Author

admin

We have been working hard to update the SeedLinked trial manager based on your requests and feedback. In the last few months, we have released a number of new features. We want to let you know about the updates so they can help you manage your trials on SeedLinked in an even more effective way. Read on to learn more!

QR Codes for Single-site Trials

Single-site trials are trials on a research station or trial farm where many employees or event attendees rate the same planting on SeedLinked. With this update, we made adding reviewers to trials even easier! Single-site trials now generate a QR code within the trial manager software that you can print out and bring to your review site. Anyone can scan the code with their smartphone/tablet camera and have access to participating in the trial review. This feature works great for field days where you’d like to get feedback in a quick and easy way from attendees or staff.

As a bonus, tabulating and sharing results is easier than ever in real time. You can share live trial results data on a laptop or screen for attendees to see after they rate the varieties and participants will get an email with a link to the live results upon completion.

Check Variety Function added to Full-set and Sub-set Trials

Trial Managers can now designate a check variety for both full-set and sub-set trials during trial creation. A check variety is a tried-and-true variety that serves as a benchmark for comparison against other varieties. For example, if you are organizing a trial to find the best-tasting cherry tomato, you can add a variety like Sun Gold Cherry Tomato as a check variety. This tomato will serve as a benchmark for comparison in evaluating the other varieties in the trial.

• Full-set trials: Within trial creation, you can designate a variety as a check variety. This signals to trial participants that this variety is a good variety to base their reviews on.

• Sub-set trials: Within trial creation, you can designate a variety as a check variety. Check varieties in sub-set trials will be assigned to every grower in the trial as a baseline. Trial participants will also be assigned a random sub-set of varieties in your trial.

New Notification on the Feed

When interacting with trial participants on a trial feed, we realized we were missing one crucial notification. When you comment on a post and answer someone’s question or ask a question it is important for you to know when that person replies to your comment! With this new notification, it lets you know when a trial participant comments on a post you have engaged with.

Share clickable URLs on the Feed

Have you ever wanted to share a link to a website, video, or document on a trial feed? Now you can! When creating a post on a trial feed, copy and paste the URL into the text and post. Trial participants can now link to your URL.

More languages and countries on SeedLinked

SeedLinked is catching on in other countries! As a result, we are actively translating the platform into a variety of languages. The platform is now translated into the following languages: German, Italian, French, and Spanish. Additionally, the platform is available in 14 countries from North America, Europe, Africa, and South America. Learn how to change language/country on the platform and app below.

New Trial Manager features coming soon!

We have more changes and updates coming for the trial manager software in the near future. Here is a quick peek at what we are working on this summer and fall:

• Trial Managers will be able to add and manage varieties on the platform without corresponding with us.
• Community Feed 2.0: A revamped version of the feed where farmers, gardeners, and trial managers will be able to interact even more! When the new feed is released, you’ll be able to follow crops, varieties, and people to gain more insights and make more connections.
• New trial types:
  • Early screening trial to engage your grower network sooner in the breeding pipeline
  • A la carte trial where farmers and gardeners can choose which varieties they want to trial from a larger list
  • Trials with replicated checks at each grower site

Share your feedback with us!

If you notice that something isn’t working right on the Trial Manager, let us know! Use the ‘Report a bug’ tool in the bottom right of the screen or email us at trial@seedlinked.com with what went wrong along with the browser you are using. Thanks in advance for helping us make the trial management software even better. Also, big thank you to each one of you who has taken the time to reach out and report bugs and/or suggest ideas of how we can improve the Trial Manager. It helps so much!

Happy growing!


Updated 6/21/22

Author

admin

The team behind SeedLinked has been working hard overhauling the SeedLinked app adding a number of new features while making it more grower friendly. We’re excited to announce that the newest version of the app is here!

SeedLinked App now has Seed Marketplace

The most significant app update is the addition of the Seed Marketplace (United States only). That’s right! The SeedLinked community can now shop for seeds from 13 seed companies on the app using performance data to help you find the best seeds for your growing conditions.

Additionally, we changed the location of a number of features on the app, and we want to give you a heads up as you navigate the new space! Learn more about all the changes below.

Notifications

First of all, the SeedLinked development team moved ‘Notifications’ from the upper right on the app to part of the ‘You’ tab.

‘Results’ tab

Next, we made an effort to make space for the ‘You’ and ‘Cart’ on the bottom menu so we moved Trial ‘Results’ tab to the ‘Track’ tab.

