@dpps
That is a good question. Hybrids are a controlled cross that is repeated Hybrid Tomatoes | Varieties | California SummerWinds
" What Are Hybrid Tomatoes?
Unless you are getting your produce at the local farmer’s market, the bulk of the tasty tomatoes you get from your local grocer are most likely “hybrid” tomatoes. A hybrid tomato, simply put, is created when plant breeders intentionally cross-pollinate two different varieties of a plant, with the outcome being an offspring, or hybrid that contains the best traits of each of the parents. Cross-pollination is a natural process that occurs within members of the same plant species. In hybridization, pollination is carefully controlled to ensure that the right plants are crossed to achieve the desired combination of characteristics, such as bigger size or better disease resistance. The process of developing a hybrid typically requires many years."
So now lets discuss the difference Difference Between Heirloom and Hybrid Tomatoes - Western Garden Centers
"An HEIRLOOM TOMATO is one that has been selectively reproduced for certain characteristics, perhaps a certain trait that is best suited for a growing region or a certain color or flavor. It may be the best one for canning/bottlings because of its acidic content. Or maybe a variety that is huge and juicy, where one slice fills an entire sandwich! Some varieties of heirloom tomatoes include Black Beauty, Brandywine, Chocolate Stripes, Green or Red Zebra, Big Rainbow, and many more. As the names would suggest, heirloom tomatoes come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and flavors.
Many would argue that heirloom tomatoes are more flavorful. I have personally grown Brandywine for several years and can attest that they are delicious and juicy. They also can grow to be quite large, but the same vine could also produce medium or smallish fruit. They are not completely consistent in size, but always tasty!"
"A HYBRID TOMATO is one that is the result of intentionally cross-pollinating two different varieties of tomato. This means the “child” plant will have characteristics of both of the “parent” plants. These tomatoes can be very hardy, disease resistant, and produce fruit that is consistent in size and shape. Being disease resistant is probably the biggest and most important benefit. There are few things as frustrating as growing a big beautiful plant, have lots of fruit forming, then get a plant virus that destroys your crop.
Some popular varieties of hybrid tomatoes are Big Beef, Cherry, Sweet 100, Early Girl, Better Boy, and Grape.
THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HEIRLOOM AND HYBRID TOMATOES…
…is what kind of 2nd generation fruit will grow from this year’s plant. You can’t be certain what kind of tomato will grow from the seed of a hybrid. Often the seeds are sterile and will not sprout at all. In the event that they do sprout, they probably won’t be the same as the plant you harvested them from. We planted a Cherry tomato two years ago and had lots of volunteer plants growing in that area of the garden the next season. We let a few of them grow and found that the plant produced fruit that was pea size, or smaller! They were delicious but a real pain to harvest. "
Sungold, early girl and others have that wonderful hybrid vigor. So why not just grow hybrid tomatoes? The reason i grow mostly non hybrids is to protect my food source. If someone wants to charge $50 for a package of tomato seeds everyone growing hybrids must pay the hybrid cost. Everyone growing heirlooms saves their seeds and grows the same tomato year after year.
That sounds bad but its still not the end of the world. There are companies out there that are actively trying to control the market on our food supply. If you think that sounds like conspiracy your not alone but it is actually true whoever have the seeds people want makes money. There are companies who want all seeds to be gmo not just hybrids. If it sounds far fetched i agree that is what i thought when people told me in the 1970s we had to protect our seeds. In the 1990s i understood what i was told as a child was true and there are companies altering our seeds. Please read up on that here Monsanto and Terminator Seeds | Open Case Studies .Most of my life we grew some type of heirloom seeds and i understand now we always must do that.
