Cherry/grape tomatoes, can I pull seeds from storebought ones?

Bettacreek

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Well, we got a bunch of those cherry/grape tomatoes today, and our one year old son just can't get enough of them. They're perfect for a little snack for him, so I'm wondering if I can pull the seeds from the ones that we bought and then grow them, or do I have to age one or what? I'd love to be able to grow some for him instead of buying them all of the time. Any other tips on how to grow them? I'm a 100% newbie to planting, and I know absolutely nothing, so any help is appreciated. :)

BTW, hello all, I probably know some of you from the chicken forum, but it'll be nice to meet new people as well. :)
 

rockytopsis

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The only problem is that they may be crossbred. If so they may or may not produce the same tomato your son likes.

I would just wait till the plants come out in the stores and get them that way.

There is usually a good variety of small grape like tomatoes. Sweet 100's or Sweet 1,000's. There is also a wide variety of small tomato packets at stores if you wanted to start the plants yourself.

Nancy
 

Texan

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rockytopsis said:
The only problem is that they may be crossbred. If so they may or may not produce the same tomato Nancy
So, are you saying that the seeds from crossbred plants do not turn out like the plant itself? Keep in mind I am new to this and just do not know?

Mike D
 

inchworm

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Yes. And I believe many hybrids can't reproduce at all. My daughter is insisting that we grow seeds from a red pepper. They have sprouted, but I don;t know if they will bear fruit.
 

rockytopsis

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Yes, as inchworm said it is hard to get what you want from hybrids LOL I used the term crossbred cause I raise goats, but it means the same. My buck is a crossbred goat Boer/Kiko and so far this year he has given me twins, a white kid (he is white) and a red head kid (moms are red heads) out of 3 different does. So I have 3 white and 3 red head kids.

Hybrid plants may have 2 or 3 or more parent plants in their background.

That is why I suggest that you buy the plant from a local store or buy the seed and start them yourself.
 

patandchickens

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In principle there is no reason not to try saving seeds and see what you get.

OTOH if you are new to gardening it would be a whole lot simpler and probably more satisfying results to just wait til started tomato plants are available in late Spring and buy something. That way you KNOW what you'll get. Sweet Million (for cherry tomatoes) or Juliet (for grape tomatoes) will give you the sort of thing you got from the supermarket. Just one plant will produce *lots*; if you want to plant more than one I'd suggest experimenting with different varieties, see what you like :)

Have fun,

Pat
 

Sylvie

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You might get lucky, go ahead and plant it and see what happens.
Cherry tomatoes will reseed in the garden and become a nuisance so I think you will get satisfactory productive plants.

When people save seeds from tomatoes they let a tomato go pretty rotten in a bowl then rinse the seed from the pulp and finally dry it for storage. This breaks down the gel like coating that surrounds the seed. Your seed might germinate now and if so would germinate in only a few days. If it doesn't, let the tomato rot as described(it will be stinky)above.

If you would like to begin saving seeds buy what is sold as heirloom seeds which are open pollinated non hybrid seeds. Burpee has a section of these at many stores, there are entire seed catalogs devoted to open pollinated seeds.

Cherry tomatoes are prolific, first to ripen before regular tomatoes, come in an assortment of colors, red, orange, yellow, burgundy and possibly others now.

Hope this helps.
 
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