Are Hybrid Seeds Good? Open-Pollinated Seeds: Meaning and Differences Explained

There are three types of seeds: hybrid, open-pollinated, and heirloom. Stark Bro's carries only non-GMO heirloom seeds, and all of them are open-pollinated. Below are the definitions and examples of each seed type, to clear up the common confusion surrounding them.

Hybrid Seeds

Hybrids are produced when two different varieties of a tree or plant are deliberately cross-pollinated to create a single new variety that embodies the best characteristics of each “parent.” These seeds are usually sold in the small packets you buy at garden centers and online. Hybrid seeds are also commonly called F1 seeds, which is the genetic term for Filial 1 (“first child”). F1 seeds are the product of a first-generation cross between two varieties.

Unfortunately, hybrid seeds from the offspring (F2 and beyond) will not produce true to the parent; saving seeds from a hybrid plant will at best produce unpredictable results. You may get something similar to the parent; or it may be sterile; but it certainly will not be more vigorous than the previous generation. Because you cannot save hybrid seeds, you must buy new seeds every year to harvest this kind of seed.

The adjective that best describes hybrid vigor is “uniformity,” which has its benefits. When you plant hybrid seeds, you can expect whatever disease resistance is promised on the packet, the produce will mature in the number of days stated on the packet, and the size and color of the plants will be nearly identical for every seed sown plant. These are the varieties you most commonly see in supermarkets; commercial growers rely on hybrids because there are few surprises.

Open-Pollinated Seeds

Compared with hybrid seeds, open pollination happens “by accident”: through chance human contact/transfer, insects, wind, birds, or any other natural means.

If you save the seed and plant it the next season, you will get the same plant as the previous year. This is an excellent, cost-effective way to select plants that do well in your garden.

Open-pollinated seeds do have some drawbacks, but they usually do not affect the home gardener much. Plants may mature later than hybrids, or plant color may vary from plant to plant. This “diversity” is a clear indicator that it is open-pollinated. It is important to note that if you are a seed saver and notice a plant that is distinctly different from the rest of the row, that mutated plant should be destroyed, because it will cross with any seed you collect next year and change the strain.

Heirloom Seeds

Heirloom varieties - usually varieties more than 50 years old or pre-World War II - are just as they sound: they are older open-pollinated varieties passed down through generations, like grandma's jewelry. As early as the beginning of the 20th century, plant breeders developed many new open-pollinated varieties to create more stable genetic lines that produced more uniform yields. These heirloom varieties are open-pollinated strains that date from before the earliest open-pollinated breeding work, or that remain unchanged by it.