Hi, I am new to the ECHOcommunity and have questions regarding the ECHO Asia Seed Bank. We would like to trial several cover crops in Mindanao to diversify banana, cacao, and vegetable farms. I read in the information that we can get 10 free packets of trial seeds. How many seeds per packet? Is it possible to order more? Are these nongmo and organic cover crop seeds? Would it be possible to order more? What is the % success rate typically of the seeds? We are looking for pigeon pea, sunn hemp, tropical chick weed, velvet bean, kudzu, among others. We are open to other suggestions too.
Thank you in advance for answering my query.
Sincerely,
Kahlil
Hello! Thank you for contacting ECHO. We are glad you found us!
We actually have a seed bank in Asia (Thailand) and then one here in the US (Florida). In order to view our seeds online, please register as a member on www.echocommunity.org. You would request the promocodes for the free seeds after you are approved. You can order more than the free seeds.
We have the seeds at the Global Seed Bank that you listed, as well as many cover crops, legumes, forages, trees, vegetables, fruit trees and more.
We do not differentiate between organically and non-organically produced seeds. None of our seeds are genetically modified. We have information sheets for all of our seeds and we send a hard copy with the seed packets. These sheets are also available online at ECHO Community under “Plants and Seeds”. The germination rate is tested once a year and appears on the packet.
If you order seeds from the Global Seed Bank in the US, you will get enough seeds to plant about a 30 foot row. The quantity of seeds inside the trial packets is based on a 30 foot row, on the plant spacing and on the seeding method. We do not offer bulk seeds from the Global Seed Bank, except for moringa. The ECHO Asia seed bank does offer some seeds in bulk.
Happy planting!
Sincerely,
Holly Sobetski
ECHO FL Seed Bank Manager
seeds@echonet.org