Benefits

• Creating hybrid plants improves the physical characteristics of the species. The process produces plants that are more tolerant of environmental issues than standard plants. It also improves the fruit and plant size.
  
  

Warning

• Next-generation plants do not grow true to type when sown from seeds collected from the hybrid plant. The seeds create mutated varieties, if the seeds germinate at all.
  
  

Facts

• Hybrid species are labeled with F1 or denoted as a hybrid variety in catalogs and gardening centers. Standard plant varieties are marked either as heirloom or as open-pollinated plants. Sometimes they are not labeled at all.
  
  

Types

• Hybrid varieties include most types of cabbages, broccoli, tomatoes, cucumbers and melons. Nonhybrid plants include lettuce, beans and peas.