Wishlist function

We moved the ‘Wishlist’ function from the bottom menu and is now nested under the ‘You’ tab.

More languages on the SeedLinked App

SeedLinked is catching on in other countries! As a result, we are actively translating the platform into a variety of languages. With this version of the app, we added French, German, and Italian as language options. In the near future, we will release a version of the app in Spanish. It is so exciting to have a growing community using SeedLinked.

Finally, we fixed a number of app bugs that many of you have alerted us to. Big thank you to each one of you who has taken the time to reach out and report bugs and/or suggest ideas of how we can improve the app. It helps so much!

Speaking of, if you notice a bug in the new app, let us know! Email us at feedback@seedlinked.com with what went wrong along with the model of your phone/tablet. Thanks in advance for helping us make the app even better.

Happy growing!


Updated 6/8/22

Author

admin

It’s time to sign up for 2022 Collaborative Trials on SeedLinked. We invite you to be part of our mission to make the seed system more collaborative and transparent by signing up to be part of trials on SeedLinked in 2022! Participating in trials is a great way to:

1. Grow new and exciting varieties before they are released commercially
2. To help provide vital feedback on how the varieties perform on the SeedLinked platform
3. Participate in an open discussion on the trial community feed
4. Get instant access to trial results when you submit your feedback

What am I committing to when I sign up to be part of a trial? The trial manager will send you seeds and will ask you to grow out each variety and submit your reviews, comments, and photos on each variety on the SeedLinked website and/or app during the growing season. The manager for each trial will communicate more specific details about participating in each individual trial.

Check out what trials are available below. Note that this page will be updated frequently with new trials, so check back often.

2022 Albert Lea Seed Annual Clover Winter Hardiness Trial – Registration Closed

This cover crop trial, put on by Albert Lea Seed, is focused on testing the germination, vigor, and winter hardiness of four varieties of clover: generic ‘Variety Not Stated’ (VNS) versions of crimson and berseem clover, ‘Fixation’ balansa clover, and ‘Frosty’ berseem clover. Seed will be shipped in July, and participants are asked to plant a 4′ x 6′ plot of each clover two months before their average first freeze date (see the ‘Historical Date of First Freeze’ map). Winter killed clovers (which these varieties usually are) can be a great way to prep a plot for next year’s spring or summer crops, but some of these varieties might survive and you will be asked to collect data into spring 2023, so keep that in mind when choosing a location for this trial. Learn more and sign up for this trial below.

2022 Clean Crop Tech Chemical-Free Seed Treatment Spinach Trial – Registration Closed

Join this trial at the cutting edge of chemical-free seed treatments. Clean Crop Tech is working on seed treatment options to improve germination rates and time, vigor, and resilience to plant stress. We invite you to be a part of testing the next generation of sustainable seed treatment!* This trial will include one check variety (Space (F1) Spinach) and three variations of CCT’s treatment process on the same variety. Germination may differ by just a couple days – but even that makes a difference for baby green production – so keep a close eye on this quick trial! Seed will be shipped late April, with a target planting date of mid-late May (not before, since bolting tolerance is one of the traits of interest).

*Please note: CleanCropTech’s treatment is not organically certified! However, it does not use any radiation or harmful chemicals. The treatment is an electrical process, chemical-free, and leaves no residues, functioning by special scarification of the surface of the seed. Increasing surface area helps seeds absorb water and thus germinate more quickly and be more resilient to stress. If you are a certified organic grower please check with your certifier or plant the trial in an area outside of your certified growing zones. Although we are hopeful this will eventually be an innovative seed treatment option available to organic growers (this trial is part of the final stages of R&D), the process has not been reviewed by OMRI, and SeedLinked and CCT are not responsible for any issues with organic certification.

2022 Seed to Kitchen Collaborative Trials Sign Up – Registration Closed

Seed to Kitchen Collaborative will send each grower seeds, planting stakes, a planting map, and datasheets. They will be sent by the end of February. Growers manage the trial as they would manage their normal crop. Trials are limited to growers in the Midwest. Learn more about the trials on the SKC trials website.

Seed to Kitchen Collaborative (SKC) trials this year include four different tomato breeding trials, a pepper breeding trial and potato trials with breeding lines from the University of Wisconsin program.

