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colorful plant, the seed company keeps breeding the parent plants until it creates a hybrid that demonstrates those traits. This lengthy testing process insures that consumers ultimately purchase a healthy plant witlf desirable characteristics.
Hybrid Flower Seeds
Pollinated by Hand
After a seed company is sure the seeds meet their standards, the seeds are put into trial production. The hybrid flower is pronounced a success if the trial production yields flowers with the appropriate characteristics. Then, they hybrid flower goes into major production. The parent plants are pollinated by hand as they flower. The seed capsules are picked, and the hybrid seeds go through a qualitycontrol process. Using samples from each lot, germination is inspected, and the samples are grown to full bloom to verify that the seed is true to type. After testing, the seeds are packaged and shipped to wholesale distributors.
Wholesale distributors sell the seed to growers who, in turn, sell the flowers to nurseries and garden centers. Through this process, gardeners can be sure they’re buying a plant that will bloom exactly as expected.
Dr. Diane Relf is a horticulture specialist with Virginia Cooperative Extension and is a member of the faculty of Virginia Tech.
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