Here are some of the more popular questions we receive from our customers. If you are in a hurry, use the quick links below to skip to the section your looking for.
- Ordering
- Seed Quality
- Seed Germination
- Growing Information
- Shipping
- Western Australia, Tasmania and International Orders
- Returns
Why The Seed Vine?
The Seed Vine offers many seeds not available anywhere else in Australia. Plus we can source seeds from 20+ suppliers across our domestic and international network.
If you are a new customer you will also find that we:
- Label and package our products to protect from damage during shipping.
- Display pictures of the actual seeds you will receive (so you can check them online first).
- Provide the most thorough information on each seed type.
- Show germination instructions before you buy, so that you can plan ahead.
- Send germination instructions via PDF to your email address.
- Know our products, so feel free to get in touch and ask us a question.
- Keep our seeds fresh by storing them correctly and throwing out old stock.
- Only supply seeds we would want to receive ourselves.
If you are looking for seeds that will actually germinate into the plants you want, you have come to right place.
Can I Read Some Customer Reviews?
Absolutely. We have received over 20 000 positive reviews from our customers on Ebay.
What Can I Do to Help?
We receive a lot of kind support from our loyal customer base and we appreciate the nice feedback we receive. If you would like to help us spread the word about where to buy genuine seeds online here are a few options.
You can:
- Tell your friends.
- Send in some pictures of plants that were grown from our seeds.
There’s nothing we like to see more than pictures of plants that our seeds have grown into. If you have some plants growing that have come from our seeds we’d love to see them. If possible please add a bit of extra information to help other growers such as:
- The name of the plant, common or botanical.
- Rough guess of how old the plant is since germination (all ages welcome).
- A suburb or town of where the plant is located.
Pictures like these will help growers around the world learn what plants can be grown in different climates.
Ordering
What Payment Options Do You Offer?
Currently we offer two options for payment. PayPal is our preferred and most common option. It provides excellent protection for our customers and is instant.
The second option is via Bank Transfer which is an option we restrict to Australian customers only. Customers will receive banking details during checkout if they wish to use this method. Please include the invoice or order number in the description and allow an extra day or two for funds to clear.
How Do I Place My Order?
Browse through our range on the website and click on the add to cart button for seeds you wish to purchase. We have tried to put as much information as possible to assist customers in making their decisions. There is also a handy tab called Germination Instructions on all our listings so that you know what the seeds will need.
Quick View
To make ordering multiple items quicker and easier, we have introduced Quick View options on all of our products. As an example below, customers no longer have to visit each page to add items to their cart. By clicking on the Add to Cart button, a pop-up window displays basic details about the product with options to change the quantity before adding the item to their cart. Customers can still view the main page where there is more detailed information by clicking on the product image.
Do I Need to Register an Account to Place an Order?
No. You can always place an order as a Guest however we will still require details such as a name and address to post your seeds and/or plants.
What Is The Minimum Order Amount?
We don’t have a minimum order and all of our seed orders include standard un-tracked postage.
Do You Have a Catalogue?
No, we used to but this website is much easier for customers to view what is in stock and what has sold out.
Can I Send My Order as a Gift?
Yes. Please let us know if your order is intended as a gift. We can send the items directly to another address and remove the tax invoice from the order.
What Can I Do if the Seed I Want is Out of Stock?
Keeping such a wide range of seed types in stock is a daily challenge. There is a number of reasons why a seed type might be listed as ‘out of stock’ such as:
- Out of Season. Some seeds won’t remain viable beyond a few months.
- The batch we have no longer passes our strict quality tests. More are on the way.
- Our Suppliers can no longer supply them.
- Australian Quarantine no longer allows that seed type to be sold.
- We’ve got the seeds, but just haven’t updated the quantity. 😯
So in every case, we suggest you add your name to the Waitlist for that seed type and we will email you when they are back in stock or Contact us to get an update on when they might return.
I Have A Long List of Seeds I Wish to Order, Can I Just Email You a List?
