[sarahevers]

Hi everyone,

I have noticed that on alot of the seeds I am buying, the names have F1 in them. Can anyone tell me what this means?

Thanks
Sarah 

[little blue]

F1 hybrids (filial hybrids to be precise!) are seeds which are genetically identical, eg if you have, say  F1 sweetcorn seeds, they will all be genetically identical to produce cobs at the same time.
usually they are made to produce uniform plants eg of the same colour, or for disease resistance.

they can cost more (the "parent" plants are often hand pollinated, and have various bits removed to prevent them naturally pollinating - which all adds up) but you should get a good plant from htem.
if the F1s go to seed, their offspring plants will not be "true", ie like the F1s were.

[sarahevers]

Thanks little blue. 

if they go to seed though is it still possible to use their seeds even though they won't be F1?

[Susie]

You could save the seed but I wouldn't bother. The seeds are a cross between two different parent plants, and only the seed company will know how to produce them. The seed you save from F1 plants will either be sterile or will grow loads of different shapes and sizes, usually being not as good as the original F1 plant. If you want to save seed it is best to buy non-F1 hybrids.

[smallholder in the city]

As little blue says F1 hybrids are a result of a specific cross. Usually between two parent lines that have been inbred for several generations. Compared with open pollinated varieties they often have increased vigour, quality and uniformity and disease resistance. They tend to be more expensive to take account of the need to make the exact cross each time. Plants grown from the seed of F1 hybrids will not breed true, they may be very different from the F1, although that could be interesting and isn't necessarily a bad thing especially if they flourish in your patch. Seeds of F1 hybrids are also quite frequently sterile though.   

[sarahevers]

Thanks everyone. Sometimes I feel like such a fool having to ask about things that everyone else knows about already. But I am very very new to this gardening stuff and I would rather ask and look silly than mess stuff up. So thank you for your replies everyone. I read all the posts that are put on here too and I am working my way back through the old posts too, I am soaking it all up like a sponge. My evening reading has changed from a murder novel, to any veg gardening book I can get my hands on, but I still feel there is so much I need to learn. I love this forum though. Everyone is so helpful and knowledgable, I would love it in years to come, if I could pass on advice to a newby and actually sound like Iknow what I'm doing. 

[little blue]

its addictive!
glad we can help - we are all beginners once... 

your reading sounds alot like mine

[smallholder in the city]

Currently you can only sit on half of our sofa because the other half is filled with veg books (husband not happy)!
For a beginner veg grower my RHS course tutor recommended The complete know and grow vegetables by JKA Bleasdale, PJ Salter and others. It's really useful. Out of print now but there are cheap second hand copies on Amazon. Unlike some more recent veg books it has lots of information and not so many fancy pictures. It's also good at explaining the science behind why certain things work or don't work.   

[little blue]

For a beginner veg grower my RHS course tutor recommended The complete know and grow vegetables by JKA Bleasdale, PJ Salter and others.

which RHS course are you doing?

[smallholder in the city]

Level 2 certificate distance learning with Horticultural correspondance college. I did the exams this Summer, just waiting for the results, not very hopeful though I had far too much going on at work to do enough revision. It's great though, I'd like to go right through and do the whole lot including the MHort. We're going to be setting up a native plant nursery when we get our smallholding so I thought it would be good to have the qualifications.