SKC Variety Trials:

SKC Breeding Trials:

2022 Midwest Broccoli Trial Sign Up – Registration Closed

Are you a farmer or gardener located in the upper midwest (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, and South Dakota)? Do you like growing broccoli? Are you interested in being part of research to identify varieties that are more resistant to black rot and Alternaria? If you answered yes to all those questions, sign up to be part of our 2022 trials! Trials are a collaboration of SeedLinked and the Minnesota Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association with funding from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Specialty Crop Block Grant.

2022 SeedLinked Slicer Tomato Trial – Registration Closed

Do you love tomatoes? Join us for this collaborative trial!
From mouth-watering BLTs to a picturesque case of blemish-free tomatoes, sometimes slicers and beefsteaks are just what you need. This trial features 12 new slicer/beefsteak tomato varieties from some of the industry’s most innovative breeders. Participating breeders include: Artisan Seeds, Earthworks Seed, Johnny’s Selected Seeds, PanAmerican Seeds, Vitalis Organic Seeds, Siskiyou Seeds, and Wild Mountain Seeds. If you join the trial, you’ll receive a subset of 3 varieties to compare, and 10 seeds of each variety. Seeds will be shipped out the first week of March 2022. You’ll be asked to plant at least 3 plants per variety in the same setting. The plant breeders have a special interest in comparing open field/garden and hoop house/caterpillar tunnel environments. Be sure to fill out the management info at the end of the trial season! Open to USA growers only.

2022 Seed Savers Exchange ADAPT Trials Sign Up – Registration Closed

The Community Science ADAPT program is a fun and exciting way to get involved in Seed Savers Exchange’s (SSE) mission of preserving and sharing our food crop heritage. Participants in this program trial varieties from the SSE seed bank and send them feedback on their performance. This information helps SSE better understand the adaptability of these varieties to different environments and guides their selection process for new introductions into their seed catalog.

In early January each year, SSE releases details on the collaborative trials they’re offering for the upcoming season. Participants select the crop(s) they want to trial and are then randomly assigned three varieties. In the first week of March, SSE will send you your seeds, plant labels, a datasheet, and instructions for submitting your data. They ask that you grow the three varieties side-by-side under the same conditions. They do not require a minimum number of plants. You will be evaluating each variety on a handful of key characteristics, including yield, flavor, earliness, appearance, and disease resistance. Learn more on the SSE ADAPT Website.

Updated 6/7/2022

Natalie Hoidal, Charlie Rohwer, Nicolas Enjalbert, 80+ farmers and gardeners
Report reprinted with permission from authors. Link to original report here.
7 minute read

We conducted a replicated broccoli trial at the Southern Research and Outdoor Center (SROC) in Waseca, Minnesota, where we inoculated plots with black rot (Xanthamonascampestris pv. campestris). We also partnered with 80 farmers and gardeners to conduct mini-trials at their farms (Figure 1). Our goal was to screen for varieties of broccoli with tolerance to the pathogens black rot (Xcc) and Alternaria (Alternaria brassicicola). This report outlines preliminary results from the trials. Due to the hot, dry summer in the Midwest, disease pressure was minimal, particularly in the early planting.

This trial was completed in collaboration with SeedLinked platform and the Minnesota Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association with funding from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant.

2022 Midwest Broccoli Trial Sign Up – Registration Closed

Before we dive into the 2021 trial results, we want to invite farmers and gardeners located in the upper midwest (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, and South Dakota), who like growing broccoli and are interested in being part of our continued research to identify varieties that are more resistant to black rot and Alternaria to sign up to be part of our 2022 Midwest Broccoli trials on SeedLinked. Learn more and sign up at the links below.

2021 Broccoli Varieties Trialed

Early Trial: June 1 Planting

Earliness: There was significant variability in earliness and harvest duration in the SROC trial (Figure 2). The earliest varieties were Asteroid, Green Lady, Gypsy, Luna, Monty, and P13CMSxP1A. Avenger, Batory, Jacaranda, and SEXP1 were notably later. Some varieties ripened very evenly, with all plants producing heads within a short period of time (e.g., Asteroid, Gypsy), whereas others were less even, with harvests spread out over weeks (e.g., Paraiso, Green Magic).

In the on-farm trials, Green Magic, SEXP1, Monty, Luna, and Green Lady were all above average for earliness, whereas P13CMSxP1A, Paraiso, Covina, and Avenger were all later than average (Figure 3).

