My organic gardening friend told me I should only use organic varieties of flowers and vegetables. She said that heirloom varieties grown from collected seeds are better than hybrids and other artificially developed varieties. What varieties do you use?
Organic refers to how flowers and vegetables are grown in the field or garden and not how they are developed. Hybrid and other newly developed varieties could be considered organic if the seed or plants were grown using organic methods, which include using organic fertilizers and not using chemical pesticides.
Heirloom plant varieties are passed down from generation to generation. The identity of the original person who selected and named them has been lost in most cases. More recently selected or bred varieties can be traced to the original owner. The hybrid method of variety development has been employed for three main reasons:
- Hybrid varieties are inherently more vigorous than those grown by open pollination.
- Hybrid varieties are more uniform from plant to plant than those that are open pollinated.
- The original developer maintains exclusive control of production of the hybrid variety. It is only normal for those who spend time and money developing a new variety to want to have controlled production and monetary return from their efforts.
The vigor and uniformity of hybrid varieties is an advantage to the gardener who plants them as well as the developer. I have planted hybrid varieties for many years and have been very satisfied with their performance.
