[Somehow off-topic, but maybe useful:]

How important is to use seeds with resistance to some diseases ?

Lots of previous discussions on "where to buy tomato seeds"

http://www.gardenweb.com/gardenweb/query/where-to-buy-seeds/topic=tomato

Hi lartomato,

Sorry you had bad luck of the draw. Nothing more frustrating than growing a must have variety and ending up with something no good. I don't think TT is as unreliable as you found but if you want to try your luck with other vendors there are many and everyone has their pet suppliers.

I personally don't have any recommendations because everyone I've ordered from has usually had something wrong, and the severity has been random ... whether crossed seeds, old seeds, low viability, low vigor germinations. At this point it is just going with the devil(s) I know and recognizing that no one is perfect. I buy seed packets from Burpee/F-M when I can, and Johnny's when looking for hybrids that they have which are hard to get since the larger companies rarely send crossed seed and I'm just assuming they have stricter quality control which also translates into more limiting selection.

Two I have ordered from and would repeat, nearby to you being the criterium, and typical of what I consider good guys are:

Delectation of Tomatoes (Utah): "Most tomato varieties are self-pollinating, but expect some (15% or so)
cross pollination. I bagged some blossoms but simply did not have the
time to bag all of them."

My personal experience: pretty health seed, so far none crossed; some old seeds for less common ones, but dates available to know in advance. Excellent customer service.

Jan & Lee Gardens (New Mexico): "All seed is early or late harvest, which should insure about 95% purity. There may be the occasional crossed seed. Let us know if seed is not true to type. 'Bagged' (b) means at or near 100% purity. Germination should be better than 90%."

My personal experience: pretty healthy seed, none crossed so far. Only one seed pack had germination issues but I just saved the seeds for it for next time since it is one that has issues generally.

Hope you find them helpful. I think the small ones are mostly alike regarding purity, unless you find specifically bagged ones which will be noted. I prefer statements like the above rather than those who would only state "We guarantee our seeds" (which I typically don't order from unless it is a commercial producer) since a "guarantee" seems a cop out IMO ... anyone reputable guarantees their seed ... goes without saying!!! ... so they are not sharing with you estimates, which if they sell enough they certainly could share, but have decided not to for marketing reasons. I find it easier and more satisfying to deal with folks that wear their seeds on their sleeves :-)

Cheers

PC

Victory seeds, Territorial seeds are good. Rohrer seeds is a good co. They don't have as big a selection but the the seeds were here real quick.

Well, of course you can save your own seeds from OP/Heirlooms that you are growing.Then I try to buy as much as possible off the rack at BBS.

I have only ordered some hard-to-find ones from Sample Seeds Shop.

Very reasonable prices (~ < $1.50/20 seeds), reasonable shipping and good customer service.

My other source of seeds is from store bough heirloom/OP tomatoes. So I buy/eat the tomato and if I liked it , then save seeds from it. I have close to half a dozen of them growing in my garden right now.

Sey

I love Remi's Sample Seed Shop. As Sen says, her prices are good, and she gives a free bonus packet too.

I also like Heritage Tomato Seed. Steve has rapid shipping, a freebie packet, and has never let me down. Bunny Hop Seeds are sold through Heritage, and ought to have a great selection this fall.

Linda