Yield: Yield was measured in multiple ways, including % of plants with marketable heads (Figure 4), head weight (listed in Table 1 below), and head weight * % marketable heads. In the early trial at SROC, all varieties except Sequoia produced nearly 100% marketable heads.

Sequoia, the variety that produced the lowest percentage of marketable heads, also produced the largest heads. While a larger head size results in more marketable pounds per acre, some growers may wish to grow smaller heads based on their customer needs. Figure 5 maps percent marketability with average head size.

DeCicco is not listed on these graphs since it is a sprouting broccoli, and thus the head measurements did not apply. The average DeCicco plant produced an average of 2.76 heads, which were 49.64 grams each, for an average total weight of 133 grams harvestable shoots.

Finally, Figure 6 depicts grower rankings of yield. Rankings were submitted on a 1-5 scale.

Disease: Disease pressure was non-existent in the early planted trial at the SROC due to extreme heat and drought. Farmer participants reported significant differences in disease tolerance (Figure 7). These results should be considered with caution due to regional differences in precipitation, with many areas included in the trial experiencing extreme drought. Differences in disease pressure may have been more attributable to local weather conditions than variety performance. Since growers only received 3-6 varieties each, not all varieties were trialed in all locations.

Additional Characteristics – Early Planting: The following characteristics were also measured in the SROC trial. Alternaria and Black Rot rankings are not listed because they were “0” for all varieties.

On-Farm Broccoli Trial Results on SeedLinked – Early Planting: View basic charts, grower comments and images by variety. We highly recommend logging into your existing SeedLinked account or creating an account when viewing the results so that you have access to filtering by hardiness zone to zero in on varieties that performed well in your location. Additionally, we recommend checking out our blog ‘Digging into SeedLinked Trial Results‘ to learn about all the ways you can filter and view trial results.

Late Trial: July 1 Planting

Earliness: There was significant variability in earliness and harvest duration again in the later planted trial at SROC (Figure 9). Due to disease pressure and other issues, many varieties were not 100% harvested. The earliest varieties were Asteroid, Green Magic, Luna, and Monty. Expo, Fiesta, P13, and Paraiso were notably later. Some varieties ripened very evenly, with all plants producing heads within a short period of time (e.g., Asteroid, Green Magic, Imperial, Lieutenant, Luna), whereas a few were less even, with harvests spread out over weeks (e.g., P13). In general, the varieties in the later planting matured more evenly.

On-farm earliness results were fairly similar (Figure 10). Asteroid and Lieutenant were notably later in the on-farm trials than at SROC. Sequoia was earlier in the on-farm trials. Packman is listed as the earliest variety; this variety was not formally part of the trial and thus was not reported from SROC, but growers were invited to submit reviews for additional varieties.

Yield: Yield was measured in multiple ways, including % of plants with marketable heads (Figure 11), head weight (listed in Table 4 below), and head weight * % marketable heads (Figure 12). In the later trial at SROC, most varieties performed significantly worse than in the early trial. The group of varieties with the best marketability included Asteroid, Green Magic, Imperial, Luna, Monty, and Wolfman. Figure 11 depicts a wide range of marketability. This is due to differences from plot to plot; each variety was replicated four times, with 9 plants per plot.

Figure 12 depicts the average head weight multiplied by % marketable heads, to show the average marketable pounds of broccoli heads per plant. Overall, head size trended slightly larger in the later planted trial than in the early trial, and there was much more variation in marketability due to increased black rot, Alternaria, and brown bead.

Waltham 29 is not listed on these graphs since it is a sprouting broccoli, and thus the head measurements did not apply. The average Waltham 29 plant produced 3.09 heads, which were an average of 234.45 grams each, for an average total weight of 468.91 grams harvestable shoots.

Finally, Figure 13 depicts grower rankings of yield in the later trial. Varieties that performed better in the on-farm trials than the SROC trial include: SEXP2, Packman (not included in SROC trial), and Expo. Luna performed worse in the on-farm trials than the SROC trial.

Disease: Disease pressure was significantly worse in the later planting. At SROC, Alternaria was more prevalent than black rot. Figure 14 shows overall disease rankings; Table 4 below includes individual rankings for each disease. In the SROC trial, only two varieties had no disease pressure in the heads: Asteroid and Imperial. Many of the varieties experienced a low rate of disease pressure around 10%. Expo and Paraiso had notably less tolerance, with around 60% diseased heads on average.

