Well, that depends. I know, that is not a straight-forward answer. Before this year, I would have immediately answered that Dollar Tree seeds are a good choice for just about everything. But, as I will discuss further on in this post, I had one really sour experience with them this year.
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Are Dollar Tree Seeds a Good Deal?
They are definitely the right price. Their vegetable seed packets are 25 cents a piece (4 for $1). And, while they do not have a large amount of seed in each packet, I can still plant a 30 foot row easily for $2 or $3. I also purchased flower seeds from them for the first time this year. They have the same small packets for 25 cents, but they have another option as well. At least this past year, they sold boxes of American Seed flower assortments. As you can see in the photo above, they had mixes of Zinnias, Marigolds, and various Wildflower blends. Most of the boxes were rated to cover at least 25 square feet of garden space. And, even though the original price was $2.99, Dollar Tree had them for only $1.
I really like planting Marigolds both in the garden and in pots on my porch. They are hardy, bright and beautiful, and they have insect repellent properties. But, my favorite thing about Marigolds is that they will continue to bloom well into the fall as long as you keep pinching off the dead flowers.
Is There a Lot of Variety?
Yes, Dollar Tree does a good job of keeping a wide range of seeds. They have all the common vegetables, many herbs, and some hardy flower varieties.
The only downside is that they often do not have different varieties of the vegetables. For example, they will only have one variety of lettuce, one variety of cucumber, etcetera. But, this is another reason that I supplement by buying seeds from other places as well.
Do Their Seeds Germinate Well?
I always get a great germination rate from the Dollar Tree Seeds. However, I will admit that I do not start any of their seeds indoors in the early spring. I buy all of my seeds for starting indoors from our local organic seed supplier, Fedco. But, for direct seeding purposes, I usually get around a 75% germination rate (sometimes better).
Further on, I will discuss my one Dollar Tree seed failure. But, even that had an excellent germination rate. It was the full-grown plant that had issues.
These are a couple of the plants that I grew this year from Dollar Tree Seeds:
Radishes:
Basil:
I also grew Turnip, Dill, Lettuce, Cilantro, Kale, various Flowers, and Broccoli. And, the Broccoli is where I ran into an issue.
My Broccoli Dollar Tree Seed was a Bust
My one and only Dollar Tree failure was the Broccoli. The Broccoli seed germinate well and grew quickly. But, then they started to produce heads when the plants were only 30-40 days old (most Broccoli takes approximately 70 days, and some even longer). The heads never fully developed. The largest one was less than 2 inches across. And they all promptly flowered out.
This was definitely a bummer. Broccoli is one of our favorite fresh vegetables. And, we have a short growing season in Maine, so there was not enough time for me to re-seed and start over. The first winter frost would have killed everything before it had a chance to produce (a gardening mistake I have made before). So, I ripped them out and will replant with a quick-growing vegetable (something like radishes or greens).
Fortunately, I had also planted some Broccoli from seed I bought elsewhere. So, we will still be able to enjoy our Broccoli. We just will not have as much as we would like to.
Do I Still Think Dollar Tree Seeds are Good Overall?
I have used Dollar Tree seeds successfully for years, and have only had this one fail. So, based on their price, good germination rates, and availability, I will definitely continue to use them. But, I will probably always supplement with a second variety of each vegetable from somewhere else. That way, I can insure that I will always have at least a partial harvest of each vegetable.
Let me know in the comments below what your favorite seeds are from Dollar Tree.