Kitchen Garden Forum

I am growing some F1 varieties, I usually buy the seed each year, heard that keeping my own F1 seeds will result in regression of strain towards one of the parents the following year, in other words dont do it? Is this correct?

CJS

Yes, F1's don't come true from seed, but you would get some sterile and a variety with qualities from either parents. F1 seeds are patented, so it's illegal and time consuming, it could take many generations to stabilise.

Nature's Babe wrote:Yes, F1's don't come true from seed, but you would get some sterile and a variety with qualities from either parents. F1 seeds are patented, so it's illegal and time consuming, it could take many generations to stabilise.

I largely agree with the first part of the answer, though I would suspect that all seeds from F1 varieties will produce something.

I wonder; are all F1 varieties "patented"? Even if they were, an individual growing from the seed for personal use would not be acting "illegally", would they?

I would have thought that as long as you are not trying to sell the seed or plants as the F1 then it isn't illegal.

I sowed some seeds from an F1 chilli last year and got some good results although the fruit sizes (and heat) varied across the plants. A couple produced chillies that were more to my taste than the original F1, so I saved seed from those and have sown some this year as an experiment to see what happens this time round.

Diane

A couple of years ago I saved the seeds from a supermarket Melon which when I checked was an F1 but by way of an experiment I grew five plants the following year and the Melons I grew turned out to be better than the one originally bought in the supermarket.
The progeny of an F1 is not an F1 seed so this means that talk of it being illegal is not true and the progeny is something that you have produced and unless it self fertilized you haven't got the foggiest what you will get becuse you do not know the parentage. Some of the early Brassica F1's were quite stable and did produce almost the same cabbage from seed but I think that now the parentages are quite obscure and with the modern F1's the likelihood of them reproducing anything like the parent is in the laps of the gods.
I was told a while back by a Rothamsted Scientist that one of the parents of the original Iceberg type Lettuce was a Wall Lettuce which is a well know weed! Interesting but classified as useless knowledge.
JB.

Thats all very interesting, thank you . . .

I'm growing two types of courgette; Partenon F1, has a compact habit, high yield and self fertilises, also Cavili F1, self fertile, tolerates poor weather and poor light . . . so says Dobies seed catalogue???

'Paternon' was chosen for its compactness and my insistence of squeezing plants a bit tight 'Cavili' because I want to grow it against the tall East facing fence in my garden, however, I have decided to plant them in the, now empty, compost area by that fence, soil should be good after a little fork over?

It wasn't until after I ordered the seeds, I realised they were F1. I always grow Sungold Tomatoes, they are F1, but not self fertile . . . They have a superb flavour . . . probably try the experiment next season but use cosha seeds as well for a direct comparison?

The plan is, save some of these F1 seed for next year, see how they all fair. I have also planted this year, some supermarket 'round red pepper' seeds and 'cantaloupe melon' seeds, again, supermarket sourced . . . fingers X'sed . . .

CJS

PS, coincidentally, Bob Flowerdew did a bit in 'GQT' this afternoon about seeds from supermarket produce, he was looking at Pineapples, sweet potatoes, ginger and I think melons were mentioned? I grew potatoes last year from a few stray tubas that rolled to the back of the pantry and quietly chitted on their own . . .

Did they give you a good tune?

Geoff wrote:Did they give you a good tune?

Taty variety; 'umpah, umpah' . . .

Afraid you will have to excuse my 'dyslexic spelling', bottom of the bottom class, in the worst school in the area, known locally as 'the Prison on the Hill', all but destroyed my life . . . if it had not been for my very perceptive, then fiance, sadly now late wife. Dyslexia was not even know about, never mind acknowledged in my school days in the 50's . . . These days its officially a 'disability', thank god for spell checkers . . . most of the time . . .

CJS

Evening CJS, my spelling is awful, but that's just down to me being a village idiot.

Sorry, shouldn't poke fun, but sometimes typos are hard to resist.

Not having a go at anyone, I'm used to it! Spelling is only the tip of the iceberg, the visible bit, one has learned to overcome it . . . to some degree? You should have seen my spelling in those early days, trying to be normal, I just thought I was thick!!!! Its all the other problems under the surface that come with dyslexia thats the killer, that even now, are not understood by the general public.

. . . Back in the shell, keep myself to myself, get on with life . . . garden, fishing, photography and boats . . . enough to keep out of trouble as I get in line for gods wating room. . .

CJS