To think a lot of people are buying stuff they have no idea what to do with.

[Hurricane10]

I've just been looking for vegetable seeds online. All the sites I've looked either have delays or are not currently taking orders.

I've been GYO for years, I had an allotment till a couple of years ago when I gave it up cos I changed jobs and couldn't get to it so often. I still grow as much as I can in containers at home.

Now my Broad beans are coming on nicely, my onion sets are sprouting and I will be planting potatoes in buckets next week but I wanted some squash and brassica seeds.

I suspect that many people ordering GYO stuff have no clue what they're doing, just like I suspect many of the people buying flour have never made a loaf in their life and the seeds, if sown, will never bear fruit as they think you just need to stick the seed in some compost and harvest a crop a few weeks later.

I noticed tomato seeds are all out of stock, unless you're in the far south it's too late to sow tomatoes and get a crop before September.

Seems like quite a juvenile thread. Much like the regular gym goers start in January about the new members of the gym. Founded in bitterness because you can’t play with your favourite toy exactly when you want to. You have no more right to buy those products than someone who has never grown their own vegetables before OP. Your experience does not give you extra rights. People are entitled to start a new hobby and they don’t have to consider your timetable or purchases in order to do that. Stop being so mean. Maybe share some of your wisdom with these new growers who will no doubt be asking for advice on online forums.

Disclaimer: I am not, and have no intention of creating a vegetable patch. So I have no skin in this game.

Thing is that people are worried. They don't know what will happen and don't know what the future holds etc.

While I understand your annoyance, you should try to understand that people are casting around for things to do to help their families in the months ahead.

With flour going, as a PP raised, a lot of people do know how to bake, even if it's s bit rudimentary.

Weird how having young children justifies wasting scare resources that would otherwise feed people as “entertainment” and “activities”. People have such a strange entitlement

Hurricane10 Swansea. I do have some tomato plants a patient of the surgery I work in kindly gave to me. He unfortunately dropped them and the labels fell out so I've got tomato lucky dip .

We were going to plant seeds as a project for dd but we couldn't find any either. Thankfully we hadn't ordered the lean too greenhouse.

I doubt people panic bought vegetable seeds. I expect more likely people realised this is going to be a tough year and now is a good time to get round to having a go like they’ve been meaning to for years.

I'm in NE England and if i plant tomatoes too early they just don't thrive. Even kept indoors, the light seems to be as much of a problem as warmth.

I have an allotment which I have almost filled with potatos as I hope they can just be left with minimum looking after. I had plans to grow all sorts of interesting things but I'm worried we will get completely locked in and I won't be able to go there to look after them.

I haven't bought any seeds or plants this year but actually a few years ago I did buy a few vegetable seeds and I had no idea what I was doing.
I literally just shoved them in the ground and watered them occasionally. We ended up with massive sweetcorn plants, tomatoes, onions and carrots. To be honest some of the carrots were a bit wonky but that didn't matter.

Firstly, general apologies, drink has been taken

Biarritz - Again, apologies, that response was meant for onanothertrain.

By the responses I realise I didn't express myself well.

Yes, I was the numpty newbie a few years ago but it came from a genuine interest rather than a panicked response and I've made a lot of mistakes/learned a lot along the way.

My own DC is 23 and despite my best efforts never had any interest in growing things, and hated being dragged to the allotment as a child. So it didn't occur to me that others may have DCs who are more receptive. In which case, more power to your elbow.

I certainly don't consider myself a "professional" in anything or that availability of gardening stuff should be restricted. My point was that, like flour, a lot of stuff will be wasted because people have bought it without having any idea what to do with it.

I won't be responding any more tonight, too much drink has now been taken🤢

Finally

Branster, couldn.t go without saying thank you for your post.

Yes, I was the numpty newbie a few years ago but it came from a genuine interest rather than a panicked response and I've made a lot of mistakes/learned a lot along the way.

I don’t think it matters why they decided they want to grow as long as they plan to grow and eat what they buy.

I think it's great that people are taking matters into their own hands. Marshall's released a statement recently saying they've got LOADS more seeds they just need some time to put them into envelopes to sell. Thompson and Morgan were sold out last week but now they've managed to restock. I don't think anyone is expecting fast results from growing plants, but then, this epidemic isn't going to be over by harvest time. And I think it's incredibly stress relieving for people to have something like gardening to focus on at a time like this.
Dig for victory and all that. I bet during the war half the people growing things hadn't got any experience before then. Those who take to it might become lifelong aficionados.

Another thought on this is that it might be the same people who always buy seeds, but with the garden centres all closed they've got to get them from somewhere so they're going online.

I have some tomato seeds shoved in compost by a five year old on my windowsill right now, we have repotted them once and will need to do so again/plant them out soon as they are growing so well! They won't automatically all fail. (They were started about a month ago as a half term school project, the point being to see them grow more than eat tomatoes quickly).

Friggin Nora talk about harsh on the OP. Get to bed you rude lot.

Are you sure it's because they're sold out, rather than having made the decision to stop selling while we're all supposed to be restricting our activity - theirs in taking things to post, plus the delivery people's?

Oh FFS bore off. I’ve dabbled with growing over the years, some failures down to not having enough time to nurture everything, but I’ve had some successes and now I have a bit of time on my hands I’m going to have another go. Is that alright with you?

And so what if people are panicking? It’s a FUCKING PANDEMIC 🙄

Well quite.

If the attitudes on MN translate to real life we are fucked.. Not just in the immediate situation, but because there seems to be, on here, a real sense of 'us and them' , whatever the conversation is about.

Thankfully I was treated to a recent (pre Corona madness) holiday trip to Lidl and having imbibed lunchtime wine, went crazy in the 'from 29p a pack' seed department. But I'm a long time gardener so that's fine

Following a recipe to make a regular cake or bread is not difficult. Anyone can do it. Sure, there are some advanced techniques and specialty items, but any beginner using a recipe for basic sandwich bread will end up
with bread.

I get the seeds. As a younger woman, I might be trying to plant a garden right now, I have certainly tried enough times over the years. I now accept that my thumb is as black as night and don’t even try to keep house plants anymore.

I think the reality is that most people will stick some seeds in compost and think they will just grow, when the reality is everything has to be "just right" for them even to germinate, never mind produce a crop. It's like nurturing little, delicate babies.

Get away with you, "delicate babies"?? What tosh!! I grew up in rural Yorkshire, we stuck seeds in trays and then into the ground when they started to grow. Yes, some died off but most thrived. We had a huge veg garden and grew everything from strawberries to radishes, onions, tomatoes to beetroot, carrots, courgettes and potatoes. always had great crops. We were lucky enough to have a couple of greenhouses, but due to lots of broken panes, we didn't start planting the seeds until at least March.

Let people have some fun, as someone said upthread, they, or their kids, even if it's just one, may find a passion for growing their own and that has to be a good thing doesn't it? You started somewhere, so do these potential new gardeners... And even if they don't, by buying the seeds, they've helped a business. So it's a win all round really!

You still have a lot to learn if you are looking for tomatoe seeds.as all you need is a tomatoe as the buggers are full of the little blighters.
Slice the Tom and plant each slice and you will end up with more seedlings than you want.

You have to be pretty arrogant to think that most normal people would be incapable of growing some vegetables. I am a keen gardener myself, so I understand that some things can be trickier than others, but it's not rocket science.

Besides, I think it's nice that people are getting into new hobbies. Growing your own vegetables is great for so many reasons - one big one being that it reduces your carbon footprint, which is better for everyone.