I buy all my garden seeds from Mountain Valley Seed Co, and I choose heirloom organic seeds. This past winter I received in the mail an unsolicited packet of seeds, (from Shanghai, China) tomato variety "Venus", which I planted along with four varieties from Mountain Valley. All grew into what looked like healthy plants, but once they were in the garden I should have realized it was all over for my efforts this year. None of the plants grew well and seemed stunted, but the fruit they produced was absolutely awful. ALL of the tomatoes were stunted and never grew past the size of a small cherry tomato, even the beefsteak variety were tiny and results were absolutely dismal. NOW, I read the warning from USDA about unsolicited seeds from China. So here is a "heads up" to any of you who like to plant a garden or even just a couple of tomato plants. I might mention that out of several squash plants, I got only one very small, 3-4", yellow squash. So I conclude that the chinese plants tainted my entire garden!
I've decided that next year I am going to buy established plants at a reputable nursery. I'm also going to have the soil tested to make sure this act of sabotage hasn't corrupted future efforts at gardening.
At least I now know what the problem was. I thought I had done something terribly wrong ad blamed myself for the garden failure.
I took a couple of photos so you can see what I'm talking about. One of them includes a coffee cup which makes the size more obvious.
I'm also showing a photo of the seed packets - the one on the right contained good seeds, while the larger white packet came from China and as far as I can tell, ruined my gardening efforts this year!
Sorry if some of you reading this are bored with gardening. I want to get my thoughts on this whole fiasco written down so I have a record of what happened.
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I think you are correct about the seeds from China and have read about this. Happy you solved the mystery. Friend received an unsolicited envelope from China containing a small tablecloth that she did not order. She destroyed it. Very strange times.
ReplyDeleteI will certainly be on the lookout for unsolicited items in the mail. Who knows what China is trying to accomplish, but if they figure out a way to do this on a large scale it could wreak havoc with our agriculture! If I receive unsolicited items from now on I am going to find a US Govt agency to contact about it, and think maybe people should report it so our govt can get a handle on the scope of what is going on. Thanks for the info.
ReplyDeleteBe careful how you dispose of those. I would call someone, not sure who though. You don't want to dump them in a landfill somewhere. There is a reason why China sent those out. Time will tell but I cannot imagine it will be good.
ReplyDeleteI already threw the plants into the trash. I didn't think anything about it at the time.
DeleteMight have been good to call the Agricultural extension service in your area.
DeleteMy comment posted before I finished. I was going to add that they might want to test the seeds especially because you think they ruined your entire garden. I'd put black plastic over my soil this winter to try to sterilize it but the extension service could advise you about that. Pretty sure every county has one. I am always suspicious of anything that is "free" not just in the mail, but anywhere, particularly on line.
DeleteThere has been heavy coverage by many news outlets of people receiving unsolicited packages in all 50 states containing different types of seeds and a warning by the USDA not to plant them.
ReplyDeleteOur television coverage comes from San Antonio and I was surprised at the number of people that have received them.
Being that this happened to you earlier this year makes me wonder if China was targeting the western states first. In particular, California who grows so many crops.
It is incredible all the crap we are having to deal with from killer hornets, tainted seeds, to the "Trump Virus" that this administration does not seem to want to bring under control.
I am glad you are keeping a record.
I think this is a much larger problem than originally thought. I think i might write the governor's office. I already wrote to the US Dept of Agriculture. My US representative would be next, but I sure won't bother with Pelosi who doesn't do much in my opinion except walk around with a stack of papers and trying to look important! She won't even accept mail from a constituent unless you include zipcode PLUS 4 when writing to her. How many people know their Plus-4 designation anyway.
DeleteI think there is more to the issue with chinese seeds than meets the eye!
I heard about those seeds on the news. Sorry you weren't warned in time. Hopefully next year your garden us a big success and so us life.
ReplyDeleteI received the seeds way back around the first of the year and at that time I doubt anyone had a clue about it, The old saying, "beware of Greeks bearing gifts" comes to mind, but is now "Beware of chinese bearing gifts"
DeleteMaybe the chemtrails you worry about had something to do with your garden failure?
ReplyDeleteI guess it's possible but I doubt it. If chemtrails filter down into gardens, they would similarly affect everything else in the yards - grass, trees, etc. They probably do affect all growing things, but over time. My catastrophe happened relatively quickly. I think what happened was more than a garden failure and more like garden destruction! And I'm sure it was not coincidental.
ReplyDeleteSorry.I should have said "I'm sure it was intentional".
DeleteThe media here in AZ said to send the seeds to the Agriculture Dept. if you receive them.
ReplyDeleteIt's too late for that. I wish I would have known that in January or February.
DeleteMany people in here in Canada have received the seeds. People are being warned not to plant and to save the package & contact the food inspection agency...they will pick them up for analyzing.
ReplyDeleteThis is already August, so it's too late for me to do anything about it.
DeleteYou got those seeds really early in the year. I have only maybe hear of them in the past 1 or 2 months and it was on the news. I wonder if those who recieved these seeds all did a seed mail order and they picked off the names that way? These are some sad times in this world
ReplyDeleteI should maybe write the seed company I ordered from and see if they have heard anything about it. I've made up my mind to buy established plants from a nursery next year, and I hope I don't have a problem.
DeleteThat would be a good idea Gypsy. Maybe they had a data breech.
DeleteInch by inch, row by row
ReplyDeleteGonna make this garden grow
Gonna mulch it deep and low
Gonna make it fertile ground
This will be my mantra next spring!
Delete