A gift of seeds

Marigold 'Sweet Cream' in the 'Jap' Pumpkin patch

Marigold 'Safari' yellow as edging amongst leeks

Last year a kind reader of this blog sent me seeds of these Marigolds as a thank you for sending her some other seeds. They are from the American company 2Bseeds which is an enterprise of the Busch family in Golden Valley, Minneapolis in the State of Minnesota. Their seeds are foil packed with a zip-lock which always comes in handy for ease of storage and less likelihood of spillage. However what I like about their seed packets and their web site is that they give all the technical information on sowing, germination and aftercare which is normally only provided for professional growers. For example the Marigolds are recommended to be grown at a pH of 6.2 to 6.5 as a pH of less than 6.00 may induce iron, manganese or sodium toxicity in the plants. Symptoms are exhibited on the lower leaves and include yellowing or burning of leaf edges. Marigolds can therefore be used as an indicator plant for acid soils.
Why can't Australian seed companies give us a better product with more useful information? With the Aussie dollar the way it is ,it makes more sense to buy seed from an American company which sells a quality product while supporting their own out of work citizens by providing free vegetable seed to those eligible.