Saving Seeds From "Paper Bag" Ripened Tomatoes?

[kayjay]

Hi all. I have Brandywine tomatoes that have done quite well even under less-than-ideal conditions. I'd like to save seed for next year, but I have a squirrel problem and I really don't want to let a fruit ripen on the vine. The paper-bag-with-a-banana ripening trick has worked really well for me. Is there any reason not to save seeds from indoor ripened fruit?

TIA!

[applestar]

If it was blushed when you harvested the fruit, the seeds are mature and can be saved for growing. Save the seeds that sink when (fermenting) rinsing after all the gel have been removed (gel makes the seed float and fail the test).

[kayjay]

Perfect, thanks!

(ETA) Oh my, just an hour after I posted this, I was sitting in my yard and I could swear I saw something red in the very back of my Brandywine....

[tomc]

The paper-bag-with-a-banana ripening trick has worked really well for me. Is there any reason not to save seeds from indoor ripened fruit?

TIA!

Not a single one. A ripe tomato, is a ripe tomato. A too green one may not have many viable seeds in it. The time inna bag will do.

[ion]

I've done it with both green and blushing toms ripened in bags. They both work fine, just that you get more seeds from toms that were beginning to ripen. The green, not too young ones produce a mix of immature and mature seeds.

[kayjay]

Thanks for the advice! I let that tomato above sit on the counter for a few more days. It was a really nice specimen, both visually and gastronomically. The seeds are drying now. I sure hope its progeny are just as nice next year. I took a photo of it next to a Big Beef for colour comparison.

One thing I forgot to do was weigh it. Doh. I have a digital food scale and I was curious how much that sucker weighed. Oh well.

[Meatburner]

kayjay, that's a nice looking tomato for sure. Bet it will fit perfectly on a blt sandwich.

[tomc]

how can I make my tomatoes look very red???

Inasmuch as many tomato are pinks, you may not be able to get there (to very red) from here.

The short answer is buy very red tomatoes. They will tend to have seed that grows very red fruit in the next generation.

[kayjay]

Just an update - the seeds have germinated! I'm happy. There are three sprouts so far, and I think I only planted 4 or 5, so that's not bad. I'd try more if I had more space in my yard. I'm trying not to overdo it.

If anyone wants some seeds, I'll trade ya.

[kayjay]

One year update: the seeds produced a MONSTER plant with huge tomatoes.

Rather than doing the fermentation thing, I went the OxiClean route, and it worked.

[applestar]

That's great! I have heard that by saving seeds from your fruits and growing them from year to year, they begin to adapt and acclimate to the local conditions in your garden.

[Mr green]

That's great! I have heard that by saving seeds from your fruits and growing them from year to year, they begin to adapt and acclimate to the local conditions in your garden.

I find this to be true! Just as we humans adapt to different conditions.

[KitchenGardener]

kayjay: I know your last post was almost a year ago, but what is the "OxiClean route"? TIA

[kayjay]

Hello! Sorry I didn't see this sooner. Basically, it's an alternative to fermenting tomato seeds, which is necessary to get rid of the natural germination inhibitors on them. I reeeeeeally didn't want to have a cup of disgusting tomato goo in my kitchen, because the circulation in my house is really poor. Anything I cook, you can still smell it throughout the house the next morning, even with the windows open, let's put it that way. So the idea of just putting some laundry stain remover in a cup of water with the tomato seeds was WAY more appealing.

The basics, from what I remember: enjoy your delicious, fine specimen of a tomato after squeezing/spooning most of the seeds and pulp into a glass. Add enough water to the glass to make about one cup. Add about 1 Tbsp of OxyClean or an equivalent product. Stir well, let it sit for an hour or so. Strain the seeds and rinse well. Let the seeds dry out. I'm not sure what kind of links I'm allowed to post, so I'll just suggest that you google "Tomato seeds OxyClean" for better instructions.

For any Canadians following along at home, the product I used was Resolve, which I purchased at Dollarama.

That's great! I have heard that by saving seeds from your fruits and growing them from year to year, they begin to adapt and acclimate to the local conditions in your garden.

This makes perfect sense. It's basically not-so-natural selection. If you have something that grew well in your garden, then its progeny should, too. Let's say you have six plants of a certain variety. Five did so-so but one did really well. Alright, save the seeds from the one that did really well.

[KitchenGardener]

Thank you for your response, KayJay.