Heirloom, Hybrid, Open Pollinated & GMO.

Trying to decide which seeds to plant is difficult enough. There are so many choices. Then on top of that, gardeners and foodies alike love to throw terms like heirloom, hybrid, open pollinated & GMO at you. How can you know which is the best for you? What do these terms actually mean? Are they good or bad? Which should you grow? Which should you eat? It’s a difficult choice as each of these have  positive and negative attributes. Understanding what they mean will make your choices a lot easier.
Come along and we will break it all down for you and show you exactly what these terms mean.

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Open Pollinated

Let’s start with Open Pollinated. It’s probably the least talked about, but understanding this term will help explain all the others.

An open pollinated seed is as natural as it gets. It is pollinated naturally by insects, wind, birds and animals. It then produces fruit and then seeds naturally. If you only grow one type of tomato plant (for example) you can save the seeds and it will (here is the important part) produce the same kind of tomato year after year.

It is however open pollinated, so if you grow several different types of tomato, they can cross pollinate and you may get a different variety altogether. This could be good. Or it might not be.

Positives of Open Pollinated

• You can save seeds and (providing they have not crossed) grow the same type of plant you grew last time.
• Often have superior flavor over hybrids.

Negative of Open Pollinated

• Often is grown to be able to save seeds, not necessarily for top quality.
• Often is not resistant to many fungi and diseases.

Heirloom

All heirloom seeds and plants are open pollinated. Not all open pollinated seeds and plants are heirloom.

An heirloom is just that. It has been passed down for many generations. Think Antiques. Most seed companies require it to be documented to be a consistent variety for over 50 years. But just like all antiques the length of time to become an heirloom will vary depending on who is verifying it. But in all cases, it does need to have a documented history. Often heirloom varieties are chosen for superior taste.

Hybrid

Hybrids are often listed in seed catalogs as F1

Hybridization is the controlled pollination of two different varieties, within a species. For example, two different tomatoes are pollinated with each other by human intervention. If the one tomato (x) is crossed with the same other tomato (y ) and the seed is saved from this plant, this seed will produce tomato (z) every time. However if you plant and grow that seed and save z’s seeds, they will not produce a z plant. (and you thought you would never use algebra again)
Any flowering plant (not just tomatoes) can be hybridized.

 

Positives of Hybrids

• Hybrids are created to bring out desirable characteristics such as disease resistance.

Negatives of hybrids

• You cannot save the seeds and get the same kind of plant next year.
• Seeds saved are often less vigorous than the parent plant.
• You will have to purchase new seeds every year to get the desired traits.
• Often taste is sacrificed for disease resistance or how much the plant produces.

GMO

GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organisms. That means that the DNA from one species is extracted and artificially forced into the genes of an unrelated species. It could be bacteria, viruses, plants, insects, animals or even humans. It sounds a lot like playing God to me. But is it good or bad?

Positives of GMO’s

• Plants can be created in the laboratory that are resistant to insects, diseases or even chemicals.

Negatives of GMO’s

• Since the seeds are modified by large powerful companies, there has not been enough testing to see if they are safe to consume.
• The seeds are copyrighted so you are not allowed to save your own GMO seeds.
• The GMO seeds might cross with open pollinated seeds and change the genetics of all our seeds.

 

Heirloom, Hybrid, Open Pollinated & GMO. What type of seeds should you grow?

There are positives and negatives to all the types of seeds, so how do you know what to grow?

• Find out what grows well in your area. As far as tomatoes are concerned, I usually steer toward hybrids due to their disease resistance. That is very important here in hot humid Florida. I am not against trying an heirloom, but I wouldn’t put my whole garden in them. If you ask around your part of the country, you might just find an old time heirloom that does exceptionally well in your area just like I did. I found everglades cherry tomatoes. They are naturally resistant to many of our bad nasties and I can keep the seeds. (Happy Dance) I can’t, however, say this about most heirloom tomatoes.
• Some vegetables do not need to be hybridized. I haven’t seen a hybridized rutabaga yet. They grow so well everywhere that no one has felt the need to improve upon it.
• If you want to save money grow open pollinated varieties so you can save the seeds.
• You don’t have to worry about GMO’s in the home garden as none of the home garden seed companies (that I know of) sell GMO. Most have a statement on their catalog and websites taking a non GMO pledge. (However, GMO’s have been around for over 2 decades and are in most processed foods and many animal feeds. So chances are you have already eaten some of them.)

Now that we’ve taken some of the mystery out of the types of seeds available,  it’s time to plan your garden. For more information on choosing what to grow in your garden check out; What to plant in your vegetable garden. 

Have a Ducky Day!

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