# Can I grow garden vegetables from seeds? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 12, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-grow-garden-vegetables-from-seeds/592477 "2011-08-12T17:31:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-grow-garden-vegetables-from-seeds/592477/1 "2011-08-12T17:31:21Z")
Not the ones from the packet (which are sometimes pretty iffy anyway), but if I let some of my veggies bolt and collect the seeds, can I use them next year? I know this works with some herbs because I neglected my cilantro one year and had some delicious-smelling weeds the following summer, and don’t even get me started on mint. And if you don’t get ALL your potatoes out of the ground you’re getting more potatoes next year. But how about lettuce? Cucumbers? Pumpkins? Peas? Carrots? etc. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-grow-garden-vegetables-from-seeds/592477/2 "2011-08-12T17:45:08Z")
It depends on your original stock. If the plants were hybrids I don’t think you will get a good result. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-grow-garden-vegetables-from-seeds/592477/3 "2011-08-12T17:57:17Z")
I know people who grow heirloom varieties of vegetables for which there are no commercially available seeds. They make/dry/store a supply each year. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-grow-garden-vegetables-from-seeds/592477/4 "2011-08-12T17:58:18Z")
people plant heirloom seeds and let some plants go to seed and then save those seeds. many plants if some plants are left in the garden will also come up next year. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-grow-garden-vegetables-from-seeds/592477/5 "2011-08-12T18:03:40Z")
Yes, “heirloom” varieties should grow from seed from previous generations; hybrids are a crap shoot. With a hybrid, all you know is you won’t get exactly the same variety as the parent fruit - you might get something good, but you might get something nasty. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-grow-garden-vegetables-from-seeds/592477/6 "2011-08-12T19:03:00Z")
Nothing wrong with trying it (except possibly breaking trademark/copyright/unlicensed propagation laws). I know I had volunteer lettuce last year; for a delicate-looking plant, those things are friggin’ weeds! Speaking of cilantro, I grew it for the first time this year - man, I love this plant! Not only are the shoots delicious, but if left alone, it makes a gorgeous plant. I’ll definitely be planting it again next year (I’m currently letting it go to seed in the hopes of getting seed for free). ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-grow-garden-vegetables-from-seeds/592477/7 "2011-08-12T19:13:39Z")
I did this with tomatoes this year. Every year, we get tomatoes sprouting up from our compost, or garden, wherever a few tomatoes dropped uneaten. Many of these plants bear quite tasty fruit. Last year, we took a good specimen of the volunteer plant, saved and dried seeds a few (grape sized) tomatoes. This year, we grew them, along with a number of other tomato varieties from seed. Our yard tomatoes started a bit more slowly in the trays, but have grown like gangbusters once planted. I also let a halloween pumpkin sit in the garden as decoration, wound up with about 8 thousand pumpkin plants taking over the backyard. I have no clue if I will ever get a pumpkin out of them, though. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-grow-garden-vegetables-from-seeds/592477/8 "2011-08-12T19:56:40Z")
Tomatoes are legendary among gardeners for volunteering, but most volunteer tomatoes will be cherry tomato-sized. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-grow-garden-vegetables-from-seeds/592477/9 "2011-08-13T19:29:55Z")
Do you have veggie gardeners in your area? We have “Guerilla Gardeners” in my city now, who have been allowed to grow their stuff at the Ecological Education Center; in other cities, they have found empty plots and grow their stuff in empty crates and boxes. When you show up there on the weekend and help out for x hours, you are allowed to take veggies or plants home. In the spring, there also used to be big meet-up (for disposing of stuff in an ecological way, with fleamarket) including a plant-swap: gardeners brought their excess plants to trade for others or just give away. In Germany, there’s the operation [Save our seeds](http://www.saveourseeds.org/en.html)who distributes [Bantam maize](http://www.bantam-mais.de/)seed kernels to protest against GM maize. You look on the forum who’s offering kernels from last year as seed for the next and write to them an SAE and receive your kernels. In autumn, you first harvest most maize for eating, and leave the best ones till end of autumn to get seed kernels for next year. If you have a lot of seed kernels, you can also share again on the internet forum. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-grow-garden-vegetables-from-seeds/592477/10 "2011-08-13T19:43:05Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > I also let a halloween pumpkin sit in the garden as decoration, wound up with about 8 thousand pumpkin plants taking over the backyard. I have no clue if I will ever get a pumpkin out of them, though. If you took care of them, I guarantee you would. The people who regularly compete in giant pumpkin contests, etc. select, cross and keep seeds from their best plants each season. Other than a few types of fruit tree, I’m having a hard time thinking of any garden plants it isn’t a great idea to select and save your own seed from. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-grow-garden-vegetables-from-seeds/592477/11 "2011-08-13T21:57:06Z")
> [@constanze](#): > > \ > > In Germany, there’s the operation [Save our seeds](http://www.saveourseeds.org/en.html)who distributes [Bantam maize](http://www.bantam-mais.de/)seed kernels to protest against GM maize. \ That’s pretty funny - they do know that there is no wild corn, that corn as we know it was basically created by humans? ---
