Have you ever encountered a situation where the seeds you bought do not germinate well or produce fruits that are completely different from those stated by the manufacturer? There is only one way out of this situation – save the seeds for sowing yourself! Saving tomato seeds is a rewarding and cost-effective way to ensure you have a bountiful harvest year after year. It allows you to select the best tomatoes from your garden, ensuring the next generation inherits desirable traits like flavor, size, and disease resistance. By carefully collecting and storing seeds, you can cultivate your own unique tomato varieties, fostering a deeper connection to your food and preserving heirloom traditions.
- Which tomatoes yield seeds
- Choosing bushes
- Which fruits are good for seeds?
- Collecting and preparing seeds (the usual method)
- Collecting and fermenting
- Washing
- Disinfection
- Drying
- Collecting seeds (simplified method)
- Storage conditions
How to choose tomatoes for seeds
Only varietal tomatoes are suitable for collecting seeds. You should not collect seed material from hybrids that have F1 or F2 marks on the packaging. The fact is that the properties of such fruits are not genetically fixed. Therefore, the result will be unpredictable. In this case, from seeds obtained from a large juicy tomato, plants with large and dry or juicy and small fruits can grow. There is also a high probability that the tomatoes will be small and dry, or the seeds will not germinate at all.
Choosing tomato bushes
Mother plants should be:
- well developed, with strong stems;
- without traces of damage by pests and without signs of disease;
- with fruits of the same size.
The selected plants are marked with ribbons or pegs. It is advisable to mark several bushes to protect against hidden diseases and genetic failures. If any of the plants you choose get sick, you will have backup options.
Which fruits are good for seeds?
It is better to take tomatoes from the very first brush (the lowest one), in extreme cases, fruits from the second brush will do. This recommendation is explained by the fact that the risk of cross-pollination in the greenhouse for early flowers is minimal (during their flowering, bee activity is low), which helps to obtain the desired variety. In addition, the first fruits receive the most nutrients from the plant, which ensures the highest quality of seed material.
The collected greenhouse tomatoes must exactly match the characteristics of the corresponding variety in color, shape and size. Usually, gardeners try to choose the largest tomatoes, but size is not always an indicator of quality. The best option is medium-sized fruits, which usually give a consistently high-quality harvest. They should be ripe, but not overripe. Even not quite ripe (brown) tomatoes will do, they are left for a few days to ripen.
Please note! It is important that the selected fruits do not have spots, signs of rot or other damage, which may indicate a disease.
Collecting and preparing seeds (the usual way)
To collect seeds, prepare a sharp knife, a spoon (tea or coffee), a container, a sieve or gauze. Glass, porcelain or plastic dishes will do. You should not take an iron or aluminum container. Under the influence of the acid contained in tomato juice, the metal oxidizes, which deteriorates the viability of the seeds.
Please note! All tools are pre-disinfected, and the fruits are washed.
Collecting and fermenting tomato seeds
Cut the tomato into 2 or 4 pieces with a knife. Then, use a spoon to scoop out the insides into a jar (you can squeeze out the seeds with your fingers) and leave for fermentation. Thanks to this procedure, the skin will soften, which will facilitate germination in the future.
Important! If you take overripe fruits, they may begin to sprout during the fermentation process.
Liquid is essential for fermentation. Usually, the fruits contain enough juice. But if the tomatoes are very fleshy with a dense skin, then add a little water to the container and mix well to form a gruel. Cover the jar with a napkin or cloth and leave in a warm place (72-75 °F) for two days. If the air temperature is lower, then a day is enough for fermentation. It is important not to miss the moment, as the seeds will germinate and become unsuitable for sowing. You cannot add water, which can also provoke germination.
The end of the fermentation process is indicated by the formation of bubbles and a film on the surface, as well as the clarification of the liquid. In this case, all living seeds sink to the bottom, and empty and unripe ones float to the surface.
Rinsing
Drain the water along with the debris floating on top. Pour clean water into the container, stir and leave for a while so that the seeds settle to the bottom. Then strain the contents using gauze or a sieve, then rinse under running water.
Experienced gardeners advise placing washed seeds in a salt solution for a quarter of an hour (a teaspoon of salt per glass of warm water). Poor-quality planting material will float to the surface, after which it can be easily removed.
Disinfection
To ensure good preservation of seeds and destroy possible pathogens, they are disinfected. For this purpose, washed seed material is placed in a weak solution (light pink) of potassium permanganate or in a soap solution (a tablespoon of grated laundry soap per glass of water) for 20-30 minutes. Then the liquid is drained, the seeds are washed and dried. Instead of potassium permanganate, you can use a 2-3% solution of hydrogen peroxide or copper sulfate, or rinse the seeds with hot (113 °F) water for 8 minutes.
Drying tomato seeds
Spread the seeds in a thin layer on a cloth or cardboard to dry. Napkins absorb moisture well, but the seeds stick to them tightly. You can leave the seeds on paper for a while to let the water drain, and then transfer them to a plate or bowl. When they stop sticking together and flow freely from your hand, they are stored. Drying takes 5-7 days.
Another option is to dry the seed material on a paper towel, and then store it together with the roll with which you sow seedlings in the spring.
Tomato seed collection (simplified method)
If for some reason it is not possible to use the usual method of collection, then you can resort to a simplified option. The quality of the seeds will be worse, but they will retain a high level of germination.
In this case, to collect the seed material, it is enough to cut the tomato and pick out the contents on a paper towel, then leave it for 5-7 days to dry. The dried seed material is separated from the towel by hand and placed in a bag.
Storage conditions for seeds
The seed material is placed in cloth bags or paper bags, noting important information (variety, year of collection). Do not store it in sealed containers and plastic bags, which can provoke the development of mold.
The seeds are stored in a dry (humidity no higher than 55%), dark, cool (32-41 °F) and well-ventilated room. The temperature can be higher, but it should not fall below zero or rise above 85 degrees. It is also important to avoid sudden temperature changes. In this case, the seeds remain viable for more than 5 years. But it should be taken into account that after 4 years of storage, their germination rate decreases significantly with each subsequent year.
Self-collected seeds will allow you to select varieties that best suit the conditions of the region and a specific bed. In addition, you will be able to control the quality of the seed material and collect as much as necessary (for one season or for 2-4 subsequent years).
