Re: seed bank for petpitcher.net
 

I think we should not be limiting the hard-to-survive seeds to only "expert" growers. The purpose of the seed bank is to spread seeds around and especially those hard to get ones, which most of the time are also hard-to-survive ones. Let them try even if they are newbies. That's how we all started anyway ya? This will encourage member’s interest and enjoyment of these amazing plants which is the purpose of this project. Another part of the purpose of this project is to make available/affordable carnivorous plant seeds to more enthusiasts.

The number of seeds will be enough just for your personal use and will depend on how difficult to obtain. It can also be based on the stocks received. If the seed bank only receive very little of a species, I may have fewer seeds in each packet so that more members can enjoy the seeds.

Re: seed bank for petpitcher.net
 

hi david, why not storing information of user(who and what type) who want to donate seeds and then post it to the website, then inform the user of who is requesting for the seeds rather than posting all seeds to you as the more the distributing channel, the higher the cost and risk will be:smile:

just my little opinion

Re: seed bank for petpitcher.net
 

Thanks for your opinion. Just to clarify, do you mean having donors keep the seeds and distributing it to members directly? We post their names and seeds on the forum for member's viewing and selection?

I think it will be a little messy for me handling the accounts like this. If I am to receive all payment, I'll need to bank in money to each donors when they send out seeds. Or if members bank money directly to the donors, I will have to go to each donor to collect the extra money that is left for conservation efforts. Cost would increase as banks would charge a fee for money transfer etc. and this will take up more of my time.

Also, if a donor have to do all that, packing seeds, liaising with members on their orders and sending out seeds to members, or if they have to go out their way to bank the extra money to me, they may not be keen to donate seeds to the seed bank at all.

At the moment donors send the seeds to the seed bank at their own cost. So the cost to the Seed Bank is only a one time cost of mailing the seeds out to members. Because donors mail seeds to the Seed Bank at their own cost we are giving them special privileges... 1 free packet of seeds for a donation of 3 packets of seeds. They can select the genus/species/hybrid seeds of their choice for the free seed. This free seed to donors also include packing and postage cost. They do not need to reach the quota of 5 posts on the forum to receive the free seeds. Occasionally, donors will also be offered the first choice to request for rare and limited seeds. This cost cannot be remove as we need to give incentive to members to donate. Without donation, the seed bank cannot work.

The cost of each packet of seeds is RM3 (within Malaysia) and RM4 (overseas). This cost includes packing and mailing. This is a very low cost for seeds. If you buy seeds from nurseries... lets say a nursery in UK for example, the costs are as follows:

N. ampullaria "red" - 3.00 GBP (UK Pounds) / 30 seeds
N. macfarlanei "Genting Highlands" - 2.50 GBP (UK Pounds) / 5 seeds
Dionaea muscipula "red dragon" - 3.00 GBP (UK Pounds) / 10 seeds
D. capillaris - 2.00 GBP (UK Pounds) / 10 seeds

If we convert pounds to ringgit Malaysia, 3.00 GBP (Pounds) = RM16.50. That's the cost of the seeds only without postage cost included. So, it may come up to RM20.00 ++ just to mail to Malaysia from UK. If you take the VFT red dragon seeds, it translates to RM20.00 ++ just for 10 seeds. I am not saying that commercial sellers charge exorbitant prices. They are a business and need to survive, and that is the market value of CP seeds. What I am trying to point out is that the cost of seeds proposed by the Seed Bank is already very low.

If we find that the amount charge is insufficient to cover cost and have a little more for conservation, we will increase the amount of each packet of seed. I think we still have a huge gap to play around before we are at par with commercial sellers (which we will not as this is a non profit project).

Re: seed bank for petpitcher.net
 

david, i have sent out albo seeds to u today..there shud be around 150-200pcs seeds inside..

Re: seed bank for petpitcher.net
 

this is really an amazing project. i hope lots of people would donate seeds
to help this project succeed. This project has my support 100%

Re: seed bank for petpitcher.net
 

I fully support this project.
Can't wait to have my plant start producing seeds for donation...:smile:

Re: seed bank for petpitcher.net
 

Glad that you guys are as excited about this as I am. A few donations including cbkhoon's albo seeds will be sent to me soon from a few members. :)

Re: seed bank for petpitcher.net
 

BBBRRR!!!So excited for whats in store for everyone!!

Re: seed bank for petpitcher.net
 

hi david, is this seed bank for cp of all sort or just nep? I've got some drosera seeds lately, pls pm me how to pack and send them if you consider them, tq:smile:

Re: seed bank for petpitcher.net
 

sooxiwei,

Yes, the Seed Bank is for all species of CPs. All other information you need can be found on the Seed Bank pages. Just read through the pages in the Seed Bank. Everything is explained there.

To access the Seed Bank pages, as mentioned in my earlier post go to the main PetPicther homepage at archive.petpitcher.net and look for the link "Seed Bank" at the laft verticle navigation bar. Anyway, here's the direct link... https://archive.petpitcher.net/petpitcher-seed-bank

Thanks in advance for donating to the Seed Bank. We need member's support for donations to get this started. It is always a little more difficult to strat something at the begining but once we pass this phase, things will get smoother.

To other members, check out the "Donate Seeds" page. There are privileges and benefits being a seed donor as listed there. We need your donation to make this work. The Seed Bank cannot work without your donation of seeds.