Last year my Aunt gave me some tomato plants that grew great tomatoes. I have no idea what variety they were (nor does she) so I have no idea whether they were hybrid or heirloom.

I saved a bunch of seeds at the end of the season and planted some this year. The plants are growing well and are just waiting for warm weather and some digging to put them outside.

My question is, if these plants were a hybrid variety, would the plants grow at all? I'm afraid of going through a lot of effort only to have plants that won't bear fruit...and worse, not having any home grown tamaters this year.

I've heard opinions both ways - that hybrid variety seeds will grow plants with no fruit and I have also heard that they won't even germinate.

Can anybody tell me for certain what is the case? Thanks.

 

Hogwash! they will produce fruits!! hybrids are made by controlling the pollination process, for example to make a hybrid two plants with desirable charactoristics will be chosen, say early ripening variety with a known disease resistant variety, to make a hybrid the pollination process must be controll, via hand pollination and protection from stray bee or wind blown pollen, so if the pollinition was not controlled then you no longer have a hybrid, heirlooms are basically open pollinated plants from seed that is no longer commercially avaible and some 40-50 years old, however there is no real definition.
will the plants bear fruit? of course they will! will they be exactly the same as what you planted last year, well, they could be? or they may have picked up some stray pollen from other plants.

 

Alright, I'm taking your word for it and planting a whole bunch of the baby plants this weekend. When they come in this summer, I'll send a bunch up to the Merrimack Valley for you.

Last year I had so many tomatoes I couldn't give them away anymore. Some days I was picking them and tossing them directly into the compost heap. Hopefully I will do as well this year.

Thanks for the info.

Ray

 

Ray: thanks, but i'm an advid competitive gardener, and i'll have plenty of maters to give away as well, make some spaghetti suace and freeze it for later on.

HAWK

 

Hybrids from two different sub-species will not reproduce (bear fruit), but tomatoes, corn, etc. are most likely the same species thus should bear fruit. A prime example is the mule,(made from two different species close enough though to make an offspring) which are sterile. Hybrid cars won't reproduce either.

 

Sure they will - in fact, I am quite certain that my '05 and '06 are conspiring to make an '08. I knew I shouldn't have left them two together in the garage while I went on vacation.

 

Start you own company, now you'll have to get rid of them. I'll take the runt of the litter.