F1 stands for Filial 1 the first generation. An F1 hybrid is the result of many years selected pure line breeding. Breeders want features like identical, perfectly shaped vegetables which is why if you buy tomatoes in the supermarket they are all the same size and shape They breed disease resistance and heavy yields into the plants. The only way you could reproduce an F1 variety is to know what pure line varieties the breeder used for the cross. This is why F1 seeds are more expensive.
If you want to experiment you can save the seeds from an F1 variety and sow them then the next generation becomes an F2. If you save the seeds from the F2 the next generation will become F3. Each year there will be a percentage that are not true to type but by only saving the seeds from the plants and vegetables that show the characteristics that you want to keep in the variety I think that eventually over the generations you will breed out the bad characteristics.
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