Absolutely, and if you send us an email with your wish list we will often reply with a better quote for your order. Simply email us at theseedvine@gmail.com or visit our contact page.
How Do I Cancel My Order?
If you would like to change or cancel your order please email us at theseedvine@gmail.com or get in touch via our Contact page. We attempt to post all our orders quickly so depending on the situation, your order may already be in transit.
Can I Order Seeds in Bulk?
Yes. Depending on the type of seed and the season, we can offer a different price for larger quantities of any of the seed we have in stock. You can also sell seeds to us in bulk. If you are interested in selling any seeds please check out Seeds for Sale page.
Do You Have a Store Where I Can Visit?
No. We are a husband and wife team juggling two small boys and a number of other projects on the go. We operate from home and send all our seeds and plants online.
Sometimes we attend local markets around Melbourne with plants and seeds.
Can I Call You to Discuss to Seeds or Plants?
We tried this and it didn’t work. Often we are in our garden, packing seeds or responding to emails and messages. During business hours we are always in a hurry to get our orders to the post office as soon as possible. If you send us an email or message don’t be surprised to receive your reply at 2am.
Seed Quality
Where Do Your Seeds Come From?
We grow a wide range of our seeds on our hobby farm nearish to Tenterfield in Northern New South Wales . But The Seed Vine also sources seeds from numerous suppliers both here in Australia and from other countries including:
- United States
- England
- Germany
- India
- France
- Ireland
- Japan
- South Africa
- Honduras
- Mexico
Due to tough Australian Quarantine regulations our overseas suppliers must pass high quality inspections before any seed is received. Over the years, many of our seed orders have disappeared, been burned by customs or arrived in poor quality.
These experiences have improved our ability to source seed of excellent quality for our customers.
How Do You Store the Seeds?
With over 500 varieties of seed, there are multiple ways required to store our seeds. We use numerous fridges, freezers but also store some seeds in dry, cool places as the seed requires.
To provide our customers with the best quality, we regularly test and germinate our own seeds to ensure they meet a high standard for our orders.
Seed Germination
Does My Seed Order Come With Instructions?
Yes. A copy of germination instructions are included in your order confirmation email. Simply click on the link to get a PDF copy of step by step instructions.
This way they can be viewed again at any stage during the plants life cycle. We used to provide instructions with every order but some customers complained that we were cutting down trees unnecessarily. Hard to disagree. Sometimes customers would later loose their paper copy.
So now we also include instructions in the product descriptions for each seed type on this website. For more growing information check out our Growers Notes page. Alternatively, you could check out this list of the world’s best gardening websites.
How Do I Know If My Location is OK for the Seeds?
To find out if a seed type will grow in your area please read through our product descriptions. In most cases we have indicated whether the plant prefers a tropical, sub-tropical, temperate or colder climate to grow.
A comprehensive guide on climates will be added soon.
What Does Pre-Treatment Mean?
Some seeds require pre-treatment in order to germinate. To achieve this, we basically try to re-create the type of conditions that mother nature would use. Or in some cases, there are shortcuts that have been tested that can quicken the germination process.
Common pre-treatment methods include soaking the seeds or putting them through processes called stratification or scarification. A detailed guide about pre-treatments will be added to site soon.
What Does Stratification Mean?
For many plant seeds from colder climates, the seeds in the wild can sometimes require multiple winters to wear down the outer layer of the seed. To speed up the process, we recommend using a method called stratification.
Stratification usually requires a soil medium to be added to the seeds, some moisture and then placed into either the fridge or the freezer. Over time, and with regularly checks and moisture added, the outer layers begin to wear down, as they would in natural conditions.
For more information on stratification, check the instructions on our product descriptions.
What Does Scarification Mean?
Some seeds have really tough outer layers and sometimes require a combination of scarification and stratification to speed up the germination process. Some seeds just need a little wearing before they can be sown directly into the soil/medium.
Put simply, scarification is the process of deliberately scratching the surface of the seed to wear down that outer layer.
