When plants can be pollinated by birds, wind, insects or other natural means, they are considered open pollinated. As the pollination process is not controlled, it’s possible that the resulting plants won’t be true replicas of the parent plant. This can result in unwanted varieties but also has the potential to increase biodiversity and improve a plant in unexpected ways. The seeds of these types of plants can be saved as long as they’re the same species; however, if open pollination occurs between different species, any resulting seeds will not be viable. All heirloom plants are open pollinated plants.
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