Hybrid is as Hybrid does

Miltonian · February 4, 2022

It sounds like a simple answer would suffice: F1 tomato seeds are the result of a cross between two stabilized OP varietals.
But when you cross tomatoes like this, the result would be unstable seed, as I understand it. The seed you got from this wonderful new tomato would bear seed that most likely would not bear fruit that looked just like that wonderful new tomato you took it from.
It is my understanding that it takes somewhere between 7-9 generations of seed selecting for you to get seed that would produce the wonderful new tomato you got from the cross fertilization.
If this is the case, then what is it that I am getting in that package marked F1? It can't be the seed from either of the parent plants. But if it was seed from the F1 hybrid plants that I created, I would be looking at "proving it out" over 7 to 9 generations.
I read somewhere that a farmer here in California is growing out the "F1" seeds and finding they are coming true.
I definitely see getting an F1 plant as it could be done with grafting. But I just cannot figure out how the F1 seeds I am buying can be "F1".
Please help me understand ....

February 4, 2022	#1
Miltonian Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Pleasant Grove, CA 95668 Posts: 2	Where does an F1 seed come from? It sounds like a simple answer would suffice: F1 tomato seeds are the result of a cross between two stabilized OP varietals. But when you cross tomatoes like this, the result would be unstable seed, as I understand it. The seed you got from this wonderful new tomato would bear seed that most likely would not bear fruit that looked just like that wonderful new tomato you took it from. It is my understanding that it takes somewhere between 7-9 generations of seed selecting for you to get seed that would produce the wonderful new tomato you got from the cross fertilization. If this is the case, then what is it that I am getting in that package marked F1? It can't be the seed from either of the parent plants. But if it was seed from the F1 hybrid plants that I created, I would be looking at "proving it out" over 7 to 9 generations. I read somewhere that a farmer here in California is growing out the "F1" seeds and finding they are coming true. I definitely see getting an F1 plant as it could be done with grafting. But I just cannot figure out how the F1 seeds I am buying can be "F1". Please help me understand ....