Ridgerunner
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Yes, most of the time tomatoes breed true. It's possible to get a cross but not likely.
Which do you value more?
- Thread starter seedcorn
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Yes, most of the time tomatoes breed true. It's possible to get a cross but not likely.
majorcatfish
Garden Master
this is my first year in a long time growing heirloom tomato and beans they just do not hold up against the humidity which invites every disease.
so over the years have picked f-1 hybrid, hybrid seeds some have been winners, some have been a flop.
what i look for in a seed is productively, resistance and with a bit of trail and error to find that right seed that we both like. in the last 4 years think we have a winning combination of course there is always the yearly experiment. since i am the grower and the dw is the canner we like to make sure that the pantry/freezer is full for the winter and spring.
when i do buy seeds <something learned last year because never thought about it> was looking at the longevity of the seeds life and use to just purchase packets now will buy the 1m packs. why not if a packet is 4.95 and only has 250 seeds in it and a 1m pack is 9.95 i just saved 10.00 and have seeds for 3-4 years...
and of course you can go to a seed company web site and look at their "sale link" you can save even more on a seed that they are discontinuing... example
johnnys seed the mariana tomato that i grow a packet has 40 seeds and was 3.95 they discontinued them was on sale purchased 4 packets at a 1.00 each.
to break it down grow whats best in your region weather f-1 or heirloom.... and that's my 5 cents worth !!!!!!
so over the years have picked f-1 hybrid, hybrid seeds some have been winners, some have been a flop.
what i look for in a seed is productively, resistance and with a bit of trail and error to find that right seed that we both like. in the last 4 years think we have a winning combination of course there is always the yearly experiment. since i am the grower and the dw is the canner we like to make sure that the pantry/freezer is full for the winter and spring.
when i do buy seeds <something learned last year because never thought about it> was looking at the longevity of the seeds life and use to just purchase packets now will buy the 1m packs. why not if a packet is 4.95 and only has 250 seeds in it and a 1m pack is 9.95 i just saved 10.00 and have seeds for 3-4 years...
and of course you can go to a seed company web site and look at their "sale link" you can save even more on a seed that they are discontinuing... example
johnnys seed the mariana tomato that i grow a packet has 40 seeds and was 3.95 they discontinued them was on sale purchased 4 packets at a 1.00 each.
to break it down grow whats best in your region weather f-1 or heirloom.... and that's my 5 cents worth !!!!!!
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majorcatfish
Garden Master
drag net...
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thistlebloom
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I'm not in the same league as you gardeners on this forum.
I guess taste is most important to me, and that I get to taste it before the first freeze.
I do have tried and true potato varieties, the ones you can't get from the feed store, but everything else is prone to my fickleness.
I am very subjective when choosing seeds. A glowing description and a pretty picture usually suck me in.
I'd like to be more objective and performance oriented when I grow up.
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thistlebloom
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I sure don't grow vegetables! Haha. I would be in the poorhouse...
Ridgerunner
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I've never really analyzed it. I guess my main criterion for selecting a seed or plant is that I want to grow it. But my criteria will vary from species to species. My wife has an influence on varieties too. When she says "You WILL grow Blue Lake Pole Beans", "Yes, Dear".
Open pollinated versus hybrid isn't that important to me. I regularly save some seeds when I can but that doesn't really affect what I select to grow. Taste is important when I can distinguish a taste between varieties. That doesn't always happen. Appearance can have an effect too. Some varieties are more attractive to me than others. I'm OK with white sweet corn but corn has to be yellow for my wife.
It depends on how I'm using it. I'm OK with red cabbage in cabbage casserole but for sauerkraut I want a regular cabbage. Copenhagen is my go-to variety for that since I normally get big heads with creamy interiors. I plant a cherry tomato by the garden gate so I can grab a snack every time I go in and out. That's the only cherry I plant. The bulk of my tomatoes go into sauce so I plant a lot of Big Mama hybrid from Burpee. That's the most productive sauce tomato I've found over the season. A part of that is some standard sauce are prone to blossom end rot for me no matter what I do, Big Mama is fairly resistant. I'll grow a few for fresh eating. Jubilee seems to be a standard, it usually puts on some tomatoes even in our heat though it does slow down a lot. Early Girl is usually for fresh eating. I always try to grow a different tomato, just to grow something different. This year I'm trying Cherokee Green.
Will it be used? I grew fennel one year, we never used it so I don't grow it. I've grown elephant garlic but I'm the only one that uses it and regular garlic will work just as well for me. So I'll stick with my Silver Rose softneck for the future. I have some elephant garlic hanging I a shed drying. anyone want a few cloves to try it? Send me a message and I'll ship it in a month or so after it cures well. Offer limited to within the USA.
