https://gardenology.mywikis.net/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Seed_company 2026-04-13T05:11:30Z Revision history for this page on the wiki MediaWiki 1.35.3 https://gardenology.mywikis.net/w/index.php?title=Seed_company&diff=8078&oldid=prev 2007-09-16T06:25:06Z

<p></p> <p><b>New page</b></p><div>'''Seed companies''' produce and sell [[seed]]s for [[flower]]s, [[fruit]] and [[vegetable]]s to the<br /> amateur [[gardener]]. The production of seed is a multi billion dollar business, which uses<br /> growing facilities and growing locations world wide. While most seed is produced by large<br /> specialist growers, large amounts are produced by small growers that produce only one to a few<br /> crop types. These larger companies supply seed both to commercial resellers and wholesalers.<br /> The resellers and wholesalers sell to vegetable and fruit growers, and to companies who package<br /> seed into packets and sell them on to the amateur gardener.<br /> <br /> Each seed company or reseller that sells retail, produces a catalogue – generally published<br /> during early winter for seed to be sown the following spring. These catalogues are eagerly<br /> awaited by the amateur gardener, as during winter months there is little that can be done in the<br /> garden, so this time can be spent planning the following year’s gardening. Most companies run a<br /> [[mail order]] catalogue business, some also supply their range of seeds to [[Greenhouse|garden<br /> centers]] and other retailers.<br /> <br /> Seed companies produce a huge range of seeds from highly developed [[F1 hybrid]]s to open<br /> pollinated wild species. Many gardeners like to stick to old familiar varieties but each year seed<br /> companies produce new varieties for gardeners to try. They have extensive research facilities to<br /> produce plants with better genetic materials that result in improved uniformity and gardening<br /> appeal. These improved qualities might include disease resistance, higher yields, dwarf habit and<br /> vibrant or new colors. These improvements are often closely guarded to protect them from being<br /> utilized by other producers, thus plant cultivars are often sold under there own names and by<br /> international laws protected from being grown for seed production by others. <br /> <br /> Along with the growth in the [[allotment (gardening)|allotment movement]], and the increasing<br /> popularity of gardening, there have emerged many small independent seed companies. Many of<br /> these are active in seed [[Conservation movement|conservation]] and encouraging diversity. They<br /> often offer [[List of organic gardening and farming topics|organic]] and open<br /> [[Pollination|pollinated]] varieties of seeds as opposed to hybrids. Many of these varieties are<br /> heirloom varieties. The use of old varieties will continue to maintain diversity in the<br /> [[horticulture|horticultural]] [[gene pool]]. There is a good case for amateur gardeners to use<br /> older (heirloom) varieties as the modern seed types are often the same as those grown by<br /> commercial producers, and so characteristics which are useful to them (e.g. vegetables ripening<br /> at the same time) may be unsuited to home growing.<br /> <br /> ==See also==<br /> *[[Seed bank]]<br /> *[[Arboretum]]<br /> *[[Biodiversity]]<br /> *[[Monoculture]]<br /> <br /> ==External links==<br /> *[http://dmoz.org/Shopping/Home_and_Garden/Plants/Seeds/ Directory of Seed Suppliers]<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:Agriculture]]<br /> [[Category:Plant reproduction]]<br /> [[Category:Types of companies]]</div>

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