To the plant, pollination is pollination. To the gardener who wants particular results (such as wanting to keep an heirloom variety pure), cross-pollination (cross-breeding) is something to avoid. To a grower or scientist who is trying to create a new variety, cross-pollination is desirable. It's all on your point of view. Like Dave said, some varieties are very genetically stable, like his Nantes carrots. Others, like curcubits, are notorious for cross-pollinating. If you're growing certain kinds of decorative gourds, and zucchini or other squashes, insects will cross-pollinate them very easily, and if you saved the seeds from your wonderful zucchini and planted them, they could end up being something almost unrecognizable and tasteless. "Does cross pollination always create a hybrid?" Yes and no. Technically, every pollinated plant is producing a hybrid, because every plant from every seed has a tiny, microscopic difference from the plant next to it, although it is, for most purposes, the same. Only cuttings, cloned or tissue-cultured plants are exactly the same as the parent stock. Plants labeled 'hybrids' have been crossed from plants with noticeably different qualities. If you crossed two of these 'hybrids', they would most likely revert back to the qualities of one or the other of the 'parents'. Granny Smith apples came from crabapples. If you planted a Granny Smith seed and nutured it for several years, you would probably end up with some sort of crabapple or similar variation. Two additional bits of info (just to confuse you a little more ;-) ): 1) You can be growing two similar plants near each other, but if they flower at different times, they won't (can't) cross-pollinate. Corn is a good example: there are early, mid-season and late varieties of corn. Corn cross-pollinates easily because it's wind-borne, but if they tassle (the 'flower') at different times and there is no other corn around (esp upwind), they won't cross. If Alfie's apples (above) needed a pollinator variety, and he accidentally planted a variety that bloomed a month after his Macintosh, he wouldn't get any apples. 2) OP varieties can be 'manipulated' even within the variety. You can have a packet of seed of a single variety of an OP plant, and each seed inside will have a tiny difference about it. Many people will grow a particular variety that they like, and they will watch for 'special' ones among that variety: a tiny bit earlier, a slightly larger fruit, a sweeter flavor, a slightly higher yield, etc, and they will mark it and let a few fruits of that plant mature and collect the seed. The next year, they plant that seed, and again look for 'special' plants. Every year, they keep doing this, and end up (hopefully) with localized variety within a named variety that is especially suited to their local conditions. It's still the same variety, it's still OP, it's just an improved variation within that variety. If you bought seeds from a grower in BC, and you bought the same variety from a grower in ON, the local seeds might produce plants that had a slight edge on local conditions, concerning earliness, adaptibility to hot summers, or ability to grow with a bit less water. The seeds from BC might adapt better to cooler summers, more humidity, and a longer season.

Some insect pests may be deterred by radish but I don't know of any. Radish will attract some pests however, notably flea beetles and cabbage root maggots. Nevertheless, I enjoy radishes and grow them. I use them to mark the rows of slow sprouting seeds, then eat them. I also plant them for their own sake. Floating row cover works well in keeping them free of insects. I don't know if that would work for your situation. Q: What's worse than finding a root maggot in a radish? A: Finding half a root maggot. Jim

Interesting. You have chosen the perfect variety to work with, because although Merit was bred by Asgrow and released in 1961, it is now owned by Monsanto. A re-selected strain will take a few years, but if you start growing a few plants just for seed and select for top characteristics, you can do it. Merit is a Golden Bantam type, most likely hybridized for earliness and rust resistance. Several seed companies sell improved strains of Golden Bantam, so you could even do your own crossing by interplanting the two varieties. Good luck!

Avocados come in A or B for pollination purposes. For best results one of each is required. It is a matter of the pollen being released when the female is receptive. With a seedling you will have no way of knowing what you have and several years before knowing if you will have fruit. Your local county extension service should be able to answer questions regarding your chances of success in your climate. Al