All About Seeds

 

Ashcombe has a diverse selection of seeds!

Even though it is freezing outside, It is time start your seeds indoors!  

With all these seed choices, sometimes the terminology can create confusion.  Here are some short descriptons of some of the common terms used today.  

Hybrid (F-1):  

An “F-1” or first generation hybrid occurs when a breeder selects two pure lines (plants that produce identical offspring when self-pollinated) and cross-pollinates them to produce a seed that combines desirable characteristics or “traits” from both parents.  Common traits breeders work to increase in hybrids might include, for example, disease resistance, uniformity, earliness, high nutrition or color.  Seeds can be saved and planted from F-1 hybrids, however, plants grown from that seed may lack the desirable characteristics of the parents, which were crossed specifically to incorporate them.

Open Pollinated (a.k.a. OP):  

Open-pollinated varieties are seeds that result from pollination by insects, wind, self-pollination or other forms of pollination.  If you save seeds from open-

pollinated varieties and grow them in following years, they will be like the parent plant from which the seeds were harvested.

Heirloom:

Heirlooms can be generally defined as Open-Pollinated varieties that have been around for at least 50 years or so.

GMO (Genetically Modified Organism):  

The USDA defines a GMO as an organism produced through any type of genetic modification, whether by high tech modern genetic engineering, OR long time traditional plant breeding methods.  GMO is a broader term that includes GE but 

unfortunately the terms have been interchanged so much that GMO 

has essentially been redefined as GE

 

GE (Genetically Engineered):  

The terms GE and GMO are frequently used interchangeably in the 

media, but it is modern Genetic Engineering that is the subject of much discussion.  Genetic Engineering describes the high-tech methods used in recent decades to incorporate genes directly into an organism.  The only way scientists can transfer genes between organisms that are not sexually 

compatible is to use recombinant DNA techniques.  The plants that result do not occur in nature; they are “genetically engineered” by human intervention and manipulation.  Examples of GE crops currently grown by agribusiness include corn modified with a naturally occuring soil bacterium for protection from corn borer damage (Bt-corn), and herbicide-resistant (“Roundup Ready”) soybeans, corn, cotton, canola and alfalfa.  All of these are larger acreage, 

commercial crops.  At the present time, home gardeners will NOT encounter any packets of GE seeds sold through home garden seed catalogs or garden center seed racks.