SEED SAVING

Here is some useful information to take into consideration when deciding which vegetables to collect seed from. It is not complete and contains no information on Asian vegetables. I will read further and add to the tables when I find useful information.

Vegetables may be grouped into four categories according to their manner of pollination. Home gardeners who want to save seed from vegetable plants can expect group 1 to contain less than 5 percent mixed seed. When seeds are saved from groups 2, 3 and 4, the gardener should use special care to prevent crossing if more than one variety of the same species is grown in the garden.

Group 1. Self-pollinators:
Vegetables with flowers that can receive only their own pollen.
Examples:
bush, climbing and lima beans
chicory
endive
English and Southern peas
tomatoes

Group 2.
Form seed only with pollen from an unrelated plant.
Examples:
cabbage
radish

Group 3.
Cross-pollinated vegetables that may set seed from their own pollen (self-pollinated) or from pollen received from another plant (cross-pollinated) and can be divided as follows:
A. Usually pollinated by air-borne pollen:
beets
corn
carrots
onions
celery
spinach
Swiss chard
B. Usually pollinated by insect-borne pollen:
broccoli
kale
parsnip
Brussels sprouts
kohlrabi
peppers, hot and sweet
cauliflower
lettuce
pumpkins
collards
mustard
rutabaga
cucumbers
okra
squashes
eggplant
parsley
watermelons
gourds

Group 4.
This group has male and female plants. Seeds are formed only when male plants furnish pollen.
Examples:
asparagus
spinach
some hybrid cucumbers


Pollination may occur between vegetable cultivars, creating new cultivars. For example, plants in the Cucurbitaceae or gourd family belong to four species among which crosses may occur. The success of such crossing depends on the species to which a variety belongs. Plants belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family produce separate male and female blooms on the same plant. Insects are usually required to cross-pollinate blooms.
The following diagram indicates the crosses that can or cannot occur between plants in the genus Cucurbita.

Species joined by a solid line do not cross, but crossing may occur between species connected by a broken line.
The more common varieties of gourd, pumpkin, and squash belong to the species indicated below:
C. pepo: Casserta, Cocozefle, Connecticut Field, Delicata, Early Prolific Straightneck, English Marrow, Golden Custard, Orange Gourd, Pea, Gourd, Small Sugar, Table Queen or Acorn, Tours, Tricolor Spoon Gourd, Uconn, White Bush Scallop, Winter Luxury, Yellow Crookneck, and Zucchini.
C. moschata: Alagold, Butternut, Calhoun, Chirimen, Dickinson Field, Golden Winter Crookneck, Kentucky Field, Large Cheese, Sugar Marvel, and Turkish Honey.
C. mixta: Green Striped Cushaw, Japanese Pie, Silverseed Gourd, Tennessee Sweet Potato, and White Cushaw.
C. maxima: Banana, Boston Marrow, Buttercup, Delicious (all types), Essex Hybrid, French Turban, Hubbard (all types), Mammoth, Mammoth Chili, Marblehead, and Olive.

Pumpkins and squashes do not cross-pollinate with cucumbers, watermelons or citron. Watermelons and citron both belong to the same genus Citullus and, therefore, will cross-pollinate each other. Muskmelons and Casaba melons will cross since they are both in the same genus Cucumis and also in the same species melo.