WELCOME TO OUR ONLINE STORE
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We offer seeds and plants from our research programs including the world’s largest selection seeds of:
- Moringa species and varieties from our International Seed Bank
- Improved cultivars of hoodia
- Nitrogen fixing corn from Hawai`i and rare heirloom landraces from Mexico
Our store operations are summarized here. Please see our Terms of Product Use and Sale for additional information.
If you need assistance in using our store or have questions about our products, please CONTACT US.
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FINDING PRODUCTS
Searching
Our plants and seeds are listed alphabetically on the left side of this page by their plant family or their major product categories. If you don’t know the family or cannot locate the item enter its common or scientific name in the search box.
Product Images
These are natural products and their form and appearance can be highly variable. The images of seeds and plants shown with the store listings are provided as examples only. The products you receive may differ in appearance from those in the examples.
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ORDERING
Domestic Orders
Orders for shipment to customers in Hawai`i, the U.S. mainland and possessions should be placed through this storefront. Our seed products can be shipped to all areas in the U.S. Live plants can be shipped to all states except California. Only Certified Nursery Plants (those with Item Numbers beginning with CNP-) can be shipped to Arizona, Louisiana and Texas.
International Orders
We have discontinued shipments of live plants to foreign destinations. Seed orders for shipment to customers located outside the U.S. should not be placed directly through this online store because we must determine the regulatory requirements for export of the specific items to be ordered, any applicable fees and the estimated shipping costs before accepting the orders. Many countries now require customers to obtain import permits and we may have to obtain phytosanitary certificates for shipments. These may require prepayment of fees.
To place an international order please make a list of the items and amounts you wish to order from the storefront listings. Then send the list and your complete shipping address to us through our CONTACT US page. We will review the list and determine if we can provide the items. If you want to place the order, we will prepare a draft invoice including the cost of the items, fees and the estimated shipping costs for your review. If the invoice is acceptable, we will send you a PayPal Money request for the total amount due. It will be payable with any major credit card. A PayPal membership is not required.
Export Requirements. The regulatory requirements for exports of agricultural products are complex, change frequently and may be subject to highly variable interpretations by officials of the receiving countries. Our costs for paperwork, certifications, travel to distant inspection stations and other compliance activities are often several times the total value of small orders. To help recover some of these costs we have established minimum order amounts and processing fees for these orders. Please refer to our Terms of Product Sale and Use for additional information.
Rare and Endangered Species. We are not currently permitted to ship these outside of the State of Hawai`i.
CITES Regulated Species. Plants in the genera of Hoodia and Hoodiopsis, Pachypodium ambongense, succulent African Euphorbia species, and products made from these species are regulated under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). We have been able to export all of these except Pachypodium ambongense under the terms of our master file permit with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and export permits issued for individual shipments under the master file.
Wholesale Nursery Products
Please CONTACT US if you are a business located on Hawai`i island interested in purchasing these products. They are not offered for sale to customers at other locations.
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PAYMENT
Payment for online store orders must be made when the order is placed. Payment can be made using your PayPal account or by any major credit card. We may accept purchase orders or payments by other methods. Please CONTACT US for additional information.
Estimated Shipping Costs. It is difficult to estimate the actual packaging and shipping costs for orders because the combinations of items, product sizes, packaging requirements and many other factors determine the total cost. In some cases, certified plants may have to be shipped separately from other items. Our store software assigns an estimated shipping cost based on the product categories in the order. These must be prepaid at the time the order is placed. If the shipping costs prepaid differ significantly from the actual cost, we will make adjustments by billing you for the additional cost or refunding the excess prepaid costs.
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ORDER PROCESSING
Most orders are filled within 2-3 days of payment. Shipments are made after inspections are scheduled, usually every 1-2 weeks.
Packaging
We reuse boxes and select packaging made from recycled materials when possible and allowed by regulations. Most of our seeds are packed in sealed plastic bags with packets of silica gel inside to help maintain dry conditions in shipment. We use only food grade gels and moisture indicators, but the gel and packets are not intended for consumption.
Preferred Shipping Methods
First Class or Priority Mail are our preferred shipping methods. USPS Ground Advantage™ and other USPS shipping options may be more economical, but we have found the delivery times for shipments from Hawai`i to be unpredictable and often unacceptably long.
Inspections
All seeds and plants, except for our Certified Nursery Plants (CNP), must be inspected before shipment by either the Hawai`i Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity (HDAB) or the Plant Protection and Quarantine (PPQ) office of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) depending on their destination. Travel from our facility to their distant inspection stations typically involves round trip driving times of more than four hours so we consolidate orders for inspections. Visits to the HDAB inspection station are made every 1-2 weeks; the USDA requires appointments for export shipments to be scheduled one week in advance.
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STORE NEWS
Bambara Groundnut (Vigna subterranea) Seeds Back in Stock
With the sudden and unexpected demand for these seeds following a recent documentary about this lost crop of Africa, our inventories of seeds were sold out. We have received and processed new seed shipments and are now able to offer an expanded selection of varieties and larger amounts of seeds for purchase.
Hawaiian Grown Dragon Fruit Cuttings and Seedlings
We are now offering a greatly expanded selection of cuttings of dragon fruit varieties from our Moana Experimental Farm at Ocean View. Our seed grown plants are nearly sold out. More plants are being started but these are not expected to be ready until 2028.
Nitrogen Fixing Corn
Seeds from the 2025 fall harvest at our research partner’s farm in Hilo, Hawai`i are now available. These can be exported to the European Union and some other countries that prohibit entry of seeds from Mexico.
Rare Songosongo (Pachypodium ambongense) Seedlings and Rooted Cuttings
We now offer the largest known inventory of these beautiful and interesting plants. They were grown at our certified nursery in sustainable artificial cultivation. The plants can be shipped bare root to all states except California. We are not currently permitted to export these outside the U.S.
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ITEMS ON SALE
Camelina seeds
Camelina (Camelina sativa) is of great interest in Hawai`i as a potential new crop for production of seed oil that can be used as a sustainable jet fuel. Bulk quantities of seeds from are now on sale.
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MAHALO (THANK YOU) FOR SHOPPING WITH US!
Any profits from product sales will be used to support our research programs.