Say that it is a cross between two types of tomatoes. Then you might get some of one parent, some of the other parent, and some would be a cross. Something like that. I am not all that well versed on the process, and it's been almost 48 years since college science classes.
Heirloom open pollinated (non-hybrid) is the term that is typically used, for nonhybrid seeds, and they give “true” results. You plant an heirloom seed, and save the seeds from several of your best fruits and veggies, and plant them again the next year. You'll get the same type of produce you got the year before.
If you are planting hybrids, then you have to buy them again to get the same sort of produce.
While I do plant some hybrids now and then, I plant mostly heirlooms, and save my seeds. It's cheaper, and allows more diversity of flavors etc.
In addition I have been reading about the danger to the food supply from the lack of diversity. For example with corn, the basic foundation of all the types of hybrids, is so much the same, and so much of the corn is hybrid, that a disease that wipes out one field, could spread to many of the other hybrids too.
That's what I have read and I can't really talk about it in depth, because I haven't studied it in depth.
Then there's the whole GMO thing, which I don't want to get into, except to say that I object to a company controlling our food supply. When you buy GMO seeds, they are not really yours. You are not supposed to do anything other than plant them and harvest them.
Commercial growers use roundup on the GMO plants, and other produce, and I am trying to get away from such chemicals, so I'd also like to know if my food is GMO or not, but the commercial companies are fighting such labeling.
Now, the GMO’s have gotten to the point that it is very hard to find heirloom corn that has not been contaminated by GMO.
There are people who are working very hard to try to preserve the old varieties so that we maintain the diversity. Well that's more than I intended to say. So I'll just shut up now. LOL
I use heirlooms and hybrids. Hybrids are more disease resistant and more productive but the taste of some heirloom tomatoes can’t be beat. I have grown GMOs on the farm fields, mostly corn and soybeans. It is aggravating that soybean seeds can’t be saved but, the GMOs have been outstanding in no till operations and saved millions of tons of topsoil. Absent that, if not for GMOs millions of people would starve. There is a downside to everything.
Thank you for the info. I had no idea that heirloom was the same as nonhybrid. Heirloom sounds so much fancier, LOL!