Saving seeds...

[Alexandra]

I was looking over the thread on Heirloom veggies. If I were to grow Heirloom Vegetables, I could save my own seeds? Are the seeds that are commercially available ALL hybrids? Are hybrid veggie seeds not viable?

I never even thought about any of this but this has gotten me to wonder about this topic. I am just now getting back into gardening and it seems like I might as well use seed from Seed Savers so that I can harvest seeds along with my produce...do I have that right?

Does anyone have some additional resources that I could read about the educate myself?

Thanks

[mamaof2andtwins]

I have the seed saving book that Seed Savers sells. I think you could probably buy it on Amazon as well. I do easy seed saving with things like peppers, lettuce, basil, squash, etc.

 

You can save seeds of non-hybrid, open pollinated seeds. They will give you a plant that is true to the type of plant that the parent is. A hybrid will not give you a true plant type to the parents which is why they are not ideal for saving. Now, I do get volunteer plants that grow up around here, and I don't know what kind of seeds they were. However, the child plant has given me good results.

 

If I am specifically planning on saving then I chose non-hybrid seeds. The seeds from Seed Savers will give you saving instructions on the back of the seed packets.

 

Jennie

[abreakfromlife]

Yeah, you can save your heirloom seeds....it's so much fun. If you keep it organized, you can exchange seeds with people on various gardening yahoo groups. I love saving my seeds. I feel so Little-House-On-the-Prairie-ish :D

[hillfarm]

Yes, you can definitely save your own seeds. Not all seeds sold commercially are hybrids. Look for those referred to as open polinated, which means their next generation of seeds will be reproductions of the parent plants. Some hybrids will grow, but often revert back to one of the plants used to create the hybrid, so you may end up with something with great color or great shelf life but not-so-great taste. The open polinated seeds will breed true generation after generation.

 

BTW, heirloom does not guarantee open polinated, but usually means the same things. A few very old varieties are hybrids.

 

The book previously mentioned is probably Seed to Seed (http://www.amazon.com/Seed-Growing-Techniques-Vegetable-Gardeners/dp/1882424581/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239310769&sr=8-1) which is a great resource for learning how to save your own seeds. In most cases, it is a fairly easy process.