Heirloom Seeds

[rambone]

What's the difference between "Heirloom" Seeds and any other seeds?

I did a search and didn't find any other threads that directly cover this. I have a vague idea of what the answer is but I will leave it to those with more knowledge of the subject give their take.

 

[haldir]

Heirlooms are old open pollinated varieties. So you can save the seeds to be replanted the coming year. Often they have been passed down through families for many years. Now you see some of them commercially sold, others are still not available, others through small specialty companies (mmmm greasy beans).

 

[redneckmedic]

Hybrid generally produce better yeild and harvest, but you can't seed to seed more than once or twice. Most Home Depot or Wally world starters are hybrid!

 

[agentl074]

Non GMO is better for ya though

 

[smokingman]

The fact that you only have to buy them once makes heirloom seeds worth every penny.You will need to learn how to save seeds for the next year,but should never need to buy the same variety again.It is the way to go rather you are talking about a garden or

heirloomtomatoes.com

 

[Richard]

Agreed, heirloomseeds.com is where I buy my seeds from, I've had really good luck with them over the years with only a single exception (one package of commadore bush beans did not germinate as well as I would have liked).

Anyway I also save some of my own seeds & would be interested in setting up some sort of INGO seed exchange if anyone else is interested.

 

[rambone]

What are some of the theories out there about why the hybrid seeds were altered in such a way. It seems hybrid seeds are inferior in some aspects.

 

[mrjarrell]

Some hybrid seeds are inferior, but others offer superior disease resistance. Yields can be significantly higher, too. If you're planning on saving seed then heirloom is the way to go. If not, then give some of the hybrids a shot, as one offs. I often plant a mixture of both. As an example this year all my tomatoes are heirlooms. I planted a mix of radishes. One heirloom and the other a hybrid. The hybrid tastes better than the heirloom and it's not as "woody". YMMV.

 

[millsusaf]

Is there any truth in that the heirloom plants cease to be heirloom when they get pollinated by something that also pollinated a hybrid plant?

 

[bullet293]

heirloom is the way to go. you dont know what your getting with gmo it might be goat carrots or chicken onions. and generally the seeds dont reproduce. monsanto has copyrights on there seeds and if you replant them next year they will sue you for every thing you have.

 

[csaws]

Is there any truth in that the heirloom plants cease to be heirloom when they get pollinated by something that also pollinated a hybrid plant?

Dude that is a great question, I bet it would cease to be a heirloom at that point. I will ask the master gardener in my life to see if she knows.

I do know that you can pollinate plants yourself and not worry about it if you are really worried about it. I learned how the other day. Basically you take the male "flower" from the plant and rub it on the female "flower" of the same said plant then you tape up the female "flowers" petals and keep pollinators out. I know this works for things like melons and squash, I bet you could even do it with corn and just put plastic wrap over the silks of the ear.

interesting little fact did you know the for every strand of silk (female flower) there is a possible kernel of corn? If some of your kernels are not there that means the pollen from the tassel (male flower) did not hit that particular strand of sil on that ear of corn.

 

[millsusaf]

Dude that is a great question, I bet it would cease to be a heirloom at that point. I will ask the master gardener in my life to see if she knows.

I do know that you can pollinate plants yourself and not worry about it if you are really worried about it. I learned how the other day. Basically you take the male "flower" from the plant and rub it on the female "flower" of the same said plant then you tape up the female "flowers" petals and keep pollinators out. I know this works for things like melons and squash, I bet you could even do it with corn and just put plastic wrap over the silks of the ear.

interesting little fact did you know the for every strand of silk (female flower) there is a possible kernel of corn? If some of your kernels are not there that means the pollen from the tassel (male flower) did not hit that particular strand of sil on that ear of corn.

What did the master gardener say? I've heard that from a couple different sources.

Thanks

 

[wabash]

Heirloom Tomatoes, The Hand Me Down of Foods


Heirloom Tomatoes, The Hand Me Down of Foods - Food & Drink - FOXNews.com

 

[haldir]

If one bean variety polinates another bean variety, it doesn't matter if one is a hybrid or not. The seed you will be left to save will not be the same as what you started with. So plant one variety of something at a time to save its seeds. If it is corn, you could plant an early corn and a late corn and they probably will not pollinate. You could plant beans at the start of the season and some more later so they are not blooming at the same time. Lettuce might be tough since it really only does well in early spring and late fall. If you have separate gardens you might be able to keep them far enough away. If they are in the same garden and polinated by bees they will get cross pollinated. Then it is not the same heirloom that you started out with.

 

[RCB]

Stay away from Monsanto and anything they have to do with (which is about 80% of all commercial plants). They are bad, bad people. All for the sake of money right? I am not an irrational person, but I hope I get to see Monsanto's downfall. Some pretty wicked stuff.

 

[homeless]

If you want to keep an heirloom and also play with some hybrids, you can plant both and detassle the hybrid. Your heirloom will then pollinate itself and cross with the hybrid. Thus you get a plant that is predictable and one that is a little more custom taylored.

 

[Pamcake]

If you want to keep an heirloom and also play with some hybrids, you can plant both and detassle the hybrid. Your heirloom will then pollinate itself and cross with the hybrid. Thus you get a plant that is predictable and one that is a little more custom taylored.

Here is an example of just that:
The Yellow/White Bicolor is a sh2 hybrid. it was detassled so it wouldn't ruin my other corn. I'm guessing that the OP Bloody Butcher did the pollination here! The bicolor ear in the middle was pollinated before I got all of the tassles off (there were 2 plantings of the bicolor hybrid). Of note, most of the red disappears during cooking!