Question:
How can I tell if the hybrid vegetable seed I’ve planted has been genetically engineered? I've planted several hybrid crosses along with some heirloom tomatoes, and now I’m worried they might be unhealthy.Answer:
- This shouldn’t be an issue, nor would I pull the plants and discard them.
- For generations, plant breeders have been cross-breeding the genes of compatible plants. Their goal is to create a new plant with the best traits from both parents, such as early maturity, early flowering, disease resistance, etc.
- The new plants are called F-1 Hybrids or just Hybrids. Seedless watermelons and Pluots are recent examples of popular hybrids, along with countless tomatoes, other vegetables, and seasonal color plants. If you’re a seed saver, hybrids have a significant drawback: they’re very unpredictable in the next generation, so it’s generally recommended not to waste your time saving hybrid seed. Instead, you want to save open-pollinated varieties.
- Open-pollinated varieties are simply those that produce seeds that grow into seedlings similar to the parent plants. They breed true year after year because of natural selection. Any variety that has been around for a minimum of fifty years, an arbitrary number, is called a Heirloom variety. These terms are often used interchangeably.
- F-1 Hybrids and Open-Pollinated varieties should not be confused with modern-day gene-splicing or genetically engineered plants. To be really technical, USDA considers any plant, animal, or microorganism produced through any type of genetic modification to be a genetically modified organism (GMO).
- While a hybrid plant is a GMO, it’s not genetically engineered. Genetically engineered varieties combine atypical genes—those not found in nature—which occur only through human intervention and manipulation.
- Plants like corn engineered with the Bt pesticide to make them resistant to certain pests are examples. Bt is a natural pesticide, but it would never naturally occur in corn seed; it's created using molecular genetics techniques such as gene cloning, gene splicing, and protein engineering.
- Another example is herbicide-resistant soybean, cotton, canola, and alfalfa, allowing you to control broad-spectrum grasses and broadleaf weeds without damaging the original plant. These varieties have no application in home gardens.
- Therefore, you will not encounter any packets of genetically engineered seed in home and garden catalogs or in the seed rack at your favorite garden centers.
Question:
Can Epson Salt be applied at the same time you're adding a systemic fertilizer to roses? I don't think there's a problem, but I'm just double-checking.Answer:
- There is no issue using Epson Salt with any other type of fertilizer. Epson Salt, or Magnesium Sulfate, is added as a supplement to traditional fertilizers.
- Magnesium is a secondary element necessary for plant growth, helping keep leaves green. With roses, it also encourages the formation of basal canes or shoots. For older roses, this is an important method to rejuvenate the main canes.