[rowlandwells]

looking through the seed catalogue's trying to make up my mind what to try growing next year i noticed a vast difference in price from the open pollinated seed to the f1seed  the catalogue says open pollinated varieties basically lack the vigour and uniformity of modern hybrid varieties

for example one packet of Brussels F1 250sd £5.10 and 10g of a non hybrid variety £1.90
[cat spec 250 sds per gram] 

i know its probably me being a bit of a miser and you get what you pay for is it nevertheless better to pay that bit  extra to achieve good results or do you think we can achieve results by growing the old traditional varieties   

[crh75]

My opinion is that F1 seeds were developed mainly for farmers not for home growers.  And, strange as it may sound at first, our needs are not the same. Farmers primarily want uniform crops they can harvest in one go, taste can be secondary.  Us home growers want great tasting crops first and foremost that we can harvest when we want to eat them.  Therefore, I tend to go for standard seeds.  I may not get the cropping rate of F1 but I'm doing this for a hobby not for profit, plus I always have more veg than I can eat!

Another advantage for the true varieties is seed saving, you know it will be viable. 

[prakash_mib]

apart from couple of plants which wont grow in UKs climate like sweetcorn etc. I tend to use normal seeds.
FYI - I tried a rubbish variety of Toms last year F1 Incas.
would never grow them at all.
 
there was a topic in the past (started by ahem... me) on F1 vs real seed and the general thoughts of people were similar to mine!

[mumofstig]

There are some very good open pollinated varieties out there...............but on the other hand there are some very good f1 varieties out there.

A lot of the f1 varieties have been bred to overcome problems, eg for mildew tolerance, rust resistance, virus resistance, club root or even to overcome pollination problems as in the new parthenogenic courgettes and all female cucumbers. Some of these do actually do what they say on the tin

So basically, it's up to you.............you pays your money and takes your choice

[Yorkie]

I quite often look for the Award of Garden Merit (AGM) symbol in catalogues (it's like a little line diagram trophy).  This indicates that the variety has been tested in different conditions and locations, and found to be relatively reliable.

[savbo]

There are some very good open pollinated varieties out there...............but on the other hand there are some very good f1 varieties out there.

there's only way to decide.....

FIGHHTTTTT

[Ma Lowe]

There are some very good open pollinated varieties out there...............but on the other hand there are some very good f1 varieties out there.

there's only way to decide.....

FIGHHTTTTT

 

[mumofstig]

there's only way to decide.....

FIGHHTTTTT

Silly so n so  

[JaK]

I tend to buy the cheap seed to be honest, only because the less I can spend on things at the moment the better and the seed cataloues don't give student discount!  . Perhaps once I have an allotment and more room for growing I will give some of the F1 varieties a go? 

[rowlandwells]

i tend to agree with mumofstig you pays your money and takes your choice although F1 varieties are probably bread more for the commercial grower there's know doubt the home grower  has a good selection to choose from I  think there is a difference in taste but not necessarily just F1 varieties some cabbage grown for cold slaw definitely have a more sweeter taste   the commercial growers obviously grow FI varieties for both quantity as well as quality  to meet  supermarket standards as most vegetables are today  we gardeners tend not to be so fussy of size more of taste i don't save any of my own veg seed never have never will 

in my catalogue greyhound cabbage is a best seller as an  o/p variety and so is F1 stonehead cabbage  i suppose there is a cost involved for F1 varieties  to pay for breeders royalties so its a mixed bag i guess this debate could go on for ever

[TheSpartacat]

I agree with crh75 on this. Having everything harvestable at once isn't practical for a home grower- staggered harvest is far better, with a continual supply of fresh from the ground veg.

Open polinated seeds will adapt to your growing conditions and climate too, over generations of seed saving. You save seed from the strongest, disease free plants with the best crop as these have produced well in your area. Some heritage varieties do have disease resistance.

I also find the flavour better with open pollinated- and more unusual varieties to choose from.
It saddens me that old heritage varieties are dying out through the mass production of F1 varieties, spurred on big agro. We have not got the biodiversity we used to- having lost 98% of vegetable varieties over the last century. So even if you aren't seed saving, you're helping to keep up demand for these varieties by growing them.
Some seeds are SO easy to save though- like peas and beans, it makes so much sense to save your own, especially at the prices that seed companies charge!

[Paul Plots]

I agree with crh75 on this. Having everything harvestable at once isn't practical for a home grower- staggered harvest is far better, with a continual supply of fresh from the ground veg.

Open polinated seeds will adapt to your growing conditions and climate too, over generations of seed saving. You save seed from the strongest, disease free plants with the best crop as these have produced well in your area. Some heritage varieties do have disease resistance.

I also find the flavour better with open pollinated- and more unusual varieties to choose from.
It saddens me that old heritage varieties are dying out through the mass production of F1 varieties, spurred on big agro. We have not got the biodiversity we used to- having lost 98% of vegetable varieties over the last century. So even if you aren't seed saving, you're helping to keep up demand for these varieties by growing them.
Some seeds are SO easy to save though- like peas and beans, it makes so much sense to save your own, especially at the prices that seed companies charge!

Variety is the spice of life and all that.... I agree: why not save bean and pea seeds for the following year. Now and then I add a few of another variety to liven up the blends.

Perhaps spending that little bit more on flower seeds is worth it though?
What do you think? (Wrong thread no doubt  )

[grendel]

we tried the real seed company this year, proper non hybrid seeds that you can collect your own seed from the plants for next year, a little bit more expensive for some seeds, but you get plenty in a pack.
Grendel

[sloworm]

I had some F1 butternut this year and one of the plants produced a football sized green squash/marrow....... It tasted fine roasted tho'. Unfortunately the seeds weren't big enough to keep as I would like to have seen the result next year! 

[mumofstig]

I agree with crh75 on this. Having everything harvestable at once isn't practical for a home grower- staggered harvest is far better, with a continual supply of fresh from the ground veg.........
Some heritage varieties do have disease resistance.
I also find the flavour better with open pollinated- and more unusual varieties to choose from.
It saddens me that old heritage varieties are dying out through the mass production of F1 varieties, spurred on big agro. We have not got the biodiversity we used to- having lost 98% of vegetable varieties over the last century. So even if you aren't seed saving, you're helping to keep up demand for these varieties by growing them.

Some of the old varieties are going out of use simply because there are better modern varieties out there for the home gardener.There are plenty of new open pollinated varieties to try if if you object to f1.
Some of these new varieties will become the Heritage varieties of the future (as will some of the f1s if they stabilise) so don't write them off just because, at the moment, they are new.
Just because a variety is old does not necessarily mean it will taste or grow better
You can only really find out which varieties suit you and your soil/climate best by trial and error.