Hybrid vs. Heirloom Seeds - Countryside (2024)

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By Jean Smith – I am a diehard for plants grown from heirloom seeds, and I save most of my own seedsfor our farm. I thought now wouldbe a good time to give a lesson on thebasic differences between hybrid andheirloom seeds. We’ll look at specificdefinitions of hybrid and heirloom seeds and then I will give myown personal feelings on the two, aswell as some of my favorite varietiesalong with some resources!

Heirloom Seeds

The definition and use of theword “heirloom” to describe plantsis fiercely debated. One school of thought places anage or date point on the cultivars. Forinstance, one school says that for heirloom seeds, the cultivarmust be more than 100 years old, but otherssay 50 years, and others prefer thedate of 1945, which marks the end ofWorld War II and roughly the beginningof widespread use of hybrid seeds bygrowers and seed companies. Manygardeners consider 1951 to be the latestyear a plant can have originatedand still be called heirloom seeds, sincethat year marked the widespread introductionof hybrid varieties. It wasin the 1970s that hybrid seeds beganto proliferate in the commercial seedtrade through the top seed companies. Some heirloom plants aremuch older, some being apparentlypre-historic.

Another way of defining heirloom seeds is to use the definitionof the word “heirloom” in its truestsense. Under this interpretation, atrue heirloom is a cultivar that hasbeen nurtured, selected, and handeddown from one family member toanother for many generations.

Additionally, there is another category of cultivars that could beclassified as “commercial heirloom seeds,”cultivars that were introduced manygenerations ago and were of suchmerit that they have been saved,maintained, and handed down — evenif the seed company has gone out ofbusiness or otherwise dropped theline. Additionally, many old commercialreleases have actually been familyheirlooms that a seed companyobtained and introduced.

Regardless of a person’s specificinterpretation, most authorities agreethat heirloom seeds, by definition, must beopen-pollinated. They may also beopen-pollinated varieties that werebred and stabilized using classicbreeding practices. While there are no genetically modified tomatoes availablefor commercial or home use, it isgenerally agreed that no geneticallymodified organisms (GMOs) can beconsidered heirloom seeds. Anotherimportant point of discussionis that without the ongoing growing of heirloom plants and storage of heirloom seeds, theseed companies and the governmentwill control all seed distribution.Most, if not all, hybrid plants, ifregrown, will not be the same as theoriginal hybrid plant, thus ensuringthe dependency on seed distributorsfor future crops.

Hybrid Seeds

Overview: A hybrid plant is across between two or more unrelatedinbred plants. Hybridization hasbrought huge improvements, includingmore vigorous plants, improveddisease resistance, earlier maturity,more uniform growth and increasedyield. There are several different types of hybrid seeds and plants to be aware of:

F1 Hybrids

Seed saved from the first cross-pollinationof two unrelated open-pollinatedplants is called F1 hybridseed. (F1 stands for Familial 1.) Eachof the parents contributes attributesthat, when combined, produce animproved type of plant.

Hybrid Vigor

A frequent characteristic of F1 hybridsis much-increased vigor. Thiscan take the form of faster growth tomaturity, larger root and top growth,and increased productivity. Thegains from what is called heterosisgreatly exceed the sum of what theparent plants might be expected toproduce. Despite recent advancesin the understanding of plant genetics,there is still no agreementamong scientists about what causesheterosis.

Disease Resistance

Like other living things, plantsare vulnerable to a range of diseasesthat can cause disappointment ina home garden and huge financiallosses in agriculture. One trait thatis constantly sought in plant hybridizationis resistance—or at leasttolerance—of diseases that can affectproductivity. In seed catalogs,resistance is noted in an abbreviationafter the plant variety name. Forexample, “Arbason F1 Hybrid, FW(races 0, 1), VW, TMV” means thatthis tomato has resistance to fusariumwilt races 0 and 1, verticilliumwilt and tomato mosaic virus.

Uniform Growth

While the taste and appearanceof open-pollinated and heirloomplants are highly valued, the sizeand growth rate of fruit and leafy=parts can vary widely. Hybridizationcan stabilize growth factors, sothe grower can harvest much moreuniform produce.

Maturity and Yield

In agriculture, the ability to producea crop early in the season hasconsiderable marketing advantages across all planting zones.The first corn, the first tomatoes, andthe first strawberries always commandhigher prices. Hybrids canbe created to achieve this, as wellas higher yield, although it is oftentrue that this extra-early producedoes not have the full taste of latervarieties.

Later Generations

The seed of open-pollinated orheirloom plants can be saved, andwhen sown will produce plantsthat are essentially identical to the parent plant. The seed from F1 hybridplants, called F2 hybrids, willnot produce a copy of the parent.Instead, the F2 plant will exhibit“break-up” in the form of randomcharacteristics from either parent orpossibly an even earlier trait. Whatthis means is that F1 hybrid seedhas to be created from scratch everyyear by laboriously hand-crossingthe parent plants. This helps toexplain why hybrid seed can be soexpensive.

Well, that is all the “formal”stuff. Now on to the basics.Heirloom seeds, in my opinion, and Ibelieve most who grow them, willtestify to overwhelmingly betterflavor. Honestly, it’s not even justbetter, most of you who have eatena grocery store tomato and then afresh tomato know the difference.What most consumers don’t knowis that those perfectly shaped tomatoesin the grocery store were pickedrock hard green, packed and put inthe back of a semi and then gassedto ripen on “the road.” That is whythey are flavorless! Think about it … why do you think they intentionallysay “Vine Ripened” on the littletomatoes on “the vine?” They haveto tell youbecause they know theothers weren’t.

Hybridization has been utilizedfor making veggies travel-worthy.For example, Brandywine tomatoeshave extremely thin skins, thereforemaking them terrible “travelers.”As a market grower, I do not growBrandywines for market becausethey will crack and split before theyget to market, thereby making themunsellable, although I love them formy home garden and canning.

Uniformity in shape and size isalso a must for grocery stores, not sofor market tables. I love to put severaldifferent sized and colored heirloomtomatoes in a quart container — it issimply beautiful.

What some people also don’t realizeis that there is a big differencebetween a hybrid and a GMO seed.This is where scientists have actuallyinserted a gene from another speciesinto a vegetable. For example, puttinga fish gene in a tomato … yes, theyreally do, and they say they havereally good reasons for it. GMOsare not what I am going to get intohere, though, because that is a reallylengthy topic in its own right. Youcan do your own research, but pleaseunderstand; most vegetable seeds arenot GMO. GMO crops are focused oncrops such as corn, soy and alfalfa.

Here are some of my personalfavorite heirloom seed varieties for homegardening:

Tomatoes:

Beefsteak: Pineapple, Brandywine-all colors, Paul Robeson, Dr.Whyche’s, Hillbilly

Romas: Super Italian Paste, PlumLemon, Roman Candle, all the Icicles,Striped Roman

Salad types: Green and Red Zebra,Woodle Orange, Rose De Berne, Stupice,White Tomesol

Cherry and grapes: Reisentraube,Violet Jasper, Blondkopchen, Red &White Current, Chocolate Cherry,Sungold, Yellow Pear

Lettuces:
Rein’s De Glace, Merriville deFour Seasons, Grandpa’s, Red OakLeaf, Jericho, Forellenschulus, Rubin’s Romaine, Butter Crunch, Lolla Rossa,May Queen, Paris Island Cos, Rouge D’Hiver