Farmer participants also saw significant differences in disease tolerance. (Figure 15). In the grower trials, Asteroid only had average disease tolerance, and Imperial was just slightly above average. SEXP2 had the highest tolerance in the grower trial, which contrasts with the SROC results, where 20% of the heads experienced disease pressure. Luna, Diplomat, Monty, and Imperial had the most consistently high disease tolerance rankings across both
trials.

Additional Characteristics – Late Planting: The following characteristics were also measured in the SROC trial.

On-Farm Broccoli Trial Results on SeedLinked – Late Planting: View basic charts, grower comments, and images by variety. We highly recommend logging into your existing SeedLinked account or creating an account when viewing the results so that you have access to filtering by hardiness zone to zero in on varieties that performed well in your location. Additionally, we recommend checking out our blog ‘Digging into SeedLinked Trial Results‘ to learn about all the ways you can filter and view trial results.

If you’re interested in joining our 2022 Midwest Broccoli trials or being part of other trials on SeedLinked, check out our current available collaborative trial sign-up list here.

Published on 1/19/22

Author

admin

Collaborative trial results are in! In 2021, we organized three trials for three different crops – indeterminate paste tomatoes, fresh market green bush beans, and jalapeño peppers. The goal of each trial was to grow well-known varieties side-by-side with newly released hybrid and open-pollinated varieties and freely share the results on our Seed Search and in this blog with growers, seed companies, and anyone else who is interested.

Trial Methods

In January 2021, we canvased United States seed company offerings and selected varieties in each crop/market class that were standard open-pollinated and hybrid varieties. Additionally, we looked for newly bred and/or released open-pollinated and hybrid varieties to grow alongside them for comparison in these trials.

In February 2021, we invited farmers and gardeners across the United States to join our three trials via the SeedLinked platform by reaching out to those who have successfully been part of trials in the past as well as through an open link on our website. We had 92 growers join the indeterminate paste tomato trial, 113 growers join the fresh market green bush bean trial, and 73 growers join the jalapeño pepper trial. Each of these trials was a sub-set trial, where each participant was randomly assigned three varieties of a larger set to grow side-by-side and rate them. Also in this month, we mailed seeds and planting stakes to participants and made the trial active on the SeedLinked platform.

During the 2021 growing season, trial participants were asked to grow the varieties provided to them. The participants logged in to SeedLinked on the web and/or mobile app and input the following data: planting, transplanting, first harvest, and last harvest dates, rate a variety of traits on a scale of 1 to 5 stars, provide general and trait-based written comments, and share photos of the varieties growing.

Trial Results

Once the trials were closed for entering data in December 2021, results were automatically calculated by the SeedLinked platform and shared with participants. You can view links to interactive trial results below. We highly recommend logging into your existing SeedLinked account or creating an account when viewing the results. This gives you the opportunity to filter results by hardiness zone to zero in on varieties that performed well in your location. Additionally, we recommend checking out our blog ‘Digging into SeedLinked Trial Results‘ to learn how to filter and view trial results.

2021 Indeterminate Paste Tomato Collaborative Trial Results

Varieties in this trial were: Amish Paste, Cipolla’s Pride, Emma’s Damn, Granadero, Marzito, Midnight Roma, Myona Paste, Plum Perfect, Pozzano, Salvaterra’s Select, and San Marzano. Trial participants rated the plants and fruit on the following traits on a scale of 1 to 5 throughout the growing season: Appearance, Disease Resistance, Earliness, Flavor, Germination, Vigor, Yield, and Overall. To view the interactive results on SeedLinked, click HERE.

2021 Fresh Market Green Bush Bean Collaborative Trial Results

Varieties in the trial were: Affirmed, Antigua, Celine, Crokett, Empress, Jade, Maxibel, Provider, and Provider Premium. Trial participants rated the plants and fruit on the following traits on a scale of 1 to 5 throughout the growing season: Appearance, Disease Resistance, Earliness, Flavor, Germination, Vigor, and Yield. To view the interactive trial results on SeedLinked, click HERE.

2021 Jalapeño Pepper Collaborative Trial Results

Varieties in the trial were: Black Magic, Early Jalapeño, El Jefe, Jalafuego, Jalapeño Travelers Strain, Jedi, Mild to Medium Jalapeño Grex, and Nadapeno. Trial participants rated the plants and fruit on the following traits on a scale of 1 to 5 throughout the growing season: Appearance, Canopy Closure, Disease Resistance, Earliness, Flavor, Germination, Spiciness, Vigor, and Yield. To view the interactive results on SeedLinked, click the HERE.

