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By Kayla Breese With the warmth of spring many people are itching to start planting. The quality of seeds used can make all the difference in how much crop they yield, their resistance to drought and pests, among other traits.

According to Josh Rogers, associate sample prep technician at Covance Inc., with a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin— Stevens Point, the quality of a seed ranges drastically depending on what trait the grower wants. Some of the varieties people look for are their immunity to disease, taste, size, color, shape, and resistance to freezing or drought.

“I’m not saying the more variety the better the quality of seeds, but how well such traits affect the crop increases the quality in the seed,” he said.

Seeds with particular traits can result from selective breeding or hybrid breeding.

A hybrid seed is the product of cross-pollination between one plant with a desired trait and another plant of the same or similar species that has another trait.

For gardeners who do not wish to purchase hybrid seeds, note that non-hybrids will not produce a specific variety or quality.

“Non-hybrid is performed by open pollination in which pollen from plants in a non-controlled environment are released and can produce many different varieties of traits that effect taste, size, color, natural resistances and viability at random,” Rogers said.

When purchasing seeds decide which trait you want most. Are you in an area that doesn’t see much rain? Are crop-destroying diseases a problem? Do you want more produce from one plant?

“If say, you want to grow [a particular] tomato because it never gets blight, it’s disease resistant and it might not have as much yield, but you don’t really care about that because what you’re interested in is disease resistance,” Ruth Hempel, owner of Forth Floral in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, said. “So [your choice of seed] kind of depends on what you are interested in.” Forth Floral has been in business for 113 years.

She cautioned those who are eager to plop a seed in the ground and sink their teeth into their produce to be aware what USDA growing zone they are in and what plants do best in that area.

“When you go to a lot of those big stores that have multiple chains all over the place, sometimes they buy the same seed for all their stores, it’s not specialized for your area,” Hempel said.

She recommends looking for seed companies in your state first, as they will carry what grows well in that region. From there you can zero in on what qualities you are looking for.

Hempel stresses vigilance when selecting seeds. Just because some seeds are inexpensive it does not mean they are a good deal. They may have very few seeds in a packet or the quality may not be as good as some that are purchased from reputable sellers.

Not only can you get better quality seeds from the reputable sellers, but they offer a vast selection that will yield produce that can wow the palate or make a flower garden pop. Getting tired of the same old basil? Change it up with tangy lemon basil. Add a splash of color to your salad with vibrant yellow Gold Nugget tomatoes and sweet Purple Haze carrots.

There are many varieties of seeds and sometimes the better quality ones cost more, according to Hempel. An example would be certain types of produce that people wouldn’t find in their local grocery stores such as the purple haze carrots.

“Some of the varieties, they will carry across many different seed companies but sometimes [the company] will have exclusives just for [their particular area],” Hempel said.

Gardeners who want to use the seeds from their hybrid plants should be aware that the next generation will carry 50 percent of the desired trait. Rogers said that after a few generations, the plants will get close to 100 percent hybrid yield. So for those who want to continue to get a particular trait consistently they may want to just purchase new seeds each year.

After the fun of digging in the dirt and planting seeds, some gardeners may have leftovers. To store them until next year, keep them in a cool, dry place such as a dry paper envelope in a zip lock bag and then into a freezer to prevent germination or decomposition. The bag will prevent moisture from getting to the seeds.

“Most seeds can last up to a couple years in these conditions until they start to lose quality and viability,” Rogers said. He also recommends consulting plant breeders on how long particular seeds can be stored.