Why the big price difference?

[Fouquieria]

Ortanique.com has Satranala decussilvae seed for sale...bother germinated and ungerminated.

I've never grown palms from seed before, so I suppose this is a newbe question.  The germinated seed are approximately twice the price.  Why is that?

-Ron-

[Tad]

i would venture to say because he has held them longer,he still hast to get his initial investment out of them, likely as not 100% did not germinate so the price goes up, your also receiving a sprouted seed, packaging is a little different,

the guess work has been taken out of it for you, that is to say each seed is a chance to sprout and grow but these sprouts are more of a sure thing, the same reason a 1 gallon costs less than a plug, it's a little further along.

thats my civilized way of thinking tho, I could be wrong.

[Fouquieria]

So...can that infer that sometimes seed just automatically sprout during shipment and the dealer has separated the two and gets a premium price for the germinated?

I also meant to ask about the difference in shipping germinated vs. ungerminated seed.

Yes, a very civilized answer.  I expected as much on this board.  We can still have our jests though...I hope it was taken in jest.

-Ron-

[Breadfruit Bill]

If given the option I prefer to purchase germed seeds...  It is not too often that one can purchase ungermed and get better than a 50% to pop (given that germed vs. ungermed are 2times the price)...

[Fouquieria]

If given the option I prefer to purchase germed seeds...  It is not too often that one can purchase ungermed and get better than a 50% to pop (given that germed vs. ungermed are 2times the price)...

That makes sense.  So, how well do germinated seed ship in your experience?

-Ron-

[Tad]

(PiousPalms @ Sep. 06 2007,22:53)

QUOTE

It is not too often that one can purchase ungermed and get better than a 50% to pop (given that germed vs. ungermed are 2times the price)...

thank GOD I am a good germinator because we routinley get better than 50% germ on our seeds, stuff we buy in and the stuff we collect ourselves.

I have gotten germed seed from joseph before with outstanding results.

[Matt in SD]

Ron,

I got 50% germination from those Satranala seeds from Joseph.  I haven't heard of anyone getting any better than that.  So those germinated seeds are a very good deal.  Unless you are very good at germinating seeds, I've found that Joseph's markup for germinated seeds is an advantage for the buyer price wise.

I have assumed (and heard one third hand confirmation) that Joseph keeps stores many/most of his seeds under conditions where they very well could germinate (heat and moisture).  If you think about it, this is much better than storing them under other conditions where they'll certainly lose viability.  So at some point if he has a lot of seeds that haven't sold after a while, he'll end up with lots of germinated seeds.

This has always made me wonder, however, whether it's a bad idea to buy the non-germinated seeds when both are offered.  After all, at some point if all the good ones have germinated, what's left?  Junk.  But...we once ordered germinated Marojejya from Joseph and he accidentally sent non-germinated the first time.  So he re-sent the germinated ones.  In this case the ones that arrived non-germinated were all germinated by the time the "germinated" seeds arrived.  So much for that theory.

Matt

[MattyB]

Ron to answer you question; Germinated seed that I've gotten from Joseph Ortanique ship in a baggy in moist, fine cocopeat.  They're layed out flat and packed carefully similar to any bareroot shipment.  Also, usually the smaller seeds that need to be prevented from drying out are sometimes shipped in the moist cocopeat also.  I was forwarding a bunch of seeds to Colin (palmsforpleasure) in Australia and I had to clean each and every small seed with a toothbrush to remove the peat powder due to importation rules.  Wow, what a chore.  The seeds were kept moist though so the peat did it's job well.

[tropicalb]

Ron...

just do the math before you buy....

if 50% germination seems to be the standard, then double the price of ungerminated seed and that is the amount of $$$ you should expect to have into your seedling....

edit:....oh, and keep in mind that just because a seed is germinated already does not mean that it's going to turn into a healthy palm for you.

[STEVE IN SO CAL]

You're buying :

Less work (setting the seeds up to germinate)

Less time (waiting for the seeds to germinate)

Less aggravation (still waiting for the seeds to germinate)

I have good luck with Josephs germd seeds.

[Neofolis]

I have always ordered ungerminated, but some has turned up germinated on occasions.  At first, I was a little apprehensive, but I had better results with the germinated than the ungerminated seed, so I may be more inclined to order germinated in the future.