Tomatoes: Heirloom vs. Hybrid
All of us, who grew up on a farm, grew a garden, or just have a passion for tomatoes, probably have a variety we’re partial to. My husband loves the little yellow “tommytoe” variety. I have always preferred a firm, red, slicing one. Mama loved the big yellow slicing ones. Even tho it seems like there are many choices, we really only have a fraction of the varieties there once was, due to selective breeding.
Today’s tomatoes have been “engineered” to make a good appearance, have a long shelf life, be able to travel thousands of miles without bruising, and to be disease resistant. Unless you’re growing heirlooms.
What’s the difference between an heirloom and a hybrid? "Open pollinated" generally refers to seeds that will "breed true". When the plants of an open-pollinated variety self-pollinate, or are pollinated by another representative of the same variety, the resulting seeds will produce plants roughly identical to their parents. This is in contrast to the seeds produced by plants that are the result of a recent cross (such as, but not confined to, an F1 hybrid), which are likely to show a wide variety of differing characteristics. Open-pollinated varieties are also often referred to as standard varieties or, when the seeds have been saved across generations or across several decades, heirloom varieties. While heirlooms are usually open-pollinated, open-pollinated seeds are not necessarily heirlooms; open-pollinated varieties are still being developed.
Hybrid pollination, a type of controlled pollination in which the pollen comes from a different strain (or species), can be used to increase crop suitability. The resulting hybrid strain can sometimes be inbred and selected for desired traits until a strain that breeds true by open pollination is achieved. The result is referred to as an inbred hybrid strain. For more confusion, the term hybrid inbred applies to hybrids that are made from selected inbred lines that have certain desired characteristics. The latter type of hybrid is sometimes designated F1 hybrid, or the first hybrid generation whose parents were (different) inbred lines.
What does this have to do with the health of the plants? We’ll talk about that next.
The Tennessee Dirtgirl