Growing Information
There is now a section of the website called Growers Notes. It is dedicated to providing extra information about general gardening such as soil, plant nutrients, growing in different climates and additional details about the species we offer. You can visit our Growers Notes page here.
Shipping
How Much Does Shipping Cost?
All seed orders include free standard untracked delivery Australia-wide.
Standard Tracking is available within Australia for an additional $3 per order.
Express Shipping is available within Australia for an additional $15 per order.
Plant postage is a flat rate of $15 for a maximum of 20 plants. We only send plants to Australia and via Express only post on Mondays and Tuesdays.
The Seed Vine is only sending seeds and plants to addresses within Australia at this time.
Who Will Deliver My Order?
We use Australia Post as our primary courier.
How Long Will My Order Take to Arrive?
Due to our rural location, we send our orders on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays (except NSW Public Holidays where we post the following business day). We send every order that was made prior to 10am on that day. Orders made on weekends, public holidays or after 10am on either Monday, Wednesday or Friday are dispatched the following workable day. Our small hobby farm (which allows us to grow our own seeds) is some distance to our nearest post office in Tenterfield, NSW.
We send all of our orders via Australia Post which can sometimes vary in duration. Australia is a large country with many seasonal factors that can hinder postage time frames. Australia is regularly tested by mother nature. Bushfires, flooding, cyclones, droughts and global pandemics are all part of the annual challenges our postal services are faced with.
For most Australian orders we provide an estimate of between 3-6 days but would recommend allowing up to 10 days for the order to arrive. Please get in touch with us if it has been longer than 10 business days.
What if the Weather is Hot?
Northern New South Wales can get quite hot. And when it does we implement our heat strategy to ensure our seed orders are not exposed to large variations in temperature.
Our heat strategy includes taking the days orders directly to our regional Australia Post transit office and dropping them off inside. This ensures our orders aren’t exposed to any harsh temperatures in postal boxes. If weekend temperatures are forecast to be hot, we may decide to hold the orders and send on the following Monday to ensure they aren’t sitting in hot warehouses.
My Order Never Arrived, What Happens Now?
If your order does not arrive to an address in Australia within 10 business days, something is wrong and you should contact us.
How Are My Seeds Protected During Shipping?
Every seed is different and requires unique steps to protect them during the postage service. We add bubble wrap to any of our orders that we feel require additional protection. Where necessary we also use boxes to protect large or fragile seeds.
Since we added extra padding in 2017 we have had only a handful of our seed orders crushed during transit. For large orders or extra fragile seeds we use boxes to ensure your order arrives safely.
Is My Order Tracked?
Our free delivery option does NOT include tracking. Please view the Shipping Costs above if you wish to add tracking to your order.
Can I Get My Order Posted Express?
Yes. If you wish to have your order posted via Express Delivery there is an option during checkout.
Do You Post to PO Boxes?
Yes we do. And have yet to have too many issues.
Do You Post Orders to Western Australia and Tasmania?
Plants, no. Seeds, yes. We have an excellent track record of sending our seed orders to both Western Australia and Tasmania. This is due to our seed range. Not only is our range in good condition, they are all species that are welcomed by Quarantine regulators in both states.
Even so, Quarantine regulations in both states change regularly so it is advised that you check their websites prior to purchasing.
Do You Post Orders Overseas?
No. We are no longer sending seeds or plants to international addresses.
We will begin sending to these countries again when we have been notified by Australia Post that reliability has been restored.
Returns
What If I Want to Return My Item?
The Seed Vine no longer accepts returns of seeds. If there is a problem, we will attempt to address the issue by either replacing the seeds or offering a full or partial refund, depending on the circumstances.
Generally, if efforts have been made to follow our seed instructions correctly then we will accept full responsibility. However, our liability only extends to the retail price of the seeds and/or order.
Still Have a Question?
Still have a question? Feel free to visit our Contact page or email us at theseedvine@gmail.com