Can You Save Hybrid Seeds From Your Garden?

Can you save seeds from a hybrid vegetable? What happens if you do? That is a question many gardeners have asked at some point, and one I hope to demystify for you!

Note to Reader: I’ve tried to make this article clear and easy to understand, but genetics are complicated and can get very technical. If you just want the very basics, feel free to skip to the summary near the bottom of this article! 

Disclaimer: this page may contain affiliate links, meaning if you make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

 

What are Hybrid Seeds?

 

What are hybrid seeds? A hybrid vegetable is the result of a cross between two different parent varieties.

Hybrid seeds are frequently marked in seed catalogs or on seed packets as “F1”. That means that they are the first generation from a cross of two separate varieties.

Hybrid seeds tend to combine the good genes from each parent variety into a more hardy and vigorous hybrid. Hybrids are popular because they often mature faster and are more resistant to disease. This is primarily true with outbreeding plants such as corn, carrots and the cabbage family. On the other hand, naturally inbreeding plants such as tomatoes, beans, peas and lettuce, show little improvement when hybridized.

Have you ever noticed how with the same exact care and diet, mixed breed puppies tend to have less health problems than purebreds? This is called “hybrid vigor”. It’s the same way with hybrid seeds.

 

 

What Are Open Pollinated Seeds?

 

The “OP” on a seed packet stands for “open-pollinated” and simply means that the variety is not a hybrid. Open pollinated seeds have parents from the same variety, like that purebred puppy!

The cons are that open pollinated seeds are sometimes more susceptible to disease and less productive than hybrids. This is mainly true with corn, carrots, onions and the cabbage family.

But the benefits of growing open pollinated seeds include better and more complex flavors in many cases, and the ease of saving seeds from OP cultivars.

Hybrid seeds require far more labor to produce and thus are more expensive to buy.

As mentioned earlier, hybrids also show little improvement over open pollinated varieties when it comes to inbreeding plants; tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, peas and beans.

 

 

What are Heirloom Seeds?

The open pollinated seeds category  includes varieties marked “heirloom”. The term “heirloom” means that the variety has been passed down from generation to generation.

Heirloom cultivars (or varieties) are typically more than 50 years old. You can find heirloom seeds from around the world with unique histories, colors, shapes and flavors.

Most of these varieties are still in existence today because of individual gardeners that took the time to save seeds from them!

Heirlooms are great to save seeds from! When you save seeds from an heirloom, you can know that you are a part of preserving history!

 

 

So Can You Save Seeds From a Hybrid Vegetable?

 

What exactly happens if you save seeds from a hybrid?

 

 

When F1 hybrid seeds are created, they usually inherit the same combination of genes from each parent variety. This gives a consistent and predictable result.

But when you take those F1 hybrid seeds and cross them with each other, those genes get all mixed up. You might get some plants that look just like the hybrids you saved seeds from, some that look like one grandparent and some like the other, and some that look like nothing you’ve ever seen before!

These variations tend to be more pronounced in highly outbreeding plants like corn, carrots and the cabbage family. Inbreeding plants like tomatoes, peppers, peas and beans, on the other hand, might show very little variation.

The degree of variations also varies with how different the two original parent varieties were. For example, if the two parent varieties were combined for disease resistance but had similar physical traits such as plant and fruit size, shape and color, you might notice very little variation when you save seeds from the hybrid.

In addition, some “hybrid seeds” are not truly hybrids. Since hybrid seeds demand a higher price and gardeners are more likely to come back and buy new seeds every year instead of saving their own, some producers falsely label open pollinated seeds as hybrids!

So to sum it up, yes, you can save hybrid seeds. Just know that the results might not be consistent and the resulting plants might be completely different from their parents. If you want to save seeds that consistently look like their parents, pick open pollinated varieties.

Note: Some hybrids do have a patent on the name of the variety. This means that you can’t save and distribute the seeds from that hybrid. Typically you can still save seeds for your own use from a patented variety.

 

Creating a New Variety From a Hybrid

 

 

Most new vegetable cultivars have started with hybrid seeds. With each successive generation, the breeder picked out the plants with the characteristics they were looking for until eventually the seed all grew a consistent type – a brand new variety!

You can come up with your own new variety by crossing two or more open pollinated seeds, or by starting with an existing hybrid and saving seeds every year until you get consistent results.

You can also create your own hybrids at home!

Hybrid corn is bred by growing two open-pollinated varieties parallel to each other. The tassels of the first variety are removed so that it only gets pollinated by the second type of corn. The seeds from the first variety are then saved to plant next year – an F1 hybrid!

Plant genetics are very complex! If you are interested in breeding plants and creating your own brand new varieties, I would highly recommend the book, Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties, by Carol Deppe.

This book is great for anyone who likes science and wants to really get serious about plant genetics. It is not for those who are casually interested in saving seeds (if this is you, you might want to check out our online seed saving course that makes seed saving simple for beginners!)

 

 

Summary: Can you save hybrid seeds?

 

To sum it all up, yes, you can save hybrid, just know that the results might not be consistent.

If you want consistent results (plants that look just like the ones you saved seed from), it’s better to save seeds from open pollinated or heirloom seeds.

 

Outbreeding plants that tend to have more variations when you save hybrid seeds:

• Corn
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Broccoli
• Carrots
• Onions

 

Inbreeding plants that might give more consistent results, even when saving seeds from a hybrid:

• Tomatoes
• Lettuce
• Peas
• Beans

 

 

If you would like to learn more about saving seeds, check out more of our articles on seed saving here!

We also offer a course designed to make seed saving simple for beginners. You can learn more about our seed saving course right here!

 

Happy Gardening!

-Kait