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Florida Gardening

GMO seeds....or not

14 years ago

I never saw a word GMO on any seed packs. At the same time on the Internet it said that almost all corn now is GMO. Are hybrids and F1 resistant seeds consider to be GMO? they are modified too.

Is it only organic or heirloom seeds are not GMO?

I am confused....

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Comments (7)

carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b
14 years ago
I think more folks @ the Organic Gardening forum may be better able to answer this, but AFAIK, there is no corn sold for home gardening that is genetically engineered.It's a whole different market.

That doesn't mean that the corn products sold for consumption may not contain GMOs.

Union of Concerned Scientists has a FAQ about seed contamination.....

Here is a link that might be useful: UCSUSA.org
corrie22
14 years ago
Ana, I think you might be seeing a lot of marketing and advertising hooey. A lot of sites are advertising "organic", "no GMO seed", etc
GMO's - Transgenic or genetically modified crops - are not available to the home grower.
And If you do find them, you'll know, because they are going to cost you a arm and a leg.

"Is it only organic or heirloom seeds are not GMO? "

I think that's where you are seeing "no GMO" seed advertized. It's a gimick, they couldn't sell GMO seed any way.

All heirlooms are hybrids. Heirlooms are usually just a open pollinated, that will mostly come back true from seed.

Organic has more to do with how they are grown and handled. Only certain insecticides and fertilizers, etc.
Any seed can claim organic that is handled that way.

"Are hybrids and F1 resistant seeds consider to be GMO?"

No, but then almost without exception, every veg. we grow is a hybrid. Even the heirlooms, they are hybrids too.

F1 is just the first set of babies.

GMO strictly refers to - Transgenic or genetically modified crops - and they are available commercially and not sold to the home grower market.
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sunnystate25
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you very much for clarification!
I didn't know GMO is not allowed to sell for home growers.
zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin
14 years ago
Just came across this by accident while having a discussion with a Florida gardener (I am in Wisconsin). Thought I'd add my two cents worth, since I am familiar with this topic.

As previously stated, no GM vegetable seed is sold to gardeners. Not only would the cost be prohibitive, but it would require a licensing agreement... an administrative burden for the seed companies, and something few gardeners would put up with.

The majority of field corn is now GM, and it has contaminated even non-GM seed stocks. It all gets mixed together in the mills, and labeling of GM products as such has been prohibited by the Federal government, which considers them to be "substantially equivalent". You can pretty much assume that if you consume non-organic corn products, you are eating GM corn. Sweet corn has not been affected to the same degree... but since there are now commercial GM sweet corns (a fact which is hidden from the consumers) that could change.

A few words on "GM", "hybrid", and "heirloom/OP".

" ...but then almost without exception, every veg. we grow is a hybrid. Even the heirlooms, they are hybrids too."

I would, respectfully, disagree. A "hybrid" is generally accepted to be an unstable cross, which will not grow true-to-type from seed. When the cross has been stabilized through breeding & selection, and breeds true from seed, it is no longer considered to be a hybrid. Breeders use the "Fx" designation to indicate the generation of the cross. While most of the heirloom/OP vegetables we grow today may have started out at one time as hybrids (they might technically be up to F-100 or more), they are now pure OP lines.

Hybrids are not considered to be "modified". Crossing within the species is a normal process for all sexually-reproduced plants, whether it is helped by Man or not. Exchanging traits common to the species (the species genome) is not modification, it is breeding. There can be more than two parents in a breeding line, and often is... but they are (usually) all the same species, or at least within the same genus. When a gene from outside the genus is inserted into the chromosome by mechanical means, the result is considered to be "genetically modified".
corrie22
14 years ago
A heirloom is a stabilized hybrid,
still a hybrid.

Corrie
carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b
14 years ago
FWIW, if you look @ the FAQs @ the link I posted above, it is true that, as zeedman corroborates, 'conventional' seed stocks have been found to be contaminated w/ GMOs - & if that is a concern to you, buying organic seed is the best way to avoid this.
corrie22
14 years ago
Carol, you avoid nothing by buying organic seed.

GMO's are not contaminating non-GMO seed stocks because of fertilizer, pesticides, etc or the way a seed is grown or handled.

GMO's are contaminating non-GMO's because of pollen.
You do not avoid that by buying organic.

Corrie

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