Being a newbie, I am a little embarrassed to ask this question. I thought most of todays plants were hybrids and would not produce true. How do you know which ones will?
charlotteda
? for seed traders
Baa
Jul 12, 2004
It's a very good question Charlotteda! Welcome to DG
It's hard to know which will come true as many cultivars simply don't 9 times out of 10. Anything with F1 after it's name won't come true, their seedlings will be inferior in the main too (these are sometimes sold cheaply as F2 crosses).
Some older cultivars can and do come true but it's best to treat all seeds collected from cultivars as not coming true unless you know for certain otherwise, in the UK this is denoted by the term ex, i.e. seeds collected from Viola 'Rebecca' can be termed as Viola ex 'Rebecca'.
This message was edited Jul 12, 2004 6:42 AM
Many cultivars available from seed companies today are F1 hybrids (that is, the first generation of a cross between two inbred lines). There are hybrids of cross-pollinated as well as of self-pollinated crops. These produce vigorous, high-yielding, pest-resistant plants with high-quality flowers, fruits or roots. The seeds you purchase and plant will produce plants true to type, but their offspring won't. Seeds saved from an F1 hybrid plant will be the next (F2) generation and will very likely produce plants inferior to the parent. Do not waste your time saving the seeds from hybrid cultivars.
from: http://www.montana.edu/wwwpb/pubs/mt9905.html
Charlotte, we need to get you involved in the Heirloom varieties. There are many of us here on the Tomato Forum and the Heirloom Forum who grow and share our seed with folks. They are all interested in sharing information, history and such.
Gary/Louisville