider purchasing your tomato seeds from an online vendor (see a list of online tomato seeds suppliers.)

Online vendors offer a much larger selection.. In fact, a few specialty tomato seeds suppliers offer tomato seeds exclusively. Many carry hundreds of types of tomato seeds Other vendors offer tomato seeds along with other vegetable seeds for sale, in addition to plants and gardening supplies, which you may consider if you plan to grow a variety of crops in your garden. Websites and print seed catalogs include descriptions of different tomato varieties in order to help you choose what kinds might work best in your garden.

2. Seed Quality

Organic garden seeds are grown, harvested, and processed according to strict regulations monitored by the USDA in the United States (and similar agencies in other countries.)

Companies that sell non GMO (genetically modified organisms) seeds state so clearly on their websites and printed materials. If you don’t see a non GMO statement, you can ask the vendor if non GMO procedures are part of their seed protocol.

Federal standards require 75% germination rate for commercially-produced seeds, so you can rest assured that a majority of the seeds you purchase will germinate. Look to see if a vendor trial tests seeds to ensure quality.

3. Cost

Tomato seeds for sale via Landreth Seeds with Tomato Dirt

Image: Landreth Seeds

Most seeds are inexpensive – often only a dollar or two per pack or less – with the exception of rare tomato varieties.

Even so, there are a few ways you can get cheap tomato seeds and save.

1. Study seed catalogs to choose types of tomatoes you want to grow and then buy tomato seeds at an online clearinghouse site (like Amazon), rather than through tomato seeds suppliers.

2. Buy tomato seeds early in a new season or at the close of a season just past, when they’re on sale.

3. Identify tomato seeds suppliers who sell packets with fewer numbers of seeds. Smaller amounts cost less.