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Originally Posted by PureHarvest
Very good info Travis.
I guess I assumed that good breeders had really stable lines that would work for crossing.
So you would ideally start with those and grow out to get parent lines?
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"Good" is a subjective adjective.
Yes, the professional breeders upon whose hybrid seed you can depend for consistency maintain fully standardized, stable true breeding lines from which they produce their F1 hybrid seeds. Hopefully, this is true of the commercial breeders who now are producing these so-called "heritage hybrids" or "heirloom hybrids" where they take two well respected heirloom or heritage tomato varieties and cross them for the specialty or fad market.
Many hobby breeders simply cross two parent plants from among their annual garden crop, and see what comes out of the cross. Sometimes their choices of parents are carefully planned based upon research of each parent's genetics. Other times the cross is based purely on visually appealing characteristics, flavor, or even currently popular attributes like anthocyanin colored fruit or striped skin, etc.
I've done it based upon any number of characteristics, from year to year, lately based upon heat setting ability, background disease resistance, compact growth habits, crack resistance, smooth/scar free appearance, high yield, and yes, flavor and color variations are something I strive to achieve. One of my most interesting crosses was done several years ago based upon Keith Mueller's suggestion that I cross the two varieties I had which were the most different from each other. That was a real project for a while, I tell you.
I do not intend to replicate F1 hybrid seed year after year. That is not even a consideration when I cross tomatoes. So, I really cannot say much more than I already have regarding annual production of hybrid tomato seed that reliably replicates the original. If you want to get more professional info, I would seek it from people like Dr. Randy Gardner, Dr. Jay Scott, and Mark McCaslin. Fred Hempel also can give you very exact info on what is expected of a person who wishes to produce hybrid seed for commercial sale.
I'm only a hobby breeder for backyard fun and entertainment. What I do is make the initial cross, then select what I find to be the best examples of what I am after from among the subsequently segregating and recombining selfed individuals, generation after generation.