What Exactly Is An Heirloom Seed? If You Save The…
Irene Asked
What exactly is an heirloom seed? If you save the seeds of an heirloom plant that produced fruit and planted them another season, will they produce fruit again? How do these seeds differ from genetically engineered seeds? What are advantages and disadvantages of both?
The Gardener’s Answer
Hello, Irene in Kentucky: The definition of an heirloom crop is not agreed upon by all gardeners, but most have the same opinion that to be considered an heirloom variety it has to be 50 years old, usually local or regional varieties passed down from one generation of gardeners to the next or shared with friends, and they must be open-pollinated. This means that if you grow a specific heirloom variety and save seeds for next year’s crop, these seeds will produce the same variety or come true from seed. This is not true with genetically modified varieties. These hybrids are a cross between two separate varieties (parents) and when the seed is harvested, saved, and planted the following year it may not germinate because it is sterile or it will have reverted back to one of its parents. Plant breeders genetically modify seeds to give them specific characteristics that make them disease-resistant, give them a more uniform shape, and increase productivity but this is all done by sacrificing the taste. Heirlooms just taste better; even if your heirloom tomato has a funky shape, which most of them will, they hands-down always taste better. If given the right growing conditions, disease should not be a problem. For commercial growers it is less maintenance on their part to grow genetically altered options, but for the home gardener heirlooms are the way to go.
