Tomatoes: Germination Curiosity

I have a question that I have pondered for a bit, it may seem silly but nonetheless it has my curiosity :) I was wondering what everyone else's opinion was.

Provided tomato seeds are fermented,obviously removing the gel sac that hinders germination, then dried for several weeks(say 6 wks. or so) and immediately planted thereafter will they germinate or do they need a cooling off/resting period as some seeds do?

Casey2, I was also curious about this so I conducted some experiments this summer.

Out of 17 varieties tested, all of the seeds sown germinated IMMEDIATELY after the post-fermentation drying process was complete.
On almost all varieties, the timetable went like this:

Picked the ripe fruit and dumped into the container.
5 days later, strained off the junk and rinsed the seeds. Laid out to dry.

3 days later, seeds were dry. I then sowed some seeds in regular potting soil in flats, by the kitchen window.

2 days later, germination occurred, and I disposed of the plants.

So, no resting period appears to be needed for tomatoes, based on my experiment.

P.S. I did the same experiment with beans this summer, with identical results.

Dave

Dave,
Thanks for your insight. I was going to experiment as well but was curious if anyone else had done so. It's good to know, I trade with folks from "Down Under" and just recently sent seeds out so that is the how my question came about.

All the best,
Melanie

Yep, they'll be happy as clams.

I find it's fun to try to squeeze two generations into one year, and in fact I did that with Jacob's Cattle (a bush bean) as well as the Tiny Tiger (a cherry/striped tomato I got from Roger in Sweden).

First generation was sown early in the season, and as soon as the seeds were harvested (I didn't even let the beans harden) I turned around and sowed them.

Just a few days ago I harvest a bushel of beans from this second generation, and the 2nd gen Tiny Tigers have good size (green) fruits. Maybe I'll get a ripe one before frost kills them.

I figure that with each generation, the seeds get more adapted to my soil and climate, so I am essentially customizing these seeds for my own environment twice as fast as would be possible doing only one generation per year. This is fascinating stuff to me.

Dave

Dave,
You were absolutely correct, the seeds germinated in 3 days! I agree that doing your own experimentation is fascinating. I recently purchased 'Breeding Your Own Vegetable Varieties' and would love to breed my own in-the-future heirloom tomato! :)

Happy gardening,
Melanie

Melanie,

Someday you might even have seeds germinate inside a ripe tomato. LOL it happens from time to time and is mot likely to happen with the various bicolored varieties.

The gel inhibitor fealie is no doubt n evolutionary development to prevent germination of seeds that reach the ground in the Fall under natuiral outside circumstances.

Dave,

In general I don't believe that true genetic adaptation is that common in terms of veggie performance, with few exceptions.

The occurrence of landraces in many countries is the result of hundreds, yea, thousands of years development.

But heck, if you do the first 40 years your offspring can continue the process. LOL

Carolyn