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Wow, weird. Also I can’t imagine getting a box of seeds in the mail (unsolicited) and thinking to myself, “I should plant these and see what comes up!” Edit,
by burlesona 6y ago
Wow, weird.
Also I can’t imagine getting a box of seeds in the mail (unsolicited) and thinking to myself, “I should plant these and see what comes up!”
Edit, found more about this here: https://www.wusa9.com/mobile/article/news/local/virginia/virginia-department-of-agriculture-warns-residents-of-seeds-from-china/65-2e195255-f7e9-46bf-8bea-f711415af3c3 https://www.wusa9.com/mobile/article/news/local/virginia/vir...
Along with a story of a Chinese National attempting to transport birds into Virginia which are known to be transmitters of Avian flu.
- notatoad 6y ago>Also I can’t imagine getting a box of seeds in the mail (unsolicited) and thinking to myself, “I should plant these and see what comes up!” different strokes for different folks i guess, but that is absolutely something i would do. or would have done if they'd arrived in may, planting in august is kinda pointless where i live.
- londons_explore 6y agoYeah - I'd totally plant them... In fact, I have. My seeds arrived about 2 years ago, from China, entirely unannounced, and directed to my address in London, but with no name. They turned out to be strawberries. Nothing unusual about them as far as I can taste... They inspired me to make a service for other people to get random gifts from China... [1] [1]: https://erraticpacket.com https://erraticpacket.com
- 1996 6y agoCan you make it be about seeds? There's something fun and magic about not knowing in advance what you will get. The examples you give like a bike repair kit are not really enticing.
- londons_explore 6y agoEaster egg: Put "seed" after your surname on the sign-up form and it'll use a seed whitelist I just made.
- Firerouge 6y agoI believe this now makes you the cheapest subscription monthly order seed service. You might have some trouble marketing this angle though, what with the hysteria over seeds from China right now.
- 1996 6y agoCan you please recommend other similar services? I only need that from spring to summer. My greenhouse isn't setup yet.
- Firerouge 6y agoI'm afraid I can't, I haven't used any of them. From googling there appears to be quite a few, both curated and otherwise, what I saw ranged from $3 per shipment to $15+
- Scoundreller 6y agoI find a lot of the Chinese eBay sellers have a... bizarre... assortments of items for sale. I fear, one day, I'll order some USB cables, and get stuck having to explain to someone why child-sized lingerie has been shipped to my name. So far, the only gross error I've had was a getting sent hairclippers instead of a Dreamcast controller. Could've used the clippers, but wrong voltage :(
- 1996 6y agoSame. I can't believe the FUD that's going on. What's the worst that can happen with a seed?? It will not open a portal to another dimension! A plant will just grow out of it. You keep it inside and take a picture and you will know if you will get nice flowers, or vegetables, or...nothing. Just leaves. As a kid I loved to plant seeds in plastic cups and see what grew out of it, and trying additives to see if they could help the plant grow. Once I grew a little tomato, and ate it. I didn't drop dead from tomato consumption. It's innocent and safe. The government should have no business regulating what people do with seeds.
- kvothe_ 6y ago"Ignorance is bliss." You are either a chinese shill or very ignorant.
- yjftsjthsd-h 6y agoThere's no need to be rude or accusatory.
- dang 6y agoYou can't post like this here. Please read the rules: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html.
- xzel 6y agoInvasive species are mostly bad for ecosystems. They introduce a lot of unknowns. There is nothing safe for neither humans nor wildlife about possibility introducing invasive species.
- TheSpiceIsLife 6y agoImagine they’re Asparagus asparagoides. Oops! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asparagus_asparagoides https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asparagus_asparagoides
- klipt 6y agoOr Dendrocnide moroides: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendrocnide_moroides#Toxicity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendrocnide_moroides#Toxicity
- TheSpiceIsLife 6y agoNasty! Keen to try it though.
- amelius 6y agoDon't try this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchineel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchineel
- TheSpiceIsLife 6y agoI wonder if the toxins have been screened for usefulness for humans, either as pesticides or medicines etc?
- amelius 6y agoThere's probably still some untapped potential, but Wikipedia says: > A gum can be produced from the bark which reportedly treats edema, while the dried fruits have been used as a diuretic.
- catlifeonmars 6y agoIn the photos, those look like morning glory seeds.
- DaiPlusPlus 6y ago> Along with a story of a Chinese National attempting to transport birds into Virginia which are known to be transmitters of Avian flu. > Um... China... what’s the deal? China's a country of over a billion people. Let's not attribute the actions of individuals to sinister top-down plot from the CCO politboru until there's actual evidence.
