Deciphering Seed Labels: open-pollinated, heirloom, hybrid and GMO

The Joy of Seed Browsing

For many backyard gardeners, selecting seeds can be overwhelming when looking through the array of catalogs that come in the mail; something I like to call, seed browsing.

If you're like me, you order every free catalog and spend hours dog-earring the pages, annotating bedmates, and placing sticky notes everywhere, while you dream and dream and sip wine. But the reality is that it's a lot of information, and one of the toughest things is knowing what types of seeds will work best for your garden.

Deciphering Seed Labels

Here are a few of the labels that will likely pique your interest and be added to your collection.

1. Open-Pollinated (OP) seeds - these are seeds from plants that handled their own breeding naturally in the field, and these strains have been stabilized over the years so they "breed true."

"Open pollinated means the flowers are fertilized by bees, moths, birds, bats, and even the wind or rain. The seed that forms produces the same plant the following year. Some OP plants are self-pollinators. This means the structure of the flower allows fertilization before it opens. OP varieties grow out true every year. They are genetically diverse, so there can be a lot of variation in the plants and fruits" (https://naturespath.com).

2. Heirloom seeds - an heirloom seed is an OP plant that has been bred for specific traits for more than 50 years, especially hardiness and flavor, and is often specifically adapted to particular region.

Benefits of heirlooms include: better flavor, they are perfect for saving year after year knowing they will grow true to type, often more nutritious, better adaptation to local climates, and usually considered affordable.

3. Hybrid seeds - hybrids are the result of crossing two varieties of a single species of plant (or occasionally between two species) in the field. Seeds from hybrid plants do not breed true and may be sterile.

Benefits of hybrid seeds include: higher yields, often times improved disease resistant, faster growth rates, and better adaptability to environmental stress.

4. Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) seeds - seeds that are created in the laboratory by inserting genes from one plant into another in a way that would not occur in nature. This technology allows breeders to cross-plant species with unrelated species and even nonplant species. GMO seeds should not be saved (illegal), are prohibited in organic production, are protected by patent, and seed companies do not have to disclose in their seed descriptions whether their seed is genetically modified.

GMO's are not something we would buy and grow in our backyards. It is good to learn about them though because they are heavily used in the produce that we see in stores.

There are benefits and drawbacks to the various types of seeds. It comes down to your preferences and purposes for your backyard harvest.

Feel free to let me know what other things you'd like to know or discuss when it comes to choosing the right seeds for your garden!