Q: Can you suggest a way to buy good vegetable seeds? I can’t afford to get a lot of plants, so I buy seeds. There are several brands at each store, and I don’t know which will grow best for me. I always seem to have low success rates because of disease problems.
A: Plant varieties that have won an All-America Selections award should do well. Only the entries with the highest nationwide average score are considered to be worthy of a national AAS Award. Some vegetable varieties grow better in a hot, dry climate while others prefer a cool, humid region. The country is divided into six regions, and a variety that grows best in a specific climate might win one or more regional AAS awards. Vegetables are judged for such traits as earliness to harvest, total yield, fruit taste, fruit quality, ease of harvest, plant habit, and disease and pest resistance.
