I saved seeds from a particularly tasty tomato and planted a few out of curiosity. Then I remembered it might have been a hybrid, so the seedlings may not produce fruit identical to the parent. That's fine for an experiment; less fine if I'm counting on a reliable harvest. Which vegetables are easy for a casual gardener to save reasonably true-to-type seed from, and which need more attention to variety and cross-pollination?
Saving seeds from vegetables without expecting exact copies every time
- gardening
- saving
- seeds
- vegetables
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4 replies
Beans and peas are the easy wins if you want seed that stays fairly true and is simple to save. Tomatoes can be okay too, but only if you kn...
Beans and peas are the easy wins if you want seed that stays fairly true and is simple to save. Tomatoes can be okay too, but only if you know the variety and it wasn’t crossed with something nearby.
Squash is the one I’d warn about. It crosses so easily that you can save seed and still get a surprise next season.
Peppers are trickier than they look too, depending on what’s growing nearby. I’ve saved from one plant and ended up with fruit that was a li...
Lettuce is pretty friendly for a casual gardener, and so are many herbs if you don’t mind a bit of variation. I’ve had basil come back close enough that I didn’t notice much difference.