Questions about "unfermented" tomato seeds

I recently received some tomato seeds from a trade that were noted as "not yet fermented." I know - thanks to Dave's good description of this process - that fermenting is part of the tomato seed cleaning/harvesting process.

But here are my questions:
1. Is it necessary (or even possible at this late date) to ferment them before planting? The seeds are dry, and not particularly sticky.
2. Will they grow okay without being fermented?
3. Will they mold if placed in sterile starting medium without benefit of fermentation?

Please help - I don't want them to fall too far behind the other tomato seeds that I've already started. Thanks!

My uncle has grown the same heirloom tomato for 25 years (Federle). He never did use the fermentation process for saving seed, and he is able to grow these year after year.

Having said this, fermenting your tomato seeds will definitely kill off seed-born diseases, as well as remove germination inhibitors. I received 6 Federle tomatoes from my Uncle last fall, and I fermented them myself. These seeds are giving me 100% germination success, and I haven't had a single failure. The Federles I started on January 5th are now almost ready to flower. This is compared to some fairly poor germination I've seen in a couple other tomato varieties received in trade (presumably, not properly fermented).

So... fermentation isn't necessary for tomatoes, but it sure is recommended.

also - it's too late for you to ferment these seeds now. You have to do it when the seeds are still in the tomato, as far as I know. Let me know how these non-fermented seeds work out for you - I'm very curious.

Dave

Boy I'm glad I read your whole reply...I saw the first part and was ready to go put them in some water, and let the fermentation begin. But when I got to the last part, it looks like my hunch was maybe correct - it is a process performed on very "fresh" (just out of the skin) tomato seeds.....

Well, I'll plant them and see what happens! Thanks!!!!

I have some tomato seeds that also weren't fermented. I was wondering if they could be fermented using the pulp from a store bought tomato. I was going to try and see if it worked.

A couple of years ago I purchased a package of Maine blueberry tomatoes. I was real excited about growing them but I never had one single seed germinate. I imagine now they never were properly fermented. Odd....as I bought these from a nursery and they were quite expensive. Too bad because I've never seen them sold since.

My Grandfather told me it wasnt neccesary, I have used the unfermented kind for years without a problem.

Status update (in case anyone's interested): the seeds WERE stuck tight to a piece of napkin or paper towel.

When I realized I had to soak them to loosen the seeds, I started thinking about PoppySue's question on whether it's possible to mimic the natural fermenting process with a fresh tomato's pulp. So I soaked the seeds to loosen them, then added some pulp from an over-ripe Roma, making sure there were no Roma seeds in the pulp.

I removed about six of the seeds and planted them up, and left the remaining seeds to ferment. I'll post the results back here once the seedlings start coming up - germination rates for each set, robustness of seedlings, etc. (Not a scientific study, but it might be interesting anecdotal information.....)

Thanks for everybody's comments and input up to this point; it's an interesting debate for sure. Anyone else with experience on whether to ferment or not?

I received some of the federle seeds from Dave this year and can vouch for the effectiveness of fermentaion process. Every seed germinated in six to seven days. I have had mixed results in the past from packaged tomato seeds.

I have been reading that if you plant un-fermented tomato seeds from other parts of the country (world) directly into your garden you risk contaminating your soil with diseases that you don't presently have.
It was recommended that you still ferment your seeds (the un-fermented ones) upon receipt, with some diluted tomato juice to ensure that you will germinate well and not encourage growth of any un-wanted surprises.
I know that many people don't ferment their own, but they should ferment any that they wish to trade.
Some people go ahead and grow out the seeds without fermenting them, but they put them in containers for the first few years until they are sure just in case.
Hope that helps!
Birdie

Here's the update and conclusion to my saga. I planted half the seeds (unfermented), and attempted to ferment the other half. (Operative word - "attempted".)

The unfermented seeds had good germination - about 80%. They've since been potted up and are doing nicely. The other half went into a small glass custard cup with some near-rotten fresh tomato pulp. Never could get them to ferment (no real foam); the water just sat there looking cloudy, but that's about it. Was ready to try the diluted tomato juice route, but one fateful night DH pulled KP duty, and mistook the container for something that needed to be dumped out and washed. End of story for those seeds.....

Thanks all for your advice and cautions - just wish I had been able to finish my little experiment :(