Fermenting tomato seeds?

I recieved some baker creek heirloom tomato seeds, arkansas traveler, and black krim. i'm hoping to grow them and start saving my own seeds from these packets. mind you, i don't even have tomatoes yet! but i'd like to know your experiences saving tomato seed for future reference. thanks in advance! :)

This is a bit wordy--but useful
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qQ3_a8m5Y4

Select a good, fully ripe tomato from a healthy plant and put it in a Ziplok baggie. Mash it to a pulpy, slushy mess. Add enough water to fill the baggie about 1/4 to almost half full. Stand it upright in a plastic tub for a couple days to a week. It will get foamy and scummy on top. Fermentation is underway. Mash the pulp again to make sure all the seeds are dislodged.

After about a week in the scum, fill the baggie with water. The seeds will sink and the scum will float. Carefully start pouring off the scum, adding more water, as needed. Repeat this until you end up with a baggie of crystal clear water and clean seeds.

Line a plate with a paper towel and carefully pour the seeds onto the paper towel. Spread the seeds into a single layer, and separate any clumps. Put it aside to dry.

When dry, label the paper towel with the seed history. Always document the date you save seeds to the paper towel, the variety of the host tomato, where the original tomato came from, e.g. Johnny's Seeds 2010, or "from DGer Linda's Black Krims 2011," etc.

Fold the dry towel and store in a Ziplok baggie. - put mine in a shoebox, on a
closet shelf.

I sure would apprecIate a report from you, if you decide to use this method.

This January, started 208 seedlings from seeds I saved as a newbie in 2009. Every one germinated.

This is a super simple, effective seed-saving method I learned from a fellow DGer.

Godspeed, and Good Harvest!

Linda

This message was edited May 14, 2011 9:31 PM

From my fermented seeds from 2009.

i've been in food service for years, i know all about those pink mushy foamy scummy 'cooking' tomatoes. i probably could have saved a million seeds from bad bruchetta. :)

great picture gymgirl! those look fantastic! i hope mine do as well. i'm getting a late start for tomatoes i fear, but i'll keep my fingers crossed. here in zone 5 we just get a late start on just about everything.... except snow!

This message was edited May 14, 2011 8:51 PM

Don't forget to post a follow-up!

Outlaw, I don't get quite as elaborate as Gymgirl. I let my tomato get good and ripe, and then I cut the tomato in half and squeeze the seeds out into a small jar with a lid. You can also scrape with a spoon. You'll have seeds and gel as a result. I fill the jar with water, put the lid on loosely, and allow it to ferment for three or four days. Once you have a nice layer of white-ish mold growing on top of the liquid, gently pour out the mold and the liquid. The viable seeds will sink to the bottom; rinse them several times to get all the mold and bacteria off, then pour off as much of the liquid as possible. Dump the seeds on a coffee filter or piece of waxed paper; paper towels are too absorbent and your seeds may stick to them. Spread the seeds out on the drying surface and allow to air-dry for up to a week or until no more moisture can be felt. I usually label the coffee filter and use a separate one for each variety so I can keep track. Then I carefully place the seeds in an envelope marked with the variety and year collected. I store them in a glass jar with a dessicant pack, in a dark, cool place.

awesome. :) i think i will try both of these methods out, and i'll be updating as soon as.... i have some producing tomato plants... then another growing season... lol ok it may be a while. :)

Hey, Gal!

Nice method. I'll try it!

I dry the seeds on a paper towel on purpose - so they DO stick to it! When I'm ready to sow, I just moisten the paper towel a bit and they lift right off.

Multiple folded paper towels can be easily stored in the same Ziplok baggie.

Finally, a pair of scIssors and a quick snip, makes seed trades and mailing really easy!

Hugs! ^^-^^

Gymgirl, I was taught that method when I was given some ripe tomatoes for seed-saving during a visit to France. It's worked well for me since then, and it's great for varieties that are hard to purchase. Here's a web page; it's in French but the pictures are helpful:

http://www.jardinpotager.com/recoltetomate.htm

I usually put my seeds in little envelopes or packets so each variety (and year) is separate.

Outlaw, Welcome to DG...

Not to pat myself on the back but here is the most easy-to-read seed fermenting tutorial, complete with pics, in a step-by-step format, by yours truly. (grin)
http://davesgarden.com/community/blogs/t/Horseshoe/1109/

I'm with g-house gal and in the "no paper towels allowed" group. Using waxed paper plates allows the seeds to be more easily dried and easily separated while drying so they don't clump together. The longer they stay clumped together the longer it takes for them to thoroughly dry. Plus since the seeds are separate it is much easier to keep an inventory on qty as well as count individual seeds should you want to do an germination test later.

