Have you ever flipped over a seed package to learn more about it and felt like you were reading Greek? There are lots of numbers, perhaps a colorful map, and plenty of words you’ve never heard of. There might also be words there you think you know, but there’s still a niggling doubt in your mind- I know I learned about open-pollinated something in my high school biology class…what did that mean, again?
Education is illumination and my goal is to help you grow an amazing garden! I was bending the ear of my friend Hillary and wanted to get reliable information. So, Hillary – The Master Gardener is here to help us understand a few commonly confused gardening terms and clear up the misunderstandings. Read on to know more about organic, heirloom, hybrid, open-pollinated and GMO plants.
What does organic really mean?
To start, let’s clarify what it DOESN’T mean. For one, calling something organic doesn’t mean it’s 100% safe. Someone can grow organically-raised poison ivy, but I wouldn’t suggest eating or handling it. Organic also doesn’t mean the farmer uses zero pesticides. As I’ll explain in a minute, pesticide is a broad term, and the label ‘organic’ only bans the use of certain kinds. Finally, organic isn’t the same as other commonly used gardening terms meant to suggest a vegetable is safe or high quality, like “heirloom” or “non-GMO.” Don’t worry, we’ll get to those terms, too.
Organic, at the most basic level, means a plant is grown with the whole environment in mind. The organic food movement is largely reacting against conventional farming methods, where only one crop is grown for hundreds of acres. This method isn’t natural and needs a lot of artificial support to keep it going.
You need to think about the soil, other plants, insects, animals, and atmosphere around the crop if you really want to grow with the environment in mind. Organic growers try to grow plants in a way that harmonizes with their surroundings. They focus on naturally building healthy soil– especially with local compost- instead of pumping it full of artificial fertilizers. Finally, they try to control pests naturally and use low-impact pesticides as a last resort.
“I thought organic meant no pesticides!” you might say. And you wouldn’t be alone in thinking that. But yes, organic growers are allowed to use certain kinds of pesticides. It’s only allowed if they’ve used up all other methods, however. Organic pesticides must decompose quickly, be applied only when necessary, and only applied at the exact right time, which requires knowledge of the insect or disease’s life cycles. Examples of approved pesticide treatments include neem oil, soap, hot pepper (in powder or spray form), and beneficial nematodes.
Phew! Okay, moving on.
What does heirloom mean?
This one is quite simple- an heirloom plant is an old variety of a plant that you can save the seeds from and grow an identical plant. They were commonly grown many years ago (sometimes many MANY years ago), but no heirlooms are grown commercially any more. Often, they’re only preserved thanks to individual gardeners, farmers, and sometimes seed banks.
What’s hard is understanding HOW to tell if a plant is an heirloom, beside reading the package. So often, we hear additional terms like “open-pollinated” and “hybrid” that are just confusing. So let’s define those, too!
What is a hybrid plant?
To explain this, we first need a quick crash course on how plants reproduce. I could write an entire article just on this, but let’s cover the basics.
Plants are similar to us: a male flower produces pollen which fertilizes a female flower. That female flower will then swell and form a fruit, which has seeds inside. Plants are stationary though, and so they’ve developed a few different ways to get that pollen from point A to point B. Some plants fertilize themselves by dropping pollen on their own flowers. Others rely on the wind to distribute their pollen to other plants. A third kind relies on insects (or birds, or bats) to pollinate plants like themselves for them.
If you take one plant but put a DIFFERENT variety’s pollen on it, surprise! The seed in its fruit will have genetic material from two different parents. This is a hybrid, and the plant that grows when you plant that saved seed will be different from either parent. A hybrid plant can never be an heirloom because its seeds, if planted the following year, will always grow up to look more like one of the grandparent plants, not the parent.
Why do hybrids exist? Often to have desirable traits, like disease resistance, increased yield, or earlier maturity. Crazy varieties like those used to grow the world’s largest pumpkins wouldn’t exist without hybrid tinkering and experimenting!
What is an open-pollinated plant?
An open pollinated plant had two parents of the same variety. That means it can produce seeds that will grow to look exactly like the parent. All heirloom plants are open-pollinated, but there are plenty of open-pollinated plants that aren’t heirlooms.
What is a GMO plant?
A plant that’s classified as a GMO is a variety that’s had its DNA altered in a laboratory. This is different from just taking the pollen from one variety and fertilizing another; this is adding one plant (or animal’s) DNA to a new one.
These alterations are done for many reasons, and intentions are usually good. Sometimes organisms are genetically selected for disease resistance, like certain breeds of cattle are against Mad Cow disease. Other times, farmers want crops with better yields, quality, food security, lower costs, and medical benefits.[1] Yes, you read that right. In addition to many common sense benefits, scientists are experimenting with GMOs treating human medical conditions. There are currently studies where human vaccines are being introduced into the DNA of corn!
So why is the term GMO usually surrounded by controversy? There are two big reasons. First, we don’t know all the consequences of making those DNA changes. How will it affect other plants when they interact in the wild? How might that changed DNA affect our immune or digestive systems when we eat them? Could they be responsible for increases in human allergies or food sensitivities?
The other reason for controversy is financial. Often, companies trademark certain GMOs since they developed them in their lab. When they get out into other farmlands, those companies sometimes expect royalty payments from farmers. Some of whom didn’t want modified plants on their land in the first place. This is currently a very sticky situation, especially in poor countries which used the GMOs to fight hunger and poverty.
There you have it! Five often used, often confused gardening terms explained.
Now when you are looking at seeds and plants for your own Victory Garden you can make an informed decision.
Are there any gardening terms that YOU get tripped up with? Let me know in the comments!
Happy Planting!
DeeAnn
The Victory Garden Gal
With Master Gardener- Hillary Swertz
[1] https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/genetically-modified-organisms-gmos-transgenic-crops-and-732/