Comments regarding Tomato Growers Supply Co.

Posted on October 30, 2012, updated November 10, 2012
I bought tomato seeds of the following varieties: tomato ildi, sugary and Sweet Pea Currant, to send me to Ecuador, I sent an email on two occasions but they have not responded at all. I think they have stolen my money

I have ordered from TGS the last two years. They are a mixed bag.

On the one hand, the actual tomatoes we got were spectacular and delicious. However, the germination rates were the pits. Last year and this year the seeds germinated an average of less than 30%.

My compromise was to order two packets of everything this year, knowing that I would have to reseed. What I like about them is they always throw in a free tomato seed to try. Last year it was Virginia Sweets, and it was delicious and a great producer once we got the plants in the ground. I reordered two packets for this season. 33% germination so far.

The Super Marzanos from last year were also great producers... once I had plants to transplant. This year, again 33% germination.

My free seeds this year were the German Giants. I am excited to see how these plants turn out, but so far, I have had only a 22% success rate.

I will update this as the season progresses.

I have orderd from TGS in the past with no problems. However, this year I too have had horrible germination rates. Fortunately, I only ordered two packets, but so far neither has topped 25%. This is well below the usual standard I am used to from this company. Not sure what has happened, but it seems this is a common theme this year. I'll leave the rating as neutral because of my past success with them. If it had only been one packet, and if I hadn't seen that others were having the same problems, I probably would have still left it as positive.

I have ordered from Tomato Growers Supply for several years, but my most recent experience was sort of annoying. I ordered, among other things, a packet of Aji Dulce pepper seed and Neves Azorean Red tomato seed. I received two packets of the Azorean Red and no Aji Dulce. I called and was told that the pepper seed would be mailed to me. I asked if I should return the extra packet; the customer rep said yes. I returned it with a note of explanation but my pepper seed never did show up. Only one seed packet, but still it rankles, especially since the company's customer service number is not a toll-free number.
In the interests of fairness, I should repeat that I have ordered from the company several times and usually have loved their products. Apparently I just caught them on an off day.

I haven't had too much luck with tomatoes due to blight, but heard about this place from a local garden shop & figured that if anybody would have some resistant varieties, they would. I had had no idea there were so many kinds of tomatoes until their catalog arrived. I went through & ordered the number of varieties I figured I would have room for - not only tomatoes, but also bell peppers and chilies - and they arrived in plenty of time before I needed to start them indoors. However, the seed envelopes had no spacing information on them. I tried to call them to ask for such info, but the line was perpetually busy that day, so I sent them a letter. To date they have not responded.It's getting close to the time for starting them, and I also have to plan my garden, so I tried to call them again today, with again longtime busy on both customer service and order lines. Finally I got through on their 800 number, only to find their horticulturalist out.The saga continues…