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Same. 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

by 1996 6y ago

Same. 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 ago
  There's no need to be rude or accusatory.
- dang 6y ago
  You can't post like this here. Please read the rules: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html.
xzel 6y ago
Invasive 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.
- dboreham 6y ago
  Go visit a place with a noxious weed problem (e.g the Bitterroot Valley) for positive confirmation of this.
  - saagarjha 6y ago
    Or closer to many people here, yellow star thistle (yes, that annoying spiky plant you’ll often see in the California grass).
    - hedora 6y ago
      The hills of California used to be green in the summer. The dead yellow fire hazard grass is called “avena” and is an invasive species. If I ran things, I’d develop an avena-specific herbicide, and drop it from helicopters every spring. Replacing it with natives would lower the fire risk substantially, and probably also cool the hills off a bit during the summer.
  - Agentlien 6y ago
    Personally, I tend to have trouble controlling my mint.
Hnrobert42 6y ago
The worst that could happen is something like (kudzu)[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kudzu https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kudzu]. See the Invasive Species section. Your passion for experimentation and cultivation is awesome. I get that you don’t want the government telling you what you can and can’t do. So, instead, what if you look at it as a fellow citizen asking you to please not plant random seeds from China in the ground outside, unattended.
- 1996 6y ago
  Hence the 'keeping it inside' part. I would not plan outside a vine or something that may interfere with my other plants, until I know what it is. Still, I fail to see the harm of growing the seed inside to identify the plant. People here have reported receiving cucumbers and strawberries. No one has reported receiving vines or anything else. I am very surprised by the level of fear and paranoia regarding everything and especially China: we are looking at horse gift in the mouth, then saying it is a bioterrorism plot. Unbelievable!! When I was a kid, that would have been the best mail-order present ever! Also, regarding kudzu and the like, I fail to see the harm. The environment changes. We may not like that, but that's how life is. Instead of trying to undo changes, maybe we should adapt to them. Kudzu seems good for livestock, rich in protein and isoflavones. Trying to burn it seems to be due to a distinct lack of imagination and profit motive. It's a free input!!! Find new ways to chop it down to feed it to livestock. Make it into a food supplement. Anything looks better than just destruction and nostalgia for the time it wasn't here. It's here now. Adapt!
tylerhou 6y ago
https://youtube.com/watch?v=hsWr_JWTZss https://youtube.com/watch?v=hsWr_JWTZss
perl4ever 6y ago
>It's innocent and safe. The government should have no business regulating what people do with seeds. I feel like that boat has flown, or whatever. It's kind of like saying the government should have no business checking passports or levying an income tax or something.
- 1996 6y ago
  Modern geeks seem to only care about government control. But I have read about the old time hackers, who yearned freedom and experimentation. It seemed to have been widespread: I have seen movies from the 1980s, and noticed the same thing: people seem less fearful, more open and ready to experiment. It may sound silly to you, but I was awestruck by "Bill and Ted excellent adventure"! Even with all the modern technology we have, I wish I had been born 20 or 30 years earlier, when freedom was still a thing and innocent fun was deemed innocent by default.
TheSpiceIsLife 6y ago
Asparagus asparagoides https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asparagus_asparagoides https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asparagus_asparagoides
dboreham 6y ago
Depends if your name is Jack.
mark-r 6y ago
You've obviously never seen Little Shop of Horrors. Feed me, Seymour!
- emmelaich 6y ago
  Or read The Triffids -- if we're going there!

by 1996 6y ago

kvothe_ 6y ago

"Ignorance is bliss." You are either a chinese shill or very ignorant.

yjftsjthsd-h 6y ago
There's no need to be rude or accusatory.
dang 6y ago
You can't post like this here. Please read the rules: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html.

xzel 6y ago

Invasive 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.

dboreham 6y ago
Go visit a place with a noxious weed problem (e.g the Bitterroot Valley) for positive confirmation of this.
- saagarjha 6y ago
  Or closer to many people here, yellow star thistle (yes, that annoying spiky plant you’ll often see in the California grass).
  - hedora 6y ago
    The hills of California used to be green in the summer. The dead yellow fire hazard grass is called “avena” and is an invasive species. If I ran things, I’d develop an avena-specific herbicide, and drop it from helicopters every spring. Replacing it with natives would lower the fire risk substantially, and probably also cool the hills off a bit during the summer.
- Agentlien 6y ago
  Personally, I tend to have trouble controlling my mint.

Hnrobert42 6y ago

The worst that could happen is something like (kudzu)[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kudzu https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kudzu]. See the Invasive Species section. Your passion for experimentation and cultivation is awesome. I get that you don’t want the government telling you what you can and can’t do. So, instead, what if you look at it as a fellow citizen asking you to please not plant random seeds from China in the ground outside, unattended.

1996 6y ago
Hence the 'keeping it inside' part. I would not plan outside a vine or something that may interfere with my other plants, until I know what it is. Still, I fail to see the harm of growing the seed inside to identify the plant. People here have reported receiving cucumbers and strawberries. No one has reported receiving vines or anything else. I am very surprised by the level of fear and paranoia regarding everything and especially China: we are looking at horse gift in the mouth, then saying it is a bioterrorism plot. Unbelievable!! When I was a kid, that would have been the best mail-order present ever! Also, regarding kudzu and the like, I fail to see the harm. The environment changes. We may not like that, but that's how life is. Instead of trying to undo changes, maybe we should adapt to them. Kudzu seems good for livestock, rich in protein and isoflavones. Trying to burn it seems to be due to a distinct lack of imagination and profit motive. It's a free input!!! Find new ways to chop it down to feed it to livestock. Make it into a food supplement. Anything looks better than just destruction and nostalgia for the time it wasn't here. It's here now. Adapt!

tylerhou 6y ago

https://youtube.com/watch?v=hsWr_JWTZss https://youtube.com/watch?v=hsWr_JWTZss

perl4ever 6y ago

>It's innocent and safe. The government should have no business regulating what people do with seeds. I feel like that boat has flown, or whatever. It's kind of like saying the government should have no business checking passports or levying an income tax or something.

1996 6y ago
Modern geeks seem to only care about government control. But I have read about the old time hackers, who yearned freedom and experimentation. It seemed to have been widespread: I have seen movies from the 1980s, and noticed the same thing: people seem less fearful, more open and ready to experiment. It may sound silly to you, but I was awestruck by "Bill and Ted excellent adventure"! Even with all the modern technology we have, I wish I had been born 20 or 30 years earlier, when freedom was still a thing and innocent fun was deemed innocent by default.

TheSpiceIsLife 6y ago

Asparagus asparagoides https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asparagus_asparagoides https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asparagus_asparagoides

dboreham 6y ago

Depends if your name is Jack.

mark-r 6y ago

You've obviously never seen Little Shop of Horrors. Feed me, Seymour!

emmelaich 6y ago
Or read The Triffids -- if we're going there!