- chrischen 6y agoIt’s still a country that has a massive portion of the population that’s poor. If you want the poor people in the world to stop trying everything they can get some of your money then vote for more income equality initiatives and cut your own salary. This type of behavior is endemic with poverty and can be seen with Nigerian princes, Indian call center scams, or just your friendly San Francisco neighborhood bike thief. This behavior has more to do with poverty and income inequality than Chinese people (or people of any country or race for that matter).
- cvhashim 6y agoYou can’t fart in China without CCP knowing exactly who did it. Nefarious acts would be extremely hard to get away with it.
- stareatgoats 6y ago> You can’t fart in China without CCP knowing exactly who did it I seriously doubt that. It's a police state, but let's not exaggerate, eh?
- hedora 6y agoIf they had caught a European with a pet bird I doubt they’d be trying to claim it was evidence of an international bioterrorism ring.
- josephcsible 6y agoTrue, but the reason why would be carrying "a pet bird" vs. "a bag of dead birds", not the person being European vs. Chinese as you're trying to imply.
- dylan604 6y agoIt's clearly the first line of a deeply rooted plot. These plants, when fully grown, will be identifiable from special satellites. They just have to get enough unwitting people planting them as well to make the strategic plants from sticking out.
- DoreenMichele 6y agoKudzu was the first wave. This deeply rooted plot goes way back.
- jimmaswell 6y agoI've never noticed kudzu, but those invasive spiky water chestnuts that hurt to step on all over the Hudson are the real biological warfare.
- kalium-xyz 6y agoHeh, remember tumble weeds are an invasive species from Russia.
- dylan604 6y agoThat's just a hoax of an investigation. Tumble weeds were from the wild west days. It too was clearly part of the plot from China. As they built the railroads, they were doing their version of Johnny Appleseed dropping the tumble weed seeds. The whole of the US Southwest was a lush garden like area until these tumble weeds took over and turned it into a desert.
- sbelskie 6y agoWhat?
- ArnoVW 6y agoWhile we are on tumbleweed, I suggest this video on tumbleweed by the excellent GCP Grey: https://youtu.be/hsWr_JWTZss https://youtu.be/hsWr_JWTZss
- sukilot 6y agoThat seems like hysteria. Yes, birds can potentially carry bird flu. Also, Chinese culture is more open-minded about animal consumption than USA culture and health safety laws. Culture clash is more likely explanation than bio warfare. If you want to smuggle bird flu into USA, are you really going to do it in a bag of whole dead birds, and not some processed form that is more convenient and less suspicious?
- modeless 6y agoWe're in the middle of a global pandemic quite possibly caused by Chinese people consuming animals that shouldn't be consumed. "Open minded" is not the right description for this behavior.
- Orochikaku 6y ago>animals that shouldn't be consumed Implying there are 'correct' animals to consume
- Natsu 6y agoSome meats are associated with disease (including those eaten in western countries, like trichinosis from pork) and others are not.
- modeless 6y agoThere are definitely incorrect animals to consume. I have no problem stating that it is wrong to consume animals from wild populations of species that harbor viruses potentially capable of infecting humans and causing a global pandemic. Also endangered species. If that's controversial, well, it shouldn't be.
- coronasaurus 6y ago> infecting humans and causing a global pandemic Kinda like the swine flu?
- violetgarden 6y agoI can’t either! I’m surprised at the comments saying they totally would. I guess I remember the anthrax scare when I was little, so unsolicited packages have always freaked me out a bit.
- tzs 6y ago> Also I can’t imagine getting a box of seeds in the mail (unsolicited) and thinking to myself, “I should plant these and see what comes up!” Is that just because of the fear you might spread an invasive species, or is there some other risk trying to grow an unknown plant entails?
- samus 6y agoIt might turn out to be poisonous. If you can't precisely identify what you grow, get rid of it. To reduce contamination risk, roast it to a crisp, bleach or otherwise sterilize it. This doesn't just apply to exotic plants, but also to most plants of the family Apiaceae, as they can be hard to correctly identify and tell apart. Needless to say, many of them are noxious, poisonous or invasive, some all three of them, like the giant hogweed.
- blackflame7000 6y agoI guarantee you there is at least one person who thinks a giant bean stalk will grow.
- changoplatanero 6y agoI got some in the mail a few weeks ago and thought about planting them. I've ordered seeds from the internet in the past and so I just assumed that I must have ordered these at some point and forgot about it.
- nine_k 6y agoAll you may need is to throw the biodegradable package in trash. On a landfill site, where the seeds will arrive, they will grow and possibly even prosper.