Section 2: Selecting Plants

Glossary

Lesson 3: Seed Selection


Plant propagation starts with selecting the best seed for the plant or vegetable you choose to grow.  Seed selection can be overwhelming when you walk into the store and see the wide variety of plants and vegetables to choose from.  It's important to get expert information before deciding which seeds to purchase.  Mark Cullen is a gardening expert and spokesperson for Home Hardware Lawn and Garden; click here to read about seed selection and seed definitions.

Seed Varieties

A brief summary of Mark Cullen's seed explanations, with examples, is outlined below.

Hybrid Seeds
A hybrid seed is created by cross-pollinated plants. Generally, hybrid plants are often stronger than either parent variety.
Scientists use cross-pollination to produce hybrid plants that are improved in at least one of the following ways:

  • producing more seeds, more or better tasting fruit, or other plant parts for consumption

  • being more disease resistant for both agricultural and horticultural crops

  • being more heat or cold resistant (especially for field crops)

  • having improved appearance, especially for horticulture (e.g., more showy flowers)



A peppermint plant is a hybrid
of spearmint and water mint.
     
     
    Courtesy of http://listverse.com
     Heirloom Seeds

    An heirloom seed is sometimes referred to as a heritage seed.  An heirloom seed is a seed from a plant that has been passed from one generation to another, usually dating back 50 years or more. To be an heirloom seed, the variety must be open-pollinated, that is the seeds are planted and the resulting plants allowed to mature and the seeds collected are replanted the next season.  The plants in the next season will have the same characteristics as the parent plant.
    These miniature pumpkins  are an American heirloom variety  and can easily fit into the palm of your hand.


     







    Organic Seeds
    A certified organic seed is harvested from a plant grown without synthetic chemical fertilizers, pesticides and fungicides.   


     
    ©iStock 
     

     
    Regardless of the basic production method (field crop, greenhouse, or garden), to ensure successful production, selecting quality seeds is of prime importance.