Thread: Taking Cuttings Of An F1 Hybrid

OK, i understand that planting the saved seeds from an F1 hybrid plant will lead to the offspring being "not true to type"
But, what of any plant raised from a cutting taken and rooted from one?
Would this lead to an exact copy of the parent (if such a thing is possible with an F1) or would it be whats called an F2 hybrid, and therefore, not very good?
At the moment, i cant get my head round the fact that this "F1" thing isnt just 20 plus overpaid men in crash helmets racing overgrown go-karts around a race track, so i dont need to know about grafting, cloning or the like. Its getting complicated enough for this townie to try and get his head round the subject as it is !!!!!!


Reg

Thanks for that clear and "in a nutshell" answer
But, 2 more questions, if i may
One is, if i were to grow a plant called Tomato F1 Cossack variety (for example)
While i understand that its still an F1 hybrid, but would it still be a COSSACK variety, i mean? Meaning in taste, growth pattern etc?
Secondly, how are these seed companies able to sell seeds from an F1 hybrid, and be variety specific?
Surely, what with F1s not being true to type, any plants grown from the above example wouldnt be...........a Cossack tomato

Reg

Originally Posted by registrar

Thanks for that clear and "in a nutshell" answer
But, 2 more questions, if i may
One is, if i were to grow a plant called Tomato F1 Cossack variety (for example)
While i understand that its still an F1 hybrid, but would it still be a COSSACK variety, i mean? Meaning in taste, growth pattern etc?
Secondly, how are these seed companies able to sell seeds from an F1 hybrid, and be variety specific?
Surely, what with F1s not being true to type, any plants grown from the above example wouldnt be...........a Cossack tomato

Reg

Yes, if you take a cutting of any plant, whether it's F1 F2 or whatever, it will be exactly the same as the plant you took the cutting from. So, in this case, taking a cutting from the Cossack variety, the cutting will grow to be the Cossack variety, identical to the parent plant. The genetics don't change when taking a cutting.

Seed companies can sell F1 seeds because they keep a stock of the original parent plants, they can then repeatedly cross these together to make the same f1 hybrid seeds every time.

For example, lets say they have a female plant which is x variety, and a male plant which is y variety - the resultant cross is z variety. If they lose the original parent plants to cross together they can no longer produce z variety.

Cheers for that
Clear as crystal now

Reg

Another interesting post tonight Reg ,, what area are you growing in mate ?

How the question arose was, i was having a bit of a ding-dong with my (english) BIL in Uk.
He got some seeds to use on his allotment (from Ebay) that were either Russian or Chinese in origin. Turns out a lot of them were F1 hybrids. As stated before by me, i know next to nothing about the subject, but, what i DO know is that the seeds wont be true type.
He spurned my advice, and said he would let them go to seed, and he would collect them, etc, etc. After a bit of email tennis with him, he finally said he was wrong and that any plants grown from these seeds wouldnt be like the ones he saved the seeds from. So i suggested taking cuttings, and, to cover all the bases, as it were, i asked in here. I'm just trying to work out how he is going to keep a line of some of the plants going. Like the short lived seasonable annuals, for instance.

As to what area i am growing in, the answer is simple:
None !!! I may try growing something in containers out on the porch one day when the time comes.......but thats about it, really
I wouldnt risk going into a bigger project where my opinion, however knowledgable and good intentioned was, would be as welcome as a fart in a spacesuit to people who are, IMO screwing up the very land they scratch a meagre living from.
Those here that DO mix with them have both my admiration and sympathy in equal doses
I only have but one lifetime, and i sure aint going to spend the latter part of it trying to re-educate the uneducationable. And especially to people who value a non Thai's opinion so disparagingly.
Thats not a rant, BTW, although it seems like it. Just a stating of facts

Reg

^ Yes very interesting Reg ,, but what I meant was where in the world are you growing them ?

^^With geraniums it can be worth doing as some of the resulting f2 hybrids are quite decent plants in their own right. But with agricultural plants the results are likely to be disappointing.

Originally Posted by nigelandjan

^ Yes very interesting Reg ,, but what I meant was where in the world are you growing them ?

Oh, ok
It will be in the Banglamung area of Thailand

Reg

Lets hope your in a good tomato growing area mate , I know a lot go people have great difficulty due to some air blight ( I think )