uptheholler2
New Member
I have noticed on here a lot of misconceptions about what we are buying from seedbanks in the first place. Very few companies have any truly hybrid seed. By "Hybrid seed" I mean seed that is truly homogenous. If seed corn companies( which I did a lot of detassling for bay int the 60's and 70's ) sold what seed banks sell you would drive past corn field with plants of varying heights and yields. It would not look like what you now see, i.e. fields of plants the same height with the same size ears and even with the same numbers of rows of kernels on each and every ear.
I read people talking about F1 this or F2 that. Those are just first and second generation crosses. It takes years of crossing and FOCUSED selection ( And that focused part is really important) to achieve a homogenous seed source. That is one of the reasons why seed companies are expanding GMO crops. It is a huge time and expense saver.
So Holler, what are we buying? Well in honesty you don't know. There has been a huge proliferation of seed companies because the money is there. I suggest that first stick with the oldest companies with proven track records. If you are reading in the description of a strain that you get multiple phenotypes then you are buying something that is as far from a hybrid as what you could find in nature.
You have to maintain focused selection in any breeding program and even then it can go horribly wrong as I learned from personal experience. I worked season after season on a couple of my own strains since 1979. I lost them to an explosion of hermaphrodites in the mid 2000's.
The bottom line is that any one can make helter skelter crosses and perhaps come up with a good plant or two that you then keep going with clones. But, trying get the exact combinations of genetic traits stabilized within a stain so that you achieve a true growing hybrid is much more involved that what people speak of on here. It just shows that the old adage that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing is absolutely true and you only have to look at what Some seed companies are offering as proof positive.
If you want to set up your own breeding program to create your own auto seed I would be very happy to give you the basic outline on how you can do this. But remember that some of the percentages that others have spoken of on here will not hold true if you don't maintain Focus in your breeding program. You only have to read the basics of Mendels experiments with English peas to see what I mean.
As always, best of luck in all you do! The sound you just heard is me now getting off of my soapbox!
I read people talking about F1 this or F2 that. Those are just first and second generation crosses. It takes years of crossing and FOCUSED selection ( And that focused part is really important) to achieve a homogenous seed source. That is one of the reasons why seed companies are expanding GMO crops. It is a huge time and expense saver.
So Holler, what are we buying? Well in honesty you don't know. There has been a huge proliferation of seed companies because the money is there. I suggest that first stick with the oldest companies with proven track records. If you are reading in the description of a strain that you get multiple phenotypes then you are buying something that is as far from a hybrid as what you could find in nature.
You have to maintain focused selection in any breeding program and even then it can go horribly wrong as I learned from personal experience. I worked season after season on a couple of my own strains since 1979. I lost them to an explosion of hermaphrodites in the mid 2000's.
The bottom line is that any one can make helter skelter crosses and perhaps come up with a good plant or two that you then keep going with clones. But, trying get the exact combinations of genetic traits stabilized within a stain so that you achieve a true growing hybrid is much more involved that what people speak of on here. It just shows that the old adage that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing is absolutely true and you only have to look at what Some seed companies are offering as proof positive.
If you want to set up your own breeding program to create your own auto seed I would be very happy to give you the basic outline on how you can do this. But remember that some of the percentages that others have spoken of on here will not hold true if you don't maintain Focus in your breeding program. You only have to read the basics of Mendels experiments with English peas to see what I mean.
As always, best of luck in all you do! The sound you just heard is me now getting off of my soapbox!
