This article throws light upon the top four types of flower seeds. The types are: 1. Open Pollinated Variety 2. F1 Hybrids 3. F2 Seed 4. Mixture.
Type # 1. Open Pollinated Variety:
In India more than 90% seed of open pollinated type is produced and exported. These are true breeding cultivars and can be used for all genetic improvement. However, amongst flower crops, these are used for landscape design for main effects and creating colour patterns. These represent true self-pollinated lines and produce uniform plant both genetically and phenotypically and produce the uniform colour and of same size. The seed of often or cross pollinated type is produced by providing proper isolation distance to avoid foreign intimidation of pollen grains.
Type # 2. F1 Hybrids:
The Fi hybrid seeds are very popular amongst many flowers due to superior in plant vigour, earliness, increased flower size, and numbers of flowers. These are produced by crossing two inbred lines/variety. Various method are adopted like hand pollination by following the procedure of emasculation and pollination or by use of male sterility. For example in petunia or pansy emasculation and pollination method is used whereas in marigold, zinnia, male sterile system is used. On selfing these do not breed true to type and produce mixture of progeny due to genetic segregation and recombination.
Type # 3. F2 Seed:
In flowers like pansy, Antirrhinum, F2 seeds are also very common in trade due to wide variation in flower colours, but flower size may be little reduced. It results from self-fertilization of F1 hybrids.
Type # 4. Mixture:
In flower seed trade, mixture of seed is sold by blending the seed of different colour in certain proportion thus field looks more colourful in certain flowers colours. It has been observed that in many flowers, certain flower colour tend to produce more seeds than others do. Therefore such mixtures are preferred.