This isn't a question about seed propagation for later transplant but a general question about garden seeds. I'm surprised I don't know the answer to this!
Can a person save seeds from hybrid vegetables grown in the garden, and then plant them the next year and have them grow and produce? Or will they be sterile? (for example a hybrid cuke or corn)
Thanks!
I am sure that I don't have a complete answer to your question, Taiji.
That you have waited nearly 12 hours for an answer probably indicates that quite a few other gardeners don't either. Many may be uncertain about the "terminator gene" that may come into use with genetically modified plants. There is also the rather simple problem of some hybrids not being able to produce seeds, at all. But, that doesn't bear on your question.
Seeds from hybrid plants probably will not produce plants similar to their parents. Or, many of those plants will be unlike their parents.
Seldom are the hybrids that seed companies sell, the result of crossing 2 different species. So, they aren't like a mule - the offspring of a horse and a donkey. A mule is sterile.
Most hybrid plants are the result of crossing 2 genetic lines. These aren't separate species but separate varieties of the same species. The resultant hybrid may be quite different from either parent or similar to one or the other. However, the offspring may "hide" a good number of traits that aren't all that valuable for a garden plant.
An example of saving hybrid seed was me allowing a volunteer tomato to grow in the garden. When it produced fruit - they were almost exactly like the Sweet 100's that I have most every year. I was pleased how very early they ripened fruit but they sure weren't sweet . . . So, that was a little disappointing . . . It was a good thing that I had a lot of cherry tomato plants that did produce sweet fruit. Most, but not all, of them were hybrids again in the 2012 garden.
Steve
That you have waited nearly 12 hours for an answer probably indicates that quite a few other gardeners don't either. Many may be uncertain about the "terminator gene" that may come into use with genetically modified plants. There is also the rather simple problem of some hybrids not being able to produce seeds, at all. But, that doesn't bear on your question.
Seeds from hybrid plants probably will not produce plants similar to their parents. Or, many of those plants will be unlike their parents.
Seldom are the hybrids that seed companies sell, the result of crossing 2 different species. So, they aren't like a mule - the offspring of a horse and a donkey. A mule is sterile.
Most hybrid plants are the result of crossing 2 genetic lines. These aren't separate species but separate varieties of the same species. The resultant hybrid may be quite different from either parent or similar to one or the other. However, the offspring may "hide" a good number of traits that aren't all that valuable for a garden plant.
An example of saving hybrid seed was me allowing a volunteer tomato to grow in the garden. When it produced fruit - they were almost exactly like the Sweet 100's that I have most every year. I was pleased how very early they ripened fruit but they sure weren't sweet . . . So, that was a little disappointing . . . It was a good thing that I had a lot of cherry tomato plants that did produce sweet fruit. Most, but not all, of them were hybrids again in the 2012 garden.
Steve
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ReptileAddiction
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Taiji
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Thanks Steve. I was afraid you were gonna say that, but it's better to find out now, than plant an entire garden from saved seeds. So, I guess I just need to purchase new seeds each year for the particular hybrids I like.
I was thinking of the same analogy of the horse and donkey myself, hence the word "sterile" though it doesn't apply here I guess!
Dan
I was thinking of the same analogy of the horse and donkey myself, hence the word "sterile" though it doesn't apply here I guess!
Dan
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DoubleDogFarm
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Yes Dan, you should be willing to save seeds from your favorite hybrid and see what you get. I had over 60 tomato plants in the 2012 garden. Having 1 volunteer was almost zero commitment. (It did, however, grow part way over a Rose Bianca eggplant and really mess up my evaluation of that plant! It was the only Rose Bianca in the garden and I wanted to know how it would do here . . 
) Anyway, whether the hybrid's offspring did well or poorly didn't make a lot of difference in tomato production this year.
You may be able to develop a variety of your own! Those plants may meet your standards and like to grow in your garden!
So, saving a little seed from a hybrid may be fun and rewarding. Just don't bet the farm on a garden full of the offspring of hybrids.
Steve
) Anyway, whether the hybrid's offspring did well or poorly didn't make a lot of difference in tomato production this year.You may be able to develop a variety of your own! Those plants may meet your standards and like to grow in your garden!
