Seed Services
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Custom Seed Collection
If your project calls for plants or seed with site-specific genetics from a location or quantity unavailable off-the-shelf, we can collect seed for you.
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Seed Farming
If a project calls for quantities of seed unobtainable in the wild or if it is not desirable to impact the habitat to collect the seed, Native West Nursery can increase your seed in our farm.
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Seed Cleaning
If you have collected seed and need it cleaned, we can clean it for you.
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Seed Storage and Management
Whether you collected and cleaned the seed or we did, we can store your seed for future use.
Our talented team of seed collection specialists ethically harvest native seeds. Ethical seed collection means we work with a light footprint leaving the majority of native plant populations untouched to ensure wild populations will continue thriving.
All our collected seed is source-identified by region, collection site, species name, client name and date collected. Source-identified plants are valued in habitat restoration efforts to maintain the genetic integrity of each plant community while increasing the survival rate of the plants.
An Artemisia californica with genetics from Santa Cruz County is technically the same species as an Artemisia californica from San Diego but each plant evolved in very different conditions. A San Diego adapted Artemisia may not thrive in the wetter cooler conditions of Santa Cruz and vice versa. Location matters when it comes to California! The varied topography and resulting microclimates put pressure on ecotypes to evolve over time.
Custom Seed Collection
Native West Nursery has over 100 acres of premium farmland in South San Diego County. Our farm’s temperate coastal climate allows us to farm a variety of different species successfully from seed.
Seed farming, also called seed bulking or seed amplification, is a process where we take small amounts of seed collected from the wild then grow it on the farm to produce larger quantities of seed. The farmed seed can be amplified up to four generations. After four generations, a new wild collection is introduced to ensure genetic variation.
Native West has over 2 decades of experience performing seed amplification for listed and endangered species. Seed farming protects vulnerable populations by alleviating the reliance on wild-collected seed.
At Native West we take the utmost care to farm seeds ethically and maintain the integrity of population genetics for future projects in the region. Our established protocols ensure regionally appropriate seed is available to all our customers.
Seed Farming
Our team at Native West Nursery has years of experience in processing California native seed collections. We utilize precision machinery, simple screens, fans and plenty of ingenuity to remove chaff and inert material leaving the clean, undamaged seed ready for sowing. Our orders range from a few grams to thousands of pounds. Any quantity of seed you need, we can handle!
Seed Cleaning
Seed Storage & Management
We offer on-site seed storage and management for your convenience. Seed can be stored in our cool, concrete warehouse or in refrigerated conditions depending on species and duration. When you store seed at Native West Nursery you will receive monthly seed inventory updates. At your request, seed can be sent to the lab for testing, pulled to propagate plants, mixed and bagged per your specifications, pre-treated to enhance germination and shipped to your office or project site.
Ready to take the next step?
To inquire about services or plant availability, please fill out the form below or email info@nativewest.com.
If you have any questions about the process, feel free to give us at a call at 619-423-2284.