Will it grow here? I hardly ever get more than one meal off of spinach before it cooks in the heat, so planting it is a waste of time and space. I usually try a summer squash but the squash bugs severely limit how long it lasts so I also grow varieties resistant to squash bugs, like Tromboncini. Some varieties or species just can't take my winter or my summer so I don't grow them.
Price and convenience makes a difference. I can get seed potatoes for $0.59 a pound at the local Mom 'n Pop garden store but my variety selection is limited. To order different varieties online cost about ten times as much, often before shipping is included. That same Mom 'n Pop offers seeds of many different things with similar price reductions plus the number of seed per packet is a lot more. I may be limited on which varieties of carrots I can buy, but they have the standards and I only have to buy one packet to plant all the carrots I need. I buy most of my seed there.
Productivity covers so much ground and I've typed enough this morning. Let's just say it needs to produce. I freeze and can a lot so I need enough to freeze or can.
Open pollinated versus hybrid isn't that important to me. I regularly save some seeds when I can but that doesn't really affect what I select to grow. Taste is important when I can distinguish a taste between varieties. That doesn't always happen. Appearance can have an effect too. Some varieties are more attractive to me than others. I'm OK with white sweet corn but corn has to be yellow for my wife.
It depends on how I'm using it. I'm OK with red cabbage in cabbage casserole but for sauerkraut I want a regular cabbage. Copenhagen is my go-to variety for that since I normally get big heads with creamy interiors. I plant a cherry tomato by the garden gate so I can grab a snack every time I go in and out. That's the only cherry I plant. The bulk of my tomatoes go into sauce so I plant a lot of Big Mama hybrid from Burpee. That's the most productive sauce tomato I've found over the season. A part of that is some standard sauce are prone to blossom end rot for me no matter what I do, Big Mama is fairly resistant. I'll grow a few for fresh eating. Jubilee seems to be a standard, it usually puts on some tomatoes even in our heat though it does slow down a lot. Early Girl is usually for fresh eating. I always try to grow a different tomato, just to grow something different. This year I'm trying Cherokee Green.
Will it be used? I grew fennel one year, we never used it so I don't grow it. I've grown elephant garlic but I'm the only one that uses it and regular garlic will work just as well for me. So I'll stick with my Silver Rose softneck for the future. I have some elephant garlic hanging I a shed drying. anyone want a few cloves to try it? Send me a message and I'll ship it in a month or so after it cures well. Offer limited to within the USA.
Will it grow here? I hardly ever get more than one meal off of spinach before it cooks in the heat, so planting it is a waste of time and space. I usually try a summer squash but the squash bugs severely limit how long it lasts so I also grow varieties resistant to squash bugs, like Tromboncini. Some varieties or species just can't take my winter or my summer so I don't grow them.
Price and convenience makes a difference. I can get seed potatoes for $0.59 a pound at the local Mom 'n Pop garden store but my variety selection is limited. To order different varieties online cost about ten times as much, often before shipping is included. That same Mom 'n Pop offers seeds of many different things with similar price reductions plus the number of seed per packet is a lot more. I may be limited on which varieties of carrots I can buy, but they have the standards and I only have to buy one packet to plant all the carrots I need. I buy most of my seed there.
Productivity covers so much ground and I've typed enough this morning. Let's just say it needs to produce. I freeze and can a lot so I need enough to freeze or can.
so lucky
Garden Master
Ridgerunner pretty much said what I would say:
Humidity here causes a lot of disease, so I choose tomato varieties with that in mind. Hybrids tend to do better.
Green beans, I look for flavor and non-stringiness. As I get more decrepit with age, the pole beans are my go-to.
Many things I would like to grow we don't eat, so I leave them out. Flavor and reliability are key factors in choosing varieties to grow.
I grow from seed, really enjoying that part of the process more than planting the resulting plants out in the garden. Certainly more than keeping the garden in presentable shape through the hot summer, and more than having to deal with the resulting produce. (I hear ya, Thitlebloom!) I guess it's because I have more control over the conditions.
Humidity here causes a lot of disease, so I choose tomato varieties with that in mind. Hybrids tend to do better.
Green beans, I look for flavor and non-stringiness. As I get more decrepit with age, the pole beans are my go-to.
Many things I would like to grow we don't eat, so I leave them out. Flavor and reliability are key factors in choosing varieties to grow.
I grow from seed, really enjoying that part of the process more than planting the resulting plants out in the garden. Certainly more than keeping the garden in presentable shape through the hot summer, and more than having to deal with the resulting produce. (I hear ya, Thitlebloom!) I guess it's because I have more control over the conditions.
