As I start to roll out my gardening posts, you will notice I talk a lot about organic gardening. I personally only grow organic non-GMO seeds. But seriously, do you even know what the difference is between Heirloom, Open-Pollinated, Hybrid and GMO Seeds? Want to know? Well, here it is explained in plain English.

Open Pollinated Seeds

This is what I call old-school gardening. Seeds are collected from parent plants that have similar genetic characteristics. Like when you have a kid and she looks like you, but different in her own way. These days in order to have true open-pollinated seeds, you have to grow them in isolation. You do this so they don’t cross pollinate with another variety in the same species of plant. You can then grow seeds that are similar generation after generation and select out and keep offspring seeds that are disease resistant.

Heirloom Seeds

Heirloom seeds are open-pollinated seeds. The distinction here is that these seeds have been handed down for at least 60 years, or pre-World War II. This started as gardeners around the world started saving seeds that were native to their particular area in case we had a nuclear fallout. You can find Heirloom seeds specific to different regions of the world and maintained by seed savers and gardeners.

Have you read this post: 10 Popular Heirloom Veggies to Grow

F1 Hybrid

Now we start playing with genetics, but in a good way. F1 Hybrids are first generation seeds from plants that were a cross of two different genetic parents. Think taking two different types of tomatoes and crossing them to make a new type of tomato offspring that has the best qualities of its parents. Hybrids are often bred to be disease resistant. Since the early 1920s, many hybrid varieties are still grown and saved used traditional methods. Their offspring’s seeds cannot be saved though as they won’t grow true to type. F1 Hybrids have been bred out in the fields, not in a lab.

NE Seed Geisha F1 Hybrid non-GMO Kabocha Squash Seeds

Genetically Modified Seeds (GMO)

GMO seeds can be both hybrids or open pollinated, but they were created with what is called Recombinant DNA Technology in a lab, not out in nature. What exactly is Recombinant DNA Technology you might be wondering? It is the ability to take DNA molecules from different sources and insert them into one molecule in a test tube. Those added DNA molecules can come from related or unrelated species to create a new species.