Hi Heather -

Last question first, ok? Yes you can get and save hybrid seeds from your garden. Most hybrid varieties still have/make seeds, a few do not.

The issue is that some times those seeds are sterile so won't grow if planted AND even if they are NOT sterile and will grow they will not produce a copy of their parent plant. The plant that grows from them will differ in size or color or shape or other ways depending on which of its genes are dominant or recessive. Just like people - the same parents produce very different children.

Many gardeners save hybrid seeds just to see what will grow and to see if they like it.

First question: you hand pollinate a flower with one of the same variety, will you get hybrid seeds from the fruit?

The only way to produce the same hybrid is to cross whatever its parent plants were. Some varieties have only 2 parents but many have 3 or more generations in them. So if you hand pollinate 2 of the same hybrid you will still get hybrid seeds and they may or may not be sterile seeds but they will NOT be the same as the original plants.

That is an over-simplified explanation but you can get the basic idea. If you want more details you need to research the differences between F1, F2, F3, etc. hybridizing.

Hope this helps.

Dave

Thanks for reply "digdirt" Its really helpful. It's an informative post about hybrid seeds.