A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Hybrid question?

Is produce from hybrid seed the same as being genetically modified? One year I bought some hybrid tomato seeds. When I saved some seed from my harvested tomato and planted them the following year, they grew yellow and orange but none were red like the first year.
Every year we buy winter potatos from the farmer. 2 years ago, I noticed the potatos weren't the same texture, yet the farmer doesn't admit to changing anything. This spring, my mother in law seeded some of the left over potato's which grew normally, yet, now, when we cook them, they fall apart into soup in less than half the time. This didn't happen when we were using them throughout the winter? I'm wondering if they are hybriding the potatos too?
They are allowing and doing so much to our food, which they don't even have to tell us about?

thats why were told not to keep seed from hybrids
because they dont come true the next year, as you found out.
looks like the spuds could be the same if they are a new variety!
they could be going back to one of there parents.
but its more like the farmer has tried to mislead you.
this year i tried growing spuds that i bought from the shops, and they were very disappointing.
my fault for trying to save money!!!
next year i wont miss out on true certified potatoes for sure.
hope this helps

Thanks Mark, I did find out with yellow and pumpkin orange tomatos? I can't recall if it said on the package that the seeds were hybrid? Do they have to label it if they are hybrids?

Isn't there a law that they have to tell us what they're doing to our food supply?

In Canada, vegetable and fruit produce does not have to be labelled as being genetically modified and therefore the public is unaware of what they are buying at the supermarket or eating at their tables. I seen a documentary following the news, and they were saying scientists aren't even sure if genetically modified food is safe for us. Its a long story and a scary one at that...I'm sure there is plenty of information about this on the internet. Grow organic, especially corn and potatos and then you can be assured of food that is healthy to eat.

What you want to look for when growing things is op(open pollinated)that means that a particular cultivar can be grown from seed and will come back "true to type." In other words, the next generation will look just like its parent.

Now, however, there are more and more vegetables that will not come back "true to type." For example, plant nearly any F-1 hybrid tomato, and go through the steps to save seed. The next spring, plant it, and see what happens. The seed may not even germinate, since it may be sterile. If it does sprout, the young plants will probably not have many or any of the characteristics that made its parent noteworthy. While hybrids have many outstanding qualities, the ability to reproduce themselves is clearly not one of them.

Im pretty sure all F1s will be labeled, and most cost twice the price!

organic, especially corn and potatos and then you can be assured of food that is healthy to eat.

Really makes us respect people like seed Savers Exchange, doesn't it?

Am I doing this copy/paste thing right?
Mine doesn't look as good as everyone else's.

it should come out on preview post

Welcome to the wonderful world of corporate greed. If they had their way, ALL seed would be of hybrid origin and OP varieties and seed saving would be a thing of the past. This is why we need to do our part to protect valuable genetic germplasm from OP hierloom plants and NOT support these hybrid-pushing seed companies like Burpee and others.

BTW, hybrids are not necessarily GMO unless one of the parents were somehow GMO, which I have not heard of. Actually, anyone can make their own hybrids relatively easily.

Lots of varieties started as hybrids. You can stablize them. Some are easier to stabilize than others. There is several places on the internet you can read about that. You plant several seeds and just pick the ones that have the traits of the original plant. And do this till most plants come true. At this time you have an OP variety. I buy from a variety of suppliers including Burpee. They offer some great hybrids along with some OP's. I know several out there that are stabilizing Brandy Boy. Some say they have it already. I don't know of any GMO hybrid tomatoes being offered. I could be wrong. Hope this helps some. JD

WOW, JD !! The stuff I learn here !
I didn't know one can "make their own".

But what does open pollinated ACTUALLY mean?
As opposed to closed pollinating?
This gets me confused, and so does the difference between genus, variety, cultivar, hybrid, species, etc.
If someone can jump in and make it all make sense I would really appreciate it.

BTW, I hate the catalog pictures that show kids eating all the modified stuff.

I came across an article you may find interesting..

http://www2.kenyon.edu/Projects/Agri/gmain.html

Note: the tomato in this article??? tomato's will soon be talking and walking right out of your garden..hee hee...

Deborah, what were you doing in class when they were teaching about open and closed pollinations...you must have been busy chatting with me and not paying attention, because I'm a little confused about it too. All I can remember is learning about cross pollination, but open and closed???..
Comfrey thanks for explaining the open pollination, so I take it, that closed pollination is not true to type and does not look like it's parents...have I got it right this time?

Daisy, I was probably giggling about boys and passing notes.... I despised science classes.
And gym. And math. Loved everything else.
Comfrey, but does OPEN mean open to any pollinator, bees, bugs, whoever? An, er, promiscuous plant???
Oh, oh.... here comes a moderator to delete me....
Come on, boss ! NO ! I've read worse than this in here !
It's a sincere question !

There really is no such term as "closed" pollinating. Open pollinated really means that no outside intervention(human, bees,etc.) is needed for the variety's F1 generation to grow the same characteristics(true) as the parent. Hybrids have two different parent plants and are pollinated mechanically by humans.

As far as stabilizing hybrids goes, there is more to it than just randomly picking offspring. You need to bag blossoms, isolate the plants or use some other means of preventing cross-pollination or you will be just fighting a losing battle trying to get the variety you want. Stabilizing hybrids takes years and lots of work and careful note taking before they sucessfully become open-pollinated. But it is true that anyone can create their own variety by crossing their own choices of parents with just a little knowledge of biology.

In another forum I am taking part in cross-hemisphere dwarf tomato breeding project to attempt to broaden the colors and shapes of available open-pollinated dwarf tomato varieties. By having people to grow-out successive generations of seed in northern AND southern hemispheres of the planet(specifically Australia and USA), it allows you to grow 2 generations in ONE calendar year rather than just one and cuts the time it takes to stabilize the offspring in half. The project just started this past spring and already the F2 seeds are germinating in Australia as they are entering spring as we are entering Fall here in the USA. Its very interesting.

John, that sounds awesome - the work you're doing with the other forum.
I made up "closed pollinating".
So, you mean that open pollinated means that the plant merely clones itself? Unaided?

Deb, I wouldn't use the word "clone". It also needs SOME environmental conditions for the flowers to become properly pollinated, namely wind....And btw, I am generally referring to tomato plant pollination. Other plants can be somewhat different....

There is a difference between genetically modified plants and hybrids - GM plants will have had their DNA altered by humans, to make them resistant to disease, or produce more fruit. Hybrids occur in nature all the time, when one plant is pollinated by a different species, usually (as has been pointed out) producing sterile offspring.