**Author:** ![Lazlo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lazlo/32/9678_2.png) [@Lazlo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazlo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-grow-garden-vegetables-from-seeds/592477/12 "2011-08-13T23:31:08Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > That’s pretty funny - they do know that there is no wild corn, that corn as we know it was basically created by humans? You do know that there’s a difference between genetically modified organisms and domesticated hybrids, right? ---
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-grow-garden-vegetables-from-seeds/592477/13 "2011-08-14T02:16:57Z")
We have let our lettuce bolt for years. It gets started before anything we plant, Sometimes volunteer tomatoes turn out well. This year we have already eaten a volunteer crocked neck squash, and a butternut is looking good. Some of the stuff may be biannuals and need the second year to produce seed. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-grow-garden-vegetables-from-seeds/592477/14 "2011-08-14T02:31:07Z")
Quoth **Cat Whisperer** : > [@](#): > > That’s pretty funny - they do know that there is no wild corn, that corn as we know it was basically created by humans? That’s usually my line, but in this case, they have a point. The specific strains of GM corn that I presume they’re objecting to are designed to be single-season: You buy the seeds from Monsanto, plant them, and grow edible corn, but if you plant any of that corn, it won’t grow. To get next year’s crop, you have to buy more seeds from Monsanto. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-grow-garden-vegetables-from-seeds/592477/15 "2011-08-14T03:15:14Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Tomatoes are legendary among gardeners for volunteering, but most volunteer tomatoes will be cherry tomato-sized. There is a God. I think any tomato bigger than a crabapple is just self indulgence by cellulose. (We only have an urban garden and life is to short to not experiment, so I never save seeds.) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-grow-garden-vegetables-from-seeds/592477/16 "2011-08-14T03:26:53Z")
At my work (a produce store) we occasionally get tomato plants growing right up out of the cracks in the asphalt by the dumpster. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-grow-garden-vegetables-from-seeds/592477/17 "2011-08-14T06:19:07Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Quoth **Cat Whisperer** :That’s usually my line, but in this case, they have a point. The specific strains of GM corn that I presume they’re objecting to are designed to be single-season: You buy the seeds from Monsanto, plant them, and grow edible corn, but if you plant any of that corn, it won’t grow. To get next year’s crop, you have to buy more seeds from Monsanto. That sounds kind of bad, but this isn’t new in the world of commercial agriculture. I mean, all apples are basically grown from grafts grafted onto other stock. If you buy plants regularly, you would probably have noticed that most of them have a notice on them that says something about, “Unlicensed propagation against the law” or some such. Besides, what’s wrong with plant people making a dollar? Is that just reserved for banks and stock brokers? ---
**Author:** ![AlienVessels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@AlienVessels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlienVessels)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-grow-garden-vegetables-from-seeds/592477/18 "2011-08-14T06:37:35Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > That sounds kind of bad, but this isn’t new in the world of commercial agriculture. I mean, all apples are basically grown from grafts grafted onto other stock. If you buy plants regularly, you would probably have noticed that most of them have a notice on them that says something about, “Unlicensed propagation against the law” or some such. Besides, what’s wrong with plant people making a dollar? Is that just reserved for banks and stock brokers? There’s nothing wrong with making an honest buck. That’s not what the big agribusiness concerns are doing. > **[Monsanto](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsanto)** > > The Monsanto Company (/mɒnˈsæntoʊ/) was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best-known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed in the 1970s. Later, the company became a major producer of genetically engineered crops. In 2018, the company ranked 199th on the Fortune 500 of the largest United States corporations by revenue. > Monsanto was one of four groups to introduce genes ... ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-grow-garden-vegetables-from-seeds/592477/19 "2011-08-14T10:01:51Z")
One of my old neighbors used to save the seeds from tomatoes and bell peppers that she’d bought at a supermarket, and she’d start them inside. She had mostly good results. She also used a head of garlic as a start, and she’d keep some cloves back each year to plant the next spring. She also would cut the root end off of onions, and save them, and they’d grow the next year. I’m not sure how she kept them from rotting. She would trade starts of various plants with other gardeners, too. She really had a green thumb. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-grow-garden-vegetables-from-seeds/592477/20 "2011-08-14T10:13:22Z")
I grew nothing but saved seed last year as an experiment - it would have been quite successful, except the weather let me down. [http://www.atomicshrimp.com/st/content/project\_samwise](http://www.atomicshrimp.com/st/content/project_samwise) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-grow-garden-vegetables-from-seeds/592477.md?page=2)