Are heirloom garden seeds really that great? Some of them are, but some of them aren’t. Should the ability to save your own seed outweigh the productivity of hybrids? I don’t think so.

Join us as we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of growing heirlooms vs hybrids for a variety of warm-season vegetables. We’ll tell you in which cases we prefer heirlooms and in which cases we prefer hybrids.

We’ll also finish our cool-season cabbage harvest and evaluate all three varieties we planted this past fall. Which variety made the biggest head of cabbage? Which variety was the fastest-growing? And which variety was the most cold-tolerant?

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38 Comments

  1. Hey there, Congrats on the new Baby. I wasn't aware you guys were pregnant. Will you be selling the dwarf cowhorn Okra seeds soon?

  2. Great discussion on Heirloom vs Hybrid. You had lots of really good points. This year I am mainly growing Heirllooms mainly because I really want to get a nice stockpile of seeds. In the past I have had really decent production out of most of my Heirlooms. Disease hadn't been too much of an issue for me until last year when 3 of my heirloom tomatoes got hit hard by disease and bugs. Luckily for me they were my determinate varieties and I was still able to get a good harvest before the plants were toast. The issue I have with heirlooms and saving seeds is planning how I am going to plant different varieties in my different garden so cross pollination don't occur. Next year I will definitely add some hybrids to the list. Thanks for all you knowledge

  3. Travis, do you know anything about the dwarf tomatoes developed by the Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI)? Victory Seed Company and a few other small companies have some of their seeds. I just ordered seeds for 5 varieties to try but would love to see you run some trials on those. There is a good podcast (linked below) on YouTube where you can get more information if you are interested. I LOVE the idea of dwarf plants that grow regular-sized tomatoes, including some larger slicers.

    https://youtu.be/G3izfjQscZo

  4. Wow talk about superstition.
    You know where that is gonna get you right? Your daughter will grow up to hate football😁😁😁. Gotta give you a hard time after that superstition hard luck story.

  5. Decided to grow a lot of San Marzano tomatoes this year. I’m still growing some sweet corn (bodacious or Nirvana). But I want to make some sauce and I have never done it.

  6. You should try the sapporo giant #4 cabbage, it's supposed to get up to 44lbs under optimal conditions. I'm gonna give it a try this year. Got the seeds from baker creek

  7. Congratulations!!! I know y’all must be excited to the moon and back with a new lil one in the house. I agree I love to grow some heirloom tomatoes but boy they are hard in this NWFL heat. I’m finding hybrids are so much easier and I do love the extra production that I get from all vegetables I grow.

  8. Your recommendations on Supremo cucumber and the Pantheon Italian zucchini were great. Both did exceptionally well here in SW Arkansas.
    Johnny's has been out of the Supremo seeds for months. Do you happen to know if they'll be carrying them again?

  9. Excellent points on the Heirloom vs. Hybrid. Usually hybrid squash with the most productivity and the shortest to harvest time. Got to get that squash before the squash bugs and borers get my plants. Also found that if I plant late summer, I actually can have a harvest of squash.

  10. You're a funny guy… you gotta work on the delivery though…lol. Always grateful for your insights Travis. Happy for you, the FAM and the new addition. Not upset about GA, well deserved!! Tempered by the fact we're tn fans. That aside, I think I'm a little surprised you left the dying leaves still attached to the cabbage as they tend to drain energy form the rest of the plant. Have to wonder if there would have been a little better recovery had you clipped the dead stuff.

  11. Cabbage autopsy may help determine what killed them, but I suspect that they just froze to death. I grow both heirlooms and hybrids for flavor, yield, and disease resistance. Multi-year tomato trials have revealed my personal favorites. For flavor, #1 is Italian Heirloom (Fruition Seeds). Overall #2 is Red Snapper (Hoss), #3 overall is Bella Rosa (Hoss). #4 overall is Rambler (Hoss). Tops for a sauce tomato is Shelby (Hoss), Avg. 20# yield per plant and well flavored. All grown in 7 gal. nursery pots with drip and under hail cloth. Your results may vary.
    I need a superb flavor variety of small watermelon (8-10 lbs.) that can be hand pollinated.

  12. Congratulations on then new bundle of joy! I am planting more hybrids this year. Will plant a few heirloom tomatoes, but the majority will be hybrids with better disease resistance. Was just deciding this evening which brassica seeds I'll be ordering.

  13. I have no bees . What kind of squash and cucumbers can I grow to see any product from. Them? Last year, I had no squash at all and very few cucumbers toward the end of the season. Even had my soil tested and was ok with that and didn't have to add anything. Really had me disappointed.

  14. I have a shade house that I grow all my tomatoes in. I grow them all in hydroponic medium, usually cocoa coir. With few exceptions I only grow DETERMINITE heirloom varieties. My favorite determinate heirloom that I save seeds from is Nebraska Wedding. I've grown it in North Georgia for about 3 years and I think it's becoming adapted. Travis, how can I send you a few Nebraska Wedding seeds? This heirloom will change your life. I found your mailing address, I will send you some seeds this week. It'll be from Aiken SC.

  15. I grow op or heirloom for many things and will save the seeds. My tomatoes and peppers are mostly heirloom but I will also grow a few Summerpick tomatoes (hybrid). For cucumbers, I grow heirloom and I don't need a lot of cucumbers so 2 plants is plenty. Max production is not needed. Sweet is hybrid. I want the sh2, triple sweet or augmented super sweet. Winter squash is heirloom acorn and butternut. Zucchini can go either way but I think the seeds I currently have are hybrid. Lettuce and carrots are a mix of both.

  16. Picking a good store bought watermelon is an art. My wife claims I'm a good watermelon thumper, maybe I'm just lucky but I never pick a bad one. I've grown some nice ones, but not that often.

  17. Could you do a blog on your warm season seeds and planting times like you did your fall planting?

  18. I am happy that you had an artic blast! Welcome to my world. We were -10 actual temperature. Arkansas was 7 degrees. Gardening is always unpredictable.

  19. Congratulations on the new addition to the family, bet she has some proud big brothers!! I'm like you there's a place for hybrid and heirloom in the garden. ✌🏻

  20. A quick search for issues that might cause the stem on cabbages to rot turned up something call "hollow stem" that affects brassicas. It looks a lot like what you have from what I can see in the video. The information I found suggests that fast growing and larger varieties are more susceptible. That might be something to research.

  21. From a nutrition standpoint, do you have any information on whether there is any difference between an heirloom and a hybrid?

  22. You will have to clarify your analysis on pickling cucumbers. Are you selling or just trying to keep up with 20 feet of row? I had 100 feet of row a few years ago. That was a mistake.

  23. Travis is the UGA pumpkin a mochata ( probably spelled wrong) type pumpkin. I can't find that information online. That's all I can grow here that will survive the vine borers. I'd love to have a highly disease resistant variety that will overcome the vine borers. I don't have the option of planting them in another plot. I move to a new part of the backyard but it's still only a few feet from where I grew them last year.

  24. Congratulations Travis and Brooklyn on that sweet little lucky charm!
    Only heirlooms I grow are about a dozen tomato plants. With the crazy weather I deal with, hybrids work best for me. I may give an heirloom okra a try this year.

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