Appreciations

Thank you to all of the gardeners and farmers who participated in SeedLinked trials in 2021. With your help, we are creating more open-source data for how vegetable varieties perform across the United States. Additionally, we would like to thank all the seed companies that shared seeds with us for the trials. Thanks for being open to having your varieties tested by a wider audience of growers around the United States.

Published 12/30/21

Author

admin

Alright! You’ve finished entering reviews, adding photos and comments, and have completed your collaborative variety trial. Now you’re done being on SeedLinked until the next growing season. Not so quick! There are many benefits to staying engaged on SeedLinked. The primary reason is having access to collaborative variety trial results to help better inform your seed choices for the next growing season.

Did you know that you can access aggregated variety trial results immediately after you complete a trial on the web platform or app?

Trial results can help you pick what varieties to grow in the future. When it comes to picking a variety to grow, what is most important to you? Flavor? Disease resistance? Yield? Seeing photos of the variety growing? Reading comments from other growers? The beauty of SeedLinked trial results is that you can focus on what is important to you when determining what varieties to grow next year.

Ways you can view Trial Results on SeedLinked:

Want to dive into variety trial results? Here is a step-by-step guide on how to use trial results to the fullest on our web platform and apps.

Trial Results on the Web Platform

Let’s start with accessing collaborative variety trial results on the SeedLinked web platform. Log in to your account and navigate to the ‘Track’ tab at the top of the page and click on ‘Results’ on the grey sidebar on the left. You can sort your trial results by crop type or by year. Find a trial you’d like to view the results for and click on the blue ‘Results’ button to the right of the trial.

Congratulations! You are on the results page for a trial. Now, let’s take a look around at the ways you view results. First, you can select traits that you’d like to see ratings for. For example, if you are only interested in ‘disease resistance’ and ‘earliness’, you can select those traits and view only those aggregated ratings. Click on ‘Select Traits,’ select your traits, and hit ‘Save.’

Next, under the ‘Roles’ tab select who you’d like to see ratings from: gardeners, farmers, and/or trial managers and click ‘Save.’

Then you can select if you’d like to see results from everyone in the trial or only those reviewers in your hardiness zone. Click on ‘Hardiness Zone’ and either select ‘All’ or ‘My Hardiness Zone.’

If you only want to see results for two or three varieties that were in the trial, you can remove varieties from the results by clicking ‘Select Varieties’ and choosing the varieties you’d like to see reviews for.

When you completed your trial, you filled in a ‘Would you like to grow this again? Survey.’ You can view the results of that survey on the right side of the page. Be sure to scroll down if there are more than four varieties!

Lastly, if you want to look at the photos and comments reviewers shared about each variety, you can click on the camera or comment icon below the variety name. Be sure to like images and comments that are helpful to you! Ones with more likes rise to the top of the list and be featured on our Seed Search.

If you decide that you want to purchase seeds of a particular variety that was in a trial, you can click on the variety name in the ‘Would like to grow this again?’ survey results and this will take you to the SeedLinked Marketplace variety page where you can purchase seeds for that variety if they are available.

Trial Results on the App

Next, let’s shift gears and talk about viewing results on the SeedLinked App. First of all, be sure to download the app on your phone or tablet (Link to download for Android devices or iPhone/iPad).

Open the app, log in to your SeedLinked account, and navigate to the ‘Track’ tab at the bottom center of the screen. Click on ‘Results’ in the top right. On the Results page you can scroll down through all the results you have access to or you can filter them by crop or by year using the filters. Once you find the trial that you like to view results for, click on the trial.

Welcome to trial results on the app! Now it’s time to dig into your results. You can toggle between seeing results from all trial participants or just those in your hardiness zone by toggling between ‘All Reviews’ and ‘Your Zone’ at the bottom of the screen. If there is a specific trait that is most important to you like yield, disease resistance, or flavor, you can filter the results by those traits by clicking on ‘Select Traits’ and selecting the traits you’d like to view and clicking ‘Apply.’

Next, you can access the graphs for the ‘Would you like to grow this again? survey’ that each trial participant took part in when they completed their trial. Click on the three dots to the right of a variety rating and click on the ‘Grow Again?’ icon. On this screen you can toggle between varieties by using the arrows next to the variety name.

