Sowing Seeds
Types of Vegetable Seeds: Heirloom vs. Hybrid vs. Open-Pollinated
Last month we talked about gardening basics. (You can find that post here). This month we’re getting a bit more detailed on seeds. This is the next step after you’ve built your garden and is an important one! There are all kinds of seeds out there, but not all of them are alike! When I started gardening, I had no idea there were different kinds of seeds. I think I just bought seeds from a big box store and went for it. It worked most of the time, but I realized when I went to save seed, not everything worked well the next season. That’s when I sat down and did some research and got the down-low on seed types!
There are three main types of vegetable seeds…Heirloom, Hybrid, and Open-Pollinated. They each have positives and negatives and we’ll explore these below…
Heirloom
The Oxford dictionary defines heirloom as, “a valuable object that has belonged to a family for several generations.” Most of us have heirlooms from our families sitting around in our homes. One of my favorites is a match can given to me by my grandmother when she passed. I had no idea she specifically left it to me and I still have no idea why it was left to me out of all of the grandchildren. Hopefully my kids will appreciate it as much as I have and keep it for their kids! Heirloom seeds are similar; they have been passed down from generation to generation, some seeds as many as hundreds of years old! Typically to be considered an heirloom, these seeds must be at least 50 years old. These seeds are also considered non-gmo (or genetically modified), meaning their DNA has not been artificially modified. There are entire arguments about genetically modified organisms, take time to educate yourself on what this means and whether this affects how you want to grow for yourself or your family. Heirloom seeds are also hardier when it comes to seed saving. If you’re careful and take into account cross-pollination, heirloom seeds are pretty much exactly like the parent plant. This means the vigorousness, the health, and the yield will be similar to the parent plant. We’ll discuss why this is important in the next section (hybrids). Heirlooms are an easy, great option to start with when beginning your seed-saving journey!
Hybrid
What do you think of when you hear that word? I think of some sci-fi lab with weird looking creatures that of course eventually escape and wreak havoc on human kind. Hybrid seeds ARE NOT that! A hybrid seed has been produced by a person (not a pollinator) by cross pollinating two different varieties of a plant. This is called “selective breeding” of plants. There are different goals as to why plants are bred this way. Some common reasons are to ward off pests, ward off disease, increase yield, drought tolerance, etc. Obviously there are benefits to using hybrid plants. Some drawbacks are often seeds from a hybrid do not produce the same plant or they are sterile (won’t grow). Hybrid seeds can be beneficial if you really struggle with disease or pests or possibly have a short growing season and need a higher yield. If you are working towards self-sufficiency and want to save seeds, do not use hybrids. If you are working towards self-sufficiency and want to save food more, this might be a great fit for you!
Open-Pollinated
Really, a hyphenated word, we’re getting fancy over here! Open-pollinated is not as complicated as the word is with its proper grammar name. It simply means these plants have been pollinated by bees, birds, moths, butterflies, wind, rain, etc. Now the tricky part comes in when we’re talking about the seeds of an open-pollinated plant. If allowed to pollinate with the same variety of plant, it will produce true seeds (meaning like the parent). If they are allowed to cross pollinate with another variety (of the same species), then the seed is not true. And if you’re not already confused, heirlooms are open-pollinated but not all open-pollinated are heirlooms. Similar to all squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares (thank you 6th grade math). Heirloom and open-pollinated are very similar, the difference being heirlooms have been passed down for many years. We won’t spend too much time on this part of open-pollinated. I think it’s more important to get into why use open-pollinated. These plants are typically more genetically diverse, allowing the seeds of such plants to adapt to local growing conditions and climate. For example, plants grown in the south face heat, humidity, drought. Plants respond to this and the next generation (their seeds) begin to adapt. Another example of this would be growing in high altitude. The plants grown in high altitude environments will produce seed better adapted to those conditions. Overall open-pollinated are typically considered the “winner” when it comes to gardening and self-sufficiency.
Choosing a seed type really depends on your goals for gardening. As you have learned, if you’re wanting disease resistance or high yield crops, choose hybrid. If you’re wanting to seed save and work towards self-sufficiency, choose heirloom or open-pollinated. My personal preference is the last two. I believe we need more biodiversity back in our lands to help combat our changing climate. I know I can’t do it all on my own, but I can at least make a difference in my little backyard garden and so can you.
