How To Save Tomato Seeds

Most gardeners are content to get seeds or plants, grow them, then reap the harvest. An intrepid few like better to keep the complete cycle of nature going and can also save seeds from their plants so as to stay the road going subsequent year. Tomato gardeners are the foremost common seed savers of this group.

Why? Because once you’ve found the proper variety or maybe created your own that’s particularly well-suited to your area and methods, you don’t want to break down. So you retain the seeds germinating year after year.

WHICH TOMATO SEEDS to save lots of 