So, saving a little seed from a hybrid may be fun and rewarding. Just don't bet the farm on a garden full of the offspring of hybrids.
Steve
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rainbowgardener
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I sometimes save seeds of hybrids. They are not sterile. Some hybrid varieties are bred to be sterile which means they do not set seeds. If the fruit or blossom makes seeds, the seeds are not sterile. I grow a lot of hybrid petunias. The single petunias set seeds, the double variety never produces a single seed.
I have grown out peppers from hybrid varieties of bell peppers and they were pretty similar to the parents. If I were selling them, I couldn't have advertised them as California Wonder or whatever, but you probably wouldn't notice the difference. Growing out the petunias from saved seed, I often get color changes and sometimes, stripes or markings that weren't there in the original. But I have noticed, if I keep growing generations of petunias from saved seed, they tend to fade out towards white, so I'm thinking the ur-petunia before the hybridizers started working on it, may have been white. But whatever color they come out, they are always petunias and I enjoy seeing what variety I get that way.
I have grown out peppers from hybrid varieties of bell peppers and they were pretty similar to the parents. If I were selling them, I couldn't have advertised them as California Wonder or whatever, but you probably wouldn't notice the difference. Growing out the petunias from saved seed, I often get color changes and sometimes, stripes or markings that weren't there in the original. But I have noticed, if I keep growing generations of petunias from saved seed, they tend to fade out towards white, so I'm thinking the ur-petunia before the hybridizers started working on it, may have been white. But whatever color they come out, they are always petunias and I enjoy seeing what variety I get that way.
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DoubleDogFarm
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I wonder if the topic really must be addressed "variety by variety'
some hybrids are sterile, some are not. I've never found a "list" of which was what . . . even for the long documented hybrids/F1 varieties that have been available for years and years.
I suspect the "plant breeders" either consider that aspect "proprietary" or simply don't publish the info.
saving seeds from hybrids is rolling the dice - if the seed germinates (ie it is not a sterile hybrid) - the resulting plant and fruit may be better or worse than the seed providing plant. and it is also to note: "better" or "worse" is extremely dependent on the grower's / gardener's view. traits considered "valuable" by big ag are not necessarily traits valued by the home gardener.
given that "the seeds are free" - why not try some?
then again, I fully agree: "don't bet the farm on it"
some hybrids are sterile, some are not. I've never found a "list" of which was what . . . even for the long documented hybrids/F1 varieties that have been available for years and years.
I suspect the "plant breeders" either consider that aspect "proprietary" or simply don't publish the info.
saving seeds from hybrids is rolling the dice - if the seed germinates (ie it is not a sterile hybrid) - the resulting plant and fruit may be better or worse than the seed providing plant. and it is also to note: "better" or "worse" is extremely dependent on the grower's / gardener's view. traits considered "valuable" by big ag are not necessarily traits valued by the home gardener.
given that "the seeds are free" - why not try some?
then again, I fully agree: "don't bet the farm on it"
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ReptileAddiction
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Taiji
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Thanks for all the great responses. I probably won't purposely try any hybrid seeds that I would save since I am limited for space, and it seems like a gamble. I actually have plenty of land, but, because of deer, javelina, rabbits, ground squirrels, rock squirrels, pack rats etc...I had to build a high enclosure for the garden! It's rather wild out here.
Being kind of a cheapskate, my main goal was to be free of the seed companies forever!
I wonder if all varieties that are termed "heirloom" then are non hybrids?
Dan
Being kind of a cheapskate, my main goal was to be free of the seed companies forever!
I wonder if all varieties that are termed "heirloom" then are non hybrids?
Dan
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DoubleDogFarm
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A cut and paste quick answer.Heirloom vegetables are not a special species of plants. The term heirloom vegetable is used to describe any type of vegetable seed that has been saved and grown for a period of years and is passed down by the gardener that preserved it. It has a provenance, of sorts. To be capable of being saved, all heirloom seed must be open pollinated.
Open pollinated or OP plants are simply varieties that are capable of producing seeds that will produce seedlings just like the parent plant. Not all plants do this.
Plant breeders cross breed compatible types of plants in an effort to create a plant with the best features of both parents. These are called hybrids and many of our modern plants are the results of these crosses.
There are many Open Pollinated seed on the market
Eric