zmanor
Newly Registered
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2007 2:39 pm
Location: Northern VA (zone 6/7)

Getting seeds right out of the tomato?

Hi,

Can I plant tomato seeds simply by taking them out of a ripe tomato that I bought in the supermarket (or from one that grew in my garden)?

What about other vegetables?

Thanks!

Janet W
Full Member
Posts: 40
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2006 10:17 am
Location: Ottawa Carleton Region Canada

Yes, I do, just rinse them off and dry them on a paper towel for a few days and they should be ready. Janet

opabinia51
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 4659
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2004 5:58 pm
Location: Victoria, BC

Yes, you can but, most tomatoes bought in the supermarket are hybrid varieties and therefore you will most likely not get same fruit as you started with.

There is nothing wrong with this of course.

Try buying some heirloom tomatoe seed as well then, you can save the seed each fall and plant the seeds in the spring. These are not hybrids and the "phenotype" of the tomatoe will come true, provided that the plant was not cross pollinated.

Newt
Greener Thumb
Posts: 1868
Joined: Tue May 25, 2004 10:44 pm
Location: Maryland zone 7

Here's how to save tomato seeds from this site at the bottom of the page.
https://nctomatoman.topcities.com/From_The_Vine.htm
Saving Tomato Seed:

1. Use tomatoes that are edible ripe and NOT overripe or rotting.

2. Label a Dixie cup with the name of the tomato

3. Cut the fruit in half and squeeze the contents into the cup- seeds, juice, pulp and all

4. Place the cup in the shade in a covered area outside or in a garage or shed and it will really smell bad and attract fruit flies!

5. After about 3 days, once a white fungus layer forms, add water to fill the cup and carefully remove the fungus layer and discard. Pour the contents into a fine mesh sieve and, with water running over the seed mass, press with a spoon so that everything but the seeds passes through the mesh.

6. Scrape out the cleaned seed, spread onto a labeled unglazed paper plate and let air dry in the house for about 2 weeks.

7. Tomato seeds, if stored in glass or plastic vials, will last 10 years or more, stored at room temperature.
Newt

tiggs&oscar
Full Member
Posts: 53
Joined: Tue Apr 24, 2007 6:51 pm
Location: Scottish Borders

zmanor wrote:Hi,

Can I plant tomato seeds simply by taking them out of a ripe tomato that I bought in the supermarket (or from one that grew in my garden)?

What about other vegetables?

Thanks!
Hi, that's what I'm doing now. Just gently pop the individual seeds onto a piece of paper towel and let them naturally dry out for a couple of days. Mine are in a cardboard egg box and five out of six hatched! I had them on a sunny windowsill and kept them moist. They are now ready to pop into larger pots. Another reader makes a good point about hybrids. I have a great photo from when I lived in Australia and saved the seeds from a yummy tomato. The photo shows my 6ft2 boyfriend standing under the taller tomatoes! The crop was good not great but picking one warm off the stem with some fresh basil - priceless!

zmanor
Newly Registered
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2007 2:39 pm
Location: Northern VA (zone 6/7)

Thanks for all the replies. I tried it and it worked! (my tomatoes sprouted and are a few inches tall!) I still need to see about the quality of the fruit, but if they taste good enough, I'll try to dry some seeds at the end of the season, for next year. Will keep you posted.



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