On Sun, 19 Sep 2010 14:33:46 -0500, zxcvbob
wrote:

On 9/19/2010 8:38 AM, lenco12 wrote:
No Name;899769 Wrote:
(EVP MAN) wrote: - The hybrids looked
better, tasted better and produced much better. Say what you want
about heirlooms but I won't give them garden space again. Hybrids
all the way for this PA gardener from now on!- LOL! I expressed
precisely the same viewpoint very much earlier this year. Early on,
I composted all of my "Brandywine" except one and, based on yield,
keeping _it_ was a waste of good dirt. As I see it, entertaining
this, that, or the-other "heirloom" is foisting upon oneself all of
the reasons reliable hybrids were developed in the first place. Who
needs it? But then, again, I am neither tomato connoisseur nor
among the "heirloom" cognoscenti, I suppose. Sentiment or some
irrational "doomsday" fear are not among the reasons that I grow
vegetables. -- Derald

Yes I would imagine the price of seed would go up if it weren't for
heirlooms. However, I don't mind spending a few bucks for a pack of
seeds. For the home gardener, the price of seed don't matter near as
much as it would to a large commercial operation that sets thousands
of plants. My slow release granular fertilizer costs me a lot more
than



I'm going to save seeds from my Better Boys this year (even though it's
a hybrid) and plant them next year. They *might* be crossed with
Stupice that was planted next to them, but I doubt it. I've done this
before with hybrids and it usually works just fine for a home gardener.
To much variability though for most commercial growers.

Bob

I've not done well with saved veggie seeds; they don't germinate well
and/or produce a weird looking crop. I'd rather buy fresh each year,
home gardening entails too much labor and expense to shoot oneself in
the foot at the git-go by trying to save a few pennies on seed. I buy
the smallest size packets and swap what I don't use with neighbor
gardeners... most every community has a gardening club that maintains
a seed bank... check at your local library.