GG/Linda, I ran out of jars and cups one year and tried the baggy method. I found it to be too messy and too much trouble to rinse the seeds. The baggy, being wiggly (not solid like a cup or jar) was just too easy to mess up and lose seeds during the rinses plus I think it is important to stir the pulp, loosening any seeds trapped in it and allowing the viable seeds to be released. "Mashing" it as you do didn't seem to do the trick (for me). Stirring is far more easier and efficient and less time-consuming.

As for storing dried seeds, I put them in coin envelopes, labeled, then into glass jars and/or freezer bags and store in the fridge or freezer.

Shoe (off to up-pot tomatoes, over and over and over and....)

greenhouse_gal - I have an icon at the top of my screen from "Bing" that is a translator. Some of the translations are amuzing, but certainly understandable.

Gymgirl, I think I'll try coffee filters instead of paper towels. When I saved melon seeds last year, I found they stuck to the paper, too.

Shoe, love the easy to follow instructions and photos.

I'm hoping the four "Money Maker" tomatoes that I am growing from seed that a fellow DG member sent me will produce enough good-tasting fruits so I can try saving seeds from them.

Here's a tip: instead of picking up seeds with your fingers, use tweezers. Your fingers could be damp.

This message was edited May 15, 2011 1:17 PM

I've never heard of "Bing" but I have an application called Ultralingua on my computer, and all I have to do is click on a word in French and the translation pops up. Unfortunately it doesn't work like that on my iPad; apparently Apple doesn't want software to be able to act on other applications, maybe as virus protection. I was able to use a French-English dictionary as a default when I was on an actual Kindle, but Kindle on iPad doesn't do that. I still prefer reading on the iPad, though.

I just scrape or pick the seeds off the coffee filters and put them in the same coin envelopes that it sounds as though Shoe uses. I also use that opportunity to separate the seeds as much as I can.

this will be an adventure for sure. i'll be saving as many of those silica packs as i can too, sounds like a great idea to put those in with the envelopes.

I put them in the glass jar, not in the envelopes themselves, of course. I think that's what you meant, right?

Dave Whitiinger (the Dave in "Dave's Garden" wrote a Guide back in 2007 on fermenting tomatoes which is similar to much written above but has illustrations you might find useful. Here is the link to that article:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/23/

Diane of "Diane's Seeds" (she sells all kinds of wonderful heirloom varieties and saves her own seeds) also has an upbeat article she wrote which, again, says much the same as above, but includes distances for planting to reduce cross pollination and other tips.
http://www.dianeseeds.com/saving/tomato.html

Both articles are worth reading. Then you cull all the above and this and do it your own way which suits you best. It is very easy and fun!! Oh, and I must say that the argument that it "stinks" is greatly over-rated. Loosely covering the jar or cup reduces the odor and no one has ever complained in my kitchen. Of course I don't do a lot at one time so that might make a difference! Maybe 25-50 cups would be unpleasant? I don't know!

greenhouse_gal - Bing is a search engine from Microsoft - similar to Google.

http://www.bing.com/

yeah, i meant put them in the jar, or probably plastic tote with the envelopes. not actually in the envelope. :) at any rate, this project is on hold until i can find some heirloom tomatoes at the market, or nursery. these seeds will have to hang tight another year, since i'm late in the season, and still haven't made it to my mom's to get my greenhouse. :(

Outlaw, it is not necessarily only "heirlooms" that you can save seeds from but rather "open pollinated", a.k.a non-hybrids. Feel free to save seeds from any tomato that is not a hybrid. (And actually, save seeds from hybrids if you like but just don't expect the offspring to be exactly the same as the parent.)

Good luck. Hope you get your g-house! By the way, still plenty of time to set out tomatoes in your area. Don't give up.

Shoe

I have had great success with saving tomato seeds. I have only used the fermentation method, which has worked great for me. I have collected heirloom tomato seeds this way.

I ferment all of my tomato seeds that I want to save. I have had great success with doing this. Folks say that you can just put them on a plastic plate and dry them good and they will come up too. But I ferment because I have read that by fermenting, you decrease your chances of having seeds with diseases. I use the article on this website that describes in detail how to do this process. Go to "Articles" and search for keywords like "fermenting tomato seeds" or "saving tomato seeds" and the search will pull up which article you want to go by. I save my seeds in the small containers that diabetic test strips come in. I keep these containers in the fridge in a sealed Glad container with several of the moisture packs spread throughout the container. The seeds will keep for many years this way.