> How do I know if the seeds from my plants are hybrids or not? If my garden
> contains four types of peppers ( as a example) would not all the seeds
> therefore have the chance of being a hybrid. This would seem to make it
> impossible in a commutiy garden to save anything.
This is true. You have to take special steps (e.g., bagging flowers) to
make sure that you don't get cross-fertilization. Peppers often fertilize
themselves, which is whya pepper grown indoors without insects to act as
pollinators will set some fruit. However, they also cross, which means that
you can't be 100% sure when there are other peppers nearby in an outdoor
situation. Some tomato varieties pollinate within the same flower most of
the time, others outcross quite readily -- you have to know what varieties
you're working with.
And as this kind of thing differs greatly both within and between species,
you get better results if you do a little self-education on the topic.
There are a number of good books on the subject. Suzanne Ashworth's "Seed
to Seed" is one of them. Sorry, I don't recall publisher or ISBN right off
But lest you get too intimidated by the idea, remember: people have been
doing this successfully for 10000 years...
"Those who do not learn the lessons of science fiction are condemned to