How do you get hybrid seeds, can you breed them yourself?

Often, gardeners are faced with a choice of which variety of peppers, eggplants, tomatoes or legumes to plant. The options available usually have certain advantages and disadvantages. If it is not possible to dwell on any one variety, you can try to apply a special agrotechnical technique - heterosis - and breed plant hybrids that combine the desired properties. Below we will describe how the seeds of F1 hybrids are obtained.

Of course, it is better to buy ready-made hybrid seeds from the store. They were bred by professional breeders and passed all the necessary tests. Of course, the gardener can experiment and try to create his own hybrid, but this "handicraft" is unlikely to give impressive results.

What are plant hybrids for?

As a rule, the creation of hybrids is resorted to in the event that none of the available varieties meet the goals of the breeders. For example, if you need to grow bushes that will be as fruitful as variety # 1, but whose fruits will match the size of those of variety # 2.

Hybrids are created in specialized agrotechnical institutes: in them, in addition to fertility, the appearance of the bush and fruits, individual tests are also tested for resistance to various diseases, as well as for resistance to adverse environmental conditions. The results of the most successful of these experiments are then widely disseminated throughout the agrotechnical industry.

In general, hybrid plants are considered more viable because they combine the positive qualities of several individual varieties. But they also have a drawback: subsequently, gardeners cannot grow the same plants on their own, simply by planting seeds obtained from the fruits of the previous harvest. In the "offspring" of hybrids, the features of both "parental" varieties will be combined in an arbitrary way, as a result of which both bushes and fruits will be of different sizes and shapes.

How to get your own hybrid seeds?

If, from the varieties of hybrids on sale, the gardener finds it difficult to find an option that meets his needs, he can cross the plant varieties on his own.

Next, we will consider what stages should be implemented in order to obtain seeds of hybrids of two varieties of interest.

1. It is necessary to grow seedlings of crops with the necessary properties. For crossing, you need to choose the smoothest bushes 25-35 centimeters high, already having 7-8 leaves and flower buds.
2. Seedlings should be planted in open ground (in the southern regions) or in a greenhouse. Keep in mind that seed plants need abundant watering and regular fertilizing with mineral and organic fertilizers.
3. When the flowers on the plants are ready to bloom, artificial pollination of the buds is performed. One of the varieties is chosen as the father. At 8-10 in the morning, anthers are collected from the blossoming buds - stamens with pollen. They are carefully placed in a glass jar with tweezers.
4. Another variety participating in heterosis is chosen as the mother. On these bushes, they carefully, also using tweezers, open the buds, which should open in a day or two. Then the stamens are removed from the buds, and the pollen from the “paternal” anthers is applied to the stigma of the pistil. To increase the likelihood of fruit set, as well as to increase the number of seeds in it, pollen is applied on the stigma from 2-3 anthers at once.
5. After carrying out artificial pollination, you need to isolate the buds from insects.For this, bags made of non-woven material are put on the stems. They also hang a tag indicating the paternal and maternal varieties and the date of pollination.
6. The next day, the bags from the plants can be removed, since the fruit setting, if it took place, has taken place, which means that insects can no longer interfere with this process.
7. It will be possible to find out for sure how the crossing went in a few days. If the pollination was successful, the ovary will begin to grow in size.

As for the amount of seeds that can be obtained from a hybrid fruit, then:

• sweet peppers will give 150-250 pieces;
• hot peppers - 300-700 pieces;
• eggplant - 600-1300 pieces;
• tomato - 600-1800 pieces;

At the same time, tomato seeds will sprout if they are sown even 7-8 years after receiving. Pepper and eggplant seeds can only germinate for another 2-3 years after they have been harvested

Thus, the production of hybrid seeds is a simple procedure, for which the gardener does not require either specific breeder skills or expensive equipment. All that is needed is good eyesight, as well as high-quality seedlings, which will become the "parent" of the new hybrid. Otherwise, growing hybrid plants is no different from growing conventional crops.