Deciding which seed to plant can be a hard task.
here we brought you something that you need to know about seeds.
1.GMO Seeds :
Genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) are organisms that have had their DNA altered through human intervention. There is no doubt that “improving” on nature can benefit the food supply in a number of ways in the short term, but there is much debate about the long-term effects of genetically altering seeds.
GMO seeds have had their genetic makeup altered through human intervention. Genes from a different species are inserted into a plant in hopes that the offspring will have the desired characteristics. There are some questions about the ethics of altering plants in this way. We don’t know the future impact of altering our food supply and tampering with the environmental balance. Don’t confuse genetically modified seeds with hybrids. Hybrids are plants that are a cross between two varieties. This type of modification is achieved by pollinating the flowers of one type with the pollen of another. It is only possible in very closely related species. The seeds collected from plants grown from hybrid seeds may have the characteristics of either of the hybrid’s parent plants, but don’t generally have the characteristics of the hybrid.
2. Open-Pollinated Seeds :
Open-pollination is when pollination occurs by insect, bird, wind, humans, or other natural mechanisms.
Because there are no restrictions on the flow of pollen between individuals, open-pollinated plants are more genetically diverse. This can cause a greater amount of variation within plant populations, which allows plants to slowly adapt to local growing conditions and climate year-to-year. As long as pollen is not shared between different varieties within the same species, then the seed produced will remain true-to-type year after year.
3. Heirloom Seeds :
An heirloom variety is a plant variety that has a history of being passed down within a family or community, similar to the generational sharing of heirloom jewelry or furniture.
An heirloom variety must be open-pollinated, but not all open-pollinated plants are heirlooms. While some companies create heirloom labels based on dates (such as a variety that is more than 50 years old), Seed Savers Exchange identifies heirlooms by verifying and documenting the generational history of preserving and passing on the seed.
4. Hybrid Seeds :
Hybridization is a controlled method of pollination in which the pollen of two different species or varieties is crossed by human intervention.
Hybridization can occur naturally through random crosses, but commercially available hybridized seed, often labeled as F1, is deliberately created to breed a desired trait. The first generation of a hybridized plant cross also tends to grow better and produce higher yields than the parent varieties due to a phenomenon called ‘hybrid vigor’. However, any seed produced by F1 plants is genetically unstable and cannot be saved for use in following years. Not only will the plants not be true-to-type, but they will be considerably less vigorous. Gardeners who use hybrid plant varieties must purchase new seed every year. Hybrid seeds can be stabilized, becoming open-pollinated varieties, by growing, selecting, and saving the seed over many years.