April 23, 2024, 3:19 am | Read time: 2 minutes
Seeds are often conveniently included with fruits and vegetables. Can’t you just plant them and grow new plants? Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as it sounds in theory.
Tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, apples–some fruits and vegetables hide their seeds right inside the fruit. Often, they’re even removed before consumption. Convenient, right? Can I save on expensive seeds from the garden center by growing plants from supermarket produce myself?
Growing Plants from Supermarket Vegetables
“It’s possible, but the risk of not getting a tasty fruit is high,” says Christine Scherer from the Bavarian Garden Academy. Why is that? In commercial vegetable cultivation, so-called F1 seeds (hybrid seeds) are typically used, Scherer explains, “meaning varieties are crossed to achieve particularly uniform fruits and stable yields.”
The problem: If I continue to cultivate these seeds, I produce a next generation (F2) that will be completely different, perhaps even inedible. That can be frustrating. And if I opt for organic vegetables? “Hybrid seeds are often used here too,” says Scherer.
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It’s All About the Seeds
However, those who shop at farm stores could ask the grower what seeds they use and whether they are “open-pollinated,” meaning not hybrid seeds. Then, continued cultivation works.
It’s also possible to buy open-pollinated seeds once and then continue cultivating them year after year. Scherer recommends harvesting seeds from the first fruits of the tomato crop to minimize contamination from foreign pollen.
However, it’s normal for the variety to change over time. The expert advises keeping an eye on the taste and texture of the fruit and comparing it to the first year’s crop. If a tomato, for example, becomes increasingly softer, it might be time to invest in new seeds again.
And What About Fruit?
Disappointment is also likely with fruit. In commercial cultivation, fruit is grafted. Essentially, this means that a part of one plant is transplanted onto another of a different variety. If you plant a seed from such a fruit, it’s uncertain what will result.
“If I simply plant an apple seed from a supermarket apple, I have to wait many years for it to bear fruit. And then they might be sour-tasting mini-wild apples,” says Scherer.
With material from dpa