Saving tomato seeds

mayo · Tue Sep 29, 2009 11:30 pm

Hi all,

How ripe/mature does a tomato have to be if you want to save the seeds for the next season's planting? I have some heirlooms that I can't always find seeds for. Due to the year's crazy weather, this plant was late blooming. The tomatoes seem to be close to maturing but the weather is turning now.

Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

TZ -OH6 · Wed Sep 30, 2009 8:16 am

Tomato breeder Tom Wagner says that if you cut a green tomato and there is enough gell formed that the knife does not cut the seeds then you can get the seeds to grow.

nes · Wed Sep 30, 2009 10:16 am

GOOD QUESTION!

I've got a few large green toms that are rotting that I'd love to get the seeds out of, I didn't think they'd be mature enough but I'm going to try!!

mayo · Wed Sep 30, 2009 10:57 pm

Thanks TZ-OH6! I was hoping that these plants wouldn't be a total waste for me :)

garden5 · Tue Oct 06, 2009 7:34 am

Tomato seeds must be fermented before you store them.

Here is an article that goes more in-depth on this subject:[url]https://gardening.about.com/od/totallytomatoes/ss/TomatoSeeds.htm[/url]

Congratulations on a successful harvest!

mayo · Tue Oct 06, 2009 5:44 pm

Thanks garden5. I'll take a look at that link in a bit. I can't say that my harvest was successful this year, so I'm currently focusing more time on the front garden hahaha

TZ -OH6 · Tue Oct 06, 2009 7:12 pm

That article makes it seem a bit more complicated than it needs to be.

Tomato seeds do not need to be fermented to germinate. You can put some gooey seeds on a napkin in a restaurant, let them dry and they will germinate. Sometimes seeds germinate while still inside the tomato. Fermentation used to clean off the goop and leave fluffy clean seeds for easier storage and handling.

You do not need a big mat of mold on top. Mold has nothing to do with the decomposition action. That is carried out by microscopic bacteria and yeasts. The seeds are ready when they clump closely together after being swirled. Before they are ready, remaining gel holds the seeds slightly apart from one another. Including alot of fruit pulp at the beginning makes it difficult to tell when seeds are ready, so simply squishing fruits that have been cut in half to get the seeds/gell out of the compartments gives you what you need. Adding a little water to the container often helps.