Last, you can access photos and comments submitted by trial participants by clicking on the three dots to the right of a variety rating and clicking on either the ‘Images’ or ‘Comments’ icon to view them for each variety. You can toggle between variety images/comments using the arrows next to the variety name. Don’t forget to like images/comments that you feel are most helpful! Images/comments with the most ‘likes’ rise to the top of the list in results and on the Seed Marketplace.

Thanks for learning all about the SeedLinked Trial Results! We encourage you to log in to your profile on the web or app and view the results for a collaborative variety trial you participated in on SeedLinked. We hope that the results feature gives you a way to find the right variety for you to grow next season.

Additionally, the results from over 350 collaborative variety trials run on the SeedLinked platform since 2018 are the foundation of our Seed Marketplace variety reviews. If you want to see overall ratings for varieties across geography, beyond your trial, search for and purchase seed on our Seed Marketplace.

If you have any ideas for how to visualize collaborative trial results, please share them with us at feedback@seedlinked.com We would love to hear from you!

Updated 11/16/22

Author

admin

Hooray! The SeedLinked Community Feed (aka ‘Feed) is now live on our web platform and mobile apps (Apple Store and Google Play). We invite you to log in and make a post today! This brand new SeedLinked feature is a culmination of years of work to help connect the dots between the Seed Explorer and Track tab on our platform.

On the Community Feed you can:

Since the creation of the SeedLinked platform, we have envisioned adding the Feed to create a space for open discussion among gardeners and farmers to ask questions, share updates, make recommendations, and post photos. To begin with, each collaborative trial that you are part of on SeedLinked will have a feed where you can interact and learn from other trial participants. We invite you to be part of the conversation! 

Want a video tutorial of how to get started with the Community Feed before you dive in? We have you covered! Check out the walkthrough tutorial below.

Thanks for learning all about the SeedLinked Feed! We encourage you to log in, make a post, share photos, and like/comment on other people’s posts. When you participate in the feed, you are helping build community on SeedLinked!

With any new feature, we always expect a few issues here and there. If you find an issue with the Feed, please share it with us at feedback@seedlinked.com We would love to hear from you!

Happy posting and growing!

Published 8/13/21

Author

admin

For every collaborative trial and planting you review on SeedLinked, we ask you to add four distinct types of dates: planting date, transplant date (if applicable), first harvest date, and last harvest date. You may find yourself saying, “That is a lot of dates! Why are there so many? And why are adding them to trials and plantings useful?” 

What are days to maturity?

Before we dive into the why, let us start with one important definition related to dates that is oh so important to growers – days to maturity or days to harvest – which are used interchangeably. If you pick up any seed catalog or seed packet, you are going to see one of these in the growing description/notes for a variety.  

Days to Maturity (DTM) is the amount of time from planting a seed or transplant in the soil until the time its foliage or fruit is ready to harvest for eating. 

For direct-seeded crops (E.g., beans, corn, lettuce, carrots, beets) it is from the time they are direct seeded into the soil until the first harvest. For crops that are typically transplanted (E.g., onions, kale, cabbage, broccoli, peppers, tomatoes, etc.), DTM is from the moment they are transplanted until the first harvest. That being said, some seed companies will specify on a seed packet if DTM is listed “from transplant” or “from seeding,” and may have text that says “subtract ‘X’ weeks from DTM if transplanting.”

Days to maturity are extremely helpful for growers. It helps serve as a guide for if a variety will mature in your growing zone. For example, if John has a garden in northern Minnesota (Zone 3b) and has a short growing season, DTM can tell him which tomato varieties are early maturing enough to grow and which ones will not reach maturity before his first frost.  

Additionally, DTM can help growers with succession planting and spacing out the harvest. For example, Ellen wants to space out cabbage harvest for her farm but wants to plant all the cabbages at the same time. She picks three varieties to plant that have DTMs of 60, 80, and 100 days to space out the harvest. 

Other Days to Maturity Considerations

There are two other important considerations related to days to maturity that are good to take into account – your latitude and when you plant. Let’s dive into the first one – your latitude. If you are further north in North America, you experience less daylight in the spring and fall and more daylight in the summer. Alternatively, if you grow in the southern part of North America, you experience more consistent amounts of daylight over the season and have especially less daylight in the summer compared to more northerly latitudes. The differing amount of daylight at various latitudes has an impact on DTM for crops that are more sensitive to light (the scientific term for this is photoperiod sensitive).

