Saving tomato (and any other!) seeds

[pupsnpullets]

I was given a lovely tomato plant that had been in the same family, originally from Austria, for 40 years. I want to know how I can save the seeds for next year.

Another question: If the tomato has over the years been cross pollinated with other tomatos, particulary GM varieties, has the intregrity of the original plant been lost?

Last question, for now, anyway: I have a leek with a huge seed head on it and I'd like to try and save a few seeds from it, too. How do they need to be treated to save for next year?

Barb

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

Unless directly pollinated with a gm variety or planted REALLY close together it is very rare for tomatoes to cross-breed naturally. If an heirloom variety has cross bred with a gm variety then you will notice the mutations in the fruit.

This is a fun process.

There are a few ways to collect tomato seeds. I will outline my favorite.

Ensure you let the tomato ripen completely before picking it. Select disease free fruits from disease free plants only. This could be a problem if you have only one plant but who knows.

You will need:
a sterilized glass or plastic jar/cup
plastic wrap
water
a tomato
a sterilized spoon
wax paper or clean coffee filters
an airtight container or paper envelopes
silica gel (optional)

1. Slice the tomato lengthwise across it's equator. Using the sterilized spoon scoop all the insides of the tomatoes into a sterilized glass or plastic container (I've found that short glass jars work well for this.) Put a couple of tablespoons of water in the container.

2. Cover the container with plastic wrap and cut a small hole in the top to allow for fermentation. Place the container in a warm place (about 80 degrees). A sunny windowsill or atop a fridge works well. So, for the next 2-3 days stir the mix 2-3 times day. This will help dislodge any particles from the seeds. You will notice a whiteish mixture forming and it may smell a little.

3. After the 3rd day, take the container and in a well ventilated area (the smell may not b what you want in the house) spoon off the gunk that's grown on top and drain the contents without losing seeds. Add water and mix, the remove all floating particles. Repeat about 3-4 times. Add more water one more time and the sieve the contents. You should be left with nice seeds. If the seeds are black or germinating discard those.

4. Now to dry. Place all the seeds on wax paper or a coffee filter. Spread them out evenly and place them in a well ventilated dark but warm location. If you have high humidity then you might need a small fan to help with the drying process. Check on the seeds regularly , if they do not begin to dry quickly they will start to germinate.

5. Drying will at least take a week. When dried they will be completely dry, they will not stick to one another and will be very bouncy (that's the only way I could think of describing it). Place them in an envelope, date it, label it and add a silica packet if you'd like. Silica does extend the life of a seed.

A couple of other tips:
Do not let ferment for more than 3 days. It they are really warm, then only let ferment for a couple days since any longer will spoil the seed.

Do not use paper towels to dry.

This method is the same I've used for about 7 years. I hope this helps.

 

[patandchickens]

I was given a lovely tomato plant that had been in the same family, originally from Austria, for 40 years. I want to know how I can save the seeds for next year.

I am sure that the detailed plans that OaklandCityFarmer gives are indeed sometimes necessary.

However, I would like to say that my mother, and now me too, for at least 40 years has been using the following technique with no problems at all:

Let a tomato or two get overripe, to the point of starting to ooze unpleasantly. Squoosh the seedy part of it across a couple layers of paper towels or cotton gauze or scrap of loosely woven cotton fabric, trying to get a single layer of seeds. Leave til good 'n' dry. Flake seeds off with your fingernail, put in packet and store appropriately

Another question: If the tomato has over the years been cross pollinated with other tomatos, particulary GM varieties, has the intregrity of the original plant been lost?

It depends what you mean 'integrity of the original plant'. Tomatoes do not crosspollinate much. But the plants you're growing now are still not going to be identical to the ones grown umpty years ago from the great-great-(etc)-great-forefathers of your seeds. Either someone has actively been selecting for certain traits, or if not then there will have been natural selection for other traits e.g. things like germination, early growth rate, producing large numbers of tomatoes, whatever. Varieties DO drift, even when kept from year to year by seed saving. Drift can vary from slight to considerable, but it will seldom or never be truly zero. That's just the way life is <shrug>. You can never step in the same river, er, tomato, twice

Have fun,

Pat

 

[pupsnpullets]

Thanks for your help. I'll save your suggestions in my diary. At this point my tomato is healthy and has some decent sized fruit on it.

What about the leek? Has anyone taken seeds from a leek?

Barb

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

Yes, like I said there are many good ways to save seeds.

We save a lot of seeds and have been for a long time. Sometimes we do have problems with disease or rotting of the seeds and the process I explained usually gets rid of bacteria cultures that you otherwise would not want on your seeds. That's the reason we primarily use this method. I know a lot of people who use different method, including ones similar to the one Pat described above, and have had great success.

Either way, keep them dry and they should be fine.

Regarding Leeks, I'm sure it's the same way onion seeds are collected. After the plant blooms the flowers will close to form the seed, they will then reopen and you should see small black seeds inside. Cut the flower head off and put upside down in a brown paper bag for about 2 weeks to allow them to dry. After about 2 weeks, then take the flower heads out and dislodged any more seeds using your fingers. Spread them out on wax paper and place them in a dry, warm and well ventilated area for further drying, about 2 weeks. Then store as you would any other seed.

Good luck

 

[Tutter]

I've done both methods.

My great aunt just put them on the paper towels for decades, and she even mailed me seeds by rolling the towel up and writing on it.

Then I learned about the method Oakland mentions, and all the benefits of it, so did that, and it worked, too.

Truthfully, though, I saw no difference when planting the next year; I've never had a failure due to not processing them correctly.

What I do, out of paranoia, is process rare tomato seeds as OaklandCityFarmer does, but honestly, I'm usually overwhelmed when it comes time to take tomato seed back, and I just dry them on towels most of the time.

 

[pjkobulnicky]

I am beginning to believe that the way to preserve tomato seeds is to process tomatos for canning, take the seeds, skins and cores to the compost pile and then wait till spring when the ones on the edge of the pile sprout like crazy .

I had a failure of my commercial Speckled Roman paste tomato seed this year and I happened to see a whole bunch (recognized the leaf pattern) coming up in the compost. Saved by the compost ...phew.

Having said this ... I like the clean and dry approach much better.

Paul

 

[bigredrooster]

Last year I had a couple of squash plnts I didnt dig up and left some squash on them .This year I have a couple of nice squash plants growing there.