Heirloom seeds.

[DrHenley]

We moderators have a pretty thick hide. Goes with the territory, LOL.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Another one for my ignore list.

 

[joel]

Cool your jets Crabapple. We're not all molecular biologists and we use the vernacular in many cases when biologists might have a more precise terminology.

So I looked in my dictionary. "F1 hybrid" wasn't in there.
The definition of "hybrid" is: "The offspring of two animals or plants or different races, breeds, varieties, species, or genera"

I am sorry if I pushed to hard, but I was called a liar.
Your definition is correct & cover everything, which is my point.
Maize or corn is the best example I have.

 

[dirtdiva]

Perhaps I can help clarify. As a lifelong gardener, Master Gardener and Garden Educator here is a clarification that should help clear up the issue from the Organic Seed Alliance which supports the ethical development and stewardship of the genetic resources of agricultural seed. Teaching farmers and home gardeners to produce and save their own seed is an important component of that work. They teach seed saving skills in workshops around the country, and through publications such as the one I will link below. In doing so, their aim is to help preserve crop biodiversity, diversify farm income, and increase farmers and gardeners involvement and investment in regional seed systems. The linked guide (pdf) outlines most of the things you need to know to grow seed successfully. It covers the basics of seed growing from choosing appropriate varieties for seed saving to harvesting, processing, and storing seed. It assumes that you have basic knowledge of vegetable growing.

https://seedalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/seed_saving_guide.pdf

Open Pollinated Varieties and Hybrid Varieties: Know how to choose a variety that produces offspring like its parents.
Open pollinated (OP) varieties produce offspring that closely resemble the parent. For example, if a gardener grows the OP bean variety ‘Kentucky Wonder’ and saves seed, she will find that when she grows out her seed next season, her ‘Kentucky Wonder’ beans will look very much like what she grew last year. OP varieties result from the combination of parents that are genetically similar and share specific traits that distinguish the variety.

Hybrid varieties result from the controlled crossing of genetically distinct parents. They produce offspring very different than their parents. For example, if a gardener grows the hybrid tomato variety ‘Early Girl’ and saves seed, she will find that when she grows this seed next season, there will be very few plants that closely resemble ‘Early Girl.’ In general, unless you are interested in a long term breeding project, avoid saving seeds of hybrids

In my own personal experience if you purchase open pollinated seeds which are indicated in most seed catalogs as (OP) you are fine.

If you purchase heirloom seeds most heirloom seeds are open pollinated.

Either of these choices and you should be fine to save viable seeds that will grow true to variety.

 

[dirtdiva]

Also if you are ever traveling near Iowa there is an organization that I have been a member of since the beginning called Seed Savers Exchange. They are dedicated to the procurement, research and preservation of old and lost varieties of flowers and vegetable to preserve genetic diversity. They select some of these varieties to sell every year. It is a great educational place to visit and tour. A large majority of the seeds that I grow and save every year started from varieties originally purchased from there.

Anyway here is their information on this subject and a link.

What's the Difference? Open-Pollinated, Heirloom & Hybrid Seeds — Seed Savers Exchange Blog

• Open-pollinationis when pollination occurs by insect, bird, wind, humans, or other natural mechanisms.
  • Because there are no restrictions on the flow of pollen between individuals, open-pollinated plants are more genetically diverse. This can cause a greater amount of variation within plant populations, which allows plants to slowly adapt to local growing conditions and climate year-to-year. As long as pollen is not shared between different varieties within the same species, then the seed produced will remain true-to-type year after year.
• An heirloomvariety is a plant variety that has a history of being passed down within a family or community, similar to the generational sharing of heirloom jewelry or furniture.
  • An heirloom variety must be open-pollinated, but not all open-pollinated plants are heirlooms. While some companies create heirloom labels based on dates (such as a variety that is more than 50 years old), Seed Savers Exchange identifies heirlooms by verifying and documenting the generational history of preserving and passing on the seed.
• Hybridizationis a controlled method of pollination in which the pollen of two different species or varieties is crossed by human intervention.
  • Hybridization can occur naturally through random crosses, but commercially available hybridized seed, often labeled as F1, is deliberately created to breed a desired trait. The first generation of a hybridized plant cross also tends to grow better and produce higher yields than the parent varieties due to a phenomenon called ‘hybrid vigor’. However, any seed produced by F1 plants is genetically unstable and cannot be saved for use in following years. Not only will the plants not be true-to-type, but they will be considerably less vigorous. Gardeners who use hybrid plant varieties must purchase new seed every year. Hybrid seeds can be stabilized, becoming open-pollinated varieties, by growing, selecting, and saving the seed over many years.

So what's it going to be—hybrid, open-pollinated, or heirloom varieties?​

While hybrids have their benefits, choosing open-pollinated varieties conserves the genetic diversity of garden vegetables and prevents the loss of unique varieties in the face of dwindling agricultural biodiversity. Furthermore, focusing on heirloom varieties creates a historical connection to gardening and food production, building a more sustainable future by carrying on our garden heritage.

By choosing open-pollinated and heirloom varieties, you have the ability to help conserve biodiversity and to contribute to the stories behind our seeds.

Hope this helps everyone select the right seeds and make good decisions on seed procurement.

Happy Gardening! DD