Now, let’s discuss the second factor – when you plant. If you plant early for a spring crop or later in the season for a fall/winter crop, oftentimes you must add days to the DTM because accumulated warmth (the scientific term is growing degree days or GDD) happens at a slower rate at those times of the year.

At SeedLinked, we aim to increase transparency around days to maturity and hone them in for growers in different growing zones and regions for each variety. This is why we ask folks submitting collaborative trial reviews to include up to four different dates.  

Why should I add dates to my trial or planting?

Any date you add to a collaborative trial or planting helps build data for varieties on the SeedLinked Seed Marketplace and helps other growers (and seed companies) find the variety with the most accurate and correct days to maturity for their growing conditions. 

Here are some more examples of how recording dates for your collaborative trials and plantings can help inform growers in the future when they use the Seed Marketplace:

*Planting/transplanting dates help other growers determine the optimum planting date by region for a given variety.  
* First and last harvest dates inform growers on which variety is best for each season (E.g., optimum summer lettuce, spring carrots, or summer broccoli). 
* First and last harvest dates help determine harvest length for a given variety. Some varieties have a short harvest window (E.g., melons) while others have a much longer harvest window (E.g., kale). 
* Filter a search in our Seed Marketplace by days to maturity (see below). This can help you find a variety that is better adapted to your location.

How to Add Dates to a Collaborative Trial or Planting

Okay, now that you are sold on why to enter dates for your trials and plantings, we bet you are wondering how to add them. Lucky for you, we read your mind!
Check out this quick tutorial that covers how to add dates to any trial or planting on the SeedLinked web platform and app.

Tutorial: How to Add Dates to a Trial or Planting (Web/App)

Thanks, in advance for reviewing (and adding dates) collaborative trials and plantings on SeedLinked. We appreciate and value your participation. 

If you have any questions about adding dates to trials or plantings, please reach out to us at help@seedlinked.com 

Happy growing! 

Published 7/7/21

Author

admin

Have you ever wanted to add your favorite variety to a trial you’re part of? You are in luck! You can now add a check variety to any collaborative trial or planting you are involved in on SeedLinked.

Adding a check variety is a helpful tool that allows SeedLinked participants to rate their tried-and-true varieties for a crop side-by-side with the varieties in any trial or planting. For example, if you are part of a lettuce trial, you can include your favorite lettuce as a check variety that serves as a benchmark for what is good disease resistance, appearance, flavor, and yield for lettuce. At the end of the growing season, you’ll be able to see the trial results for the lettuces alongside your check, which can help guide you on what variety to purchase and grow in the future.

Beyond that, adding check varieties to your trials and plantings increases the number of reviews on SeedLinked, which then powers our Seed Marketplace to help other gardeners and farmers learn from your experiences and find the best varieties for their growing conditions.  

So, how do I add a check to a trial or planting? Check out this tutorial that takes you through the process on the SeedLinked web-based platform and app.  

Tutorial: How to Add a Check Variety to a Trial or Planting

Additionally, if the check variety that you want to add to a trial or planting isn’t in the SeedLinked database you can now request to add them with our easy to use Google Form. Learn how to add varieties to SeedLinked with this tutorial. 

Tutorial: How to Add a Variety to the SeedLinked Database

If you have any questions about adding check varieties to trials or plantings, please reach out to us at help@seedlinked.com 

Happy growing! 

Author

admin

Did you know that you can review what you grow in your garden or on your farm on SeedLinked? 

In fact, when you review what you are growing on SeedLinked, you are helping other gardeners and farmers find the right seed for their growing conditions. Every rating you add on our platform powers our Seed Explorer and helps others learn from your experience and expertise. 

How do you review what you grow on SeedLinked?

So, how do you review your garden/farm on SeedLinked? Check out the series of YouTube tutorials below that take you through the three-step process of searching for seeds, making wishlists, making plantings, and reviewing what you are growing.

Tutorial: How to Use the Seed Explorer, Compare Varieties, and Create a Wishlist

Tutorial: How to Make a Planting from a Wishlist

Tutorial: Reviewing Your Planting/Trial

If you have any questions about reviewing what you grow on SeedLinked, please reach out to us at help@seedlinked.com

Happy growing!