I work very hard for a living, I’m not sure everyone knows what that means. Searching for seeds is a hobby and a vacation.
You are not the only one here who works, takes on other jobs. To imply others don't work hard seems like a bold (and rude) assumption.
I very much applaud your preservation efforts. I never said anyone is forcing anyone to participate. It’s a public sale forum. No one is asking you to respond to my comments. I understand there is a cost structure. And I understand the challenges. Every single one of us has a cost structure in our own lives. And every single person here makes investments of their own time and money to preserve rare species. My main point is that you cannot try to recoup 100% of your investment every time and say it’s in the name of species preservation. We all pay a lot for species preservation. People have to make investments to do this. Difference is some of us work hard to make our money and don’t get to travel and eat $1000 fruits. Everyone very much appreciates your efforts for preservation, but if you were willing to spend a little of your own money in the name of preservation and meet us in the middle, or find better ways to make things more affordable, I think more species would actually be preserved. I know it is not easy. I am in no way judging anyone, I’m mostly commenting on how I spend my own money. And I’m sure they were expensive to obtain, but you’re asking 75 euro for 10% of a fruits seeds that you have 3 of. You don’t know how they were pollinated, if they come true to type, or if they will even grow well in the US. To some of us that’s not a risk worth taking, and it’s not a judgment of you personally more of your business practices. It’s just too much money for many of us growers to actually establish, though the vast majority would love to
Saltwater asked for a discount and says people don't work hard to find seeds, asks poster to spend more of his money to make things agreeable. Does anyone else find this funny?
Justifying charging high prices because you give away 30-40% of the seeds is funny logic to me. It’s as if a vendor says they have to charge $20/lb for a fruit because 40% of the fruit is given away to family or friends. It just doesn’t make sense
It should be noted, that many species of fruit and ethnobotanical trees and plants of S. America were preserved, selected, planted, and even bred by natives. I think that is why it is important to recognize this and why Seeds Hunter gives locals materials. Think of it like this if your neighbor had a brand new mango cultivar, and you took scions and sold them, wouldn't you feel obliged to give some profits or materials back to your source?
When buying an expensive plant or seed, businesses treat the purchase as an investment into propagation material. Yes its pricy for a single seed, but you do not need to buy 500 seeds and plant an orchard of it. Many people simply buy one or a few seeds, grow it to fruition and/or propagate it, distribute it later.
Botanical gardens in the modern world have done a great job of acquiring species but have completely dropped the ball when it comes to propagation and distribution.
It's funny, the government used to fund people like David Fairchild to go out into the tropics and find suitable crops to bring back. I like this decentralized approach Seeds Hunter has much better though. We cannot wait for institutions to conserve species as it will be far too late.
I think it could be interesting to get a tissue culture and DNA testing lab going. It might be useful in determining how a species relates to others in the genus or family. The tissue culture lab could be a good way to propagate many copies of a plant species and into peoples hands and get field testing going even quicker on it
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