Buying seeds off ebay from overseas..Mold on seeds??

[PeppermintHen]

I have recently purchased some seeds from India and Australia, some tree seeds and some vegetable. Why do they have mold on them? When planted to start the seedling only one or two sprout then die, when I investigate there is mold everywhere? Why?

 

[SweetSilver]

The seeds might not have been properly dried. Mold spores are everywhere. If there is any bit of moisture, add that to a hot, often humid, airless journey through the mail (think of what "the mail" really is: containers and airplanes and tarmac and trailers). If there is no desiccant included, those spores will develop. This is one reason that some seeds (non-organic) are coated with a fungicide.

So sorry.

 

[smilingcat]

surprised that you got the seeds through customs. If they find out, you could still get fined big big time. Even buying seeds/nursery stock from another state can be illegal. This is to protect the agriculture within the state or to restrict/exclude certain species from your state.

Species most often with restrictions:
stone fruit such as peach
nut trees such as walnut, black walnut

Currants, I think it was, were restricted as it was a carrier of some plant disease and it was devastating to some cash crop.

The list depends on the state and they do vary quite a bit so before you go ordering seeds from other states and especially from overseas, you NEED to check with your state ag department or with the federal government. This is serious business so please don't go and buy seeds from foreign countries even from Canada or from Mexico.

Alaska and Hawaii have a very tight quarantine program in place so you can't import seeds from mainland USA or the lower 48 states. If you brought in Kudzu, you will be hated in certain parts of the country as it is extremely invasive, fast growing, and takes over everything. Eradication is almost impossible.

The plant you borught in from oversea can potentially be next kudzu. So don't import seeds from elsewhere!

 

[wyoDreamer]

x2 !!

Most people don't realize how easy it is to spread something that is deadly to natives in the new environment.

I'm fairly sure that the reason the seeds molded is because the person you bought them from just went out and picked them, put them in an envelope and sent them to you. They either didn't know or didn't care to follow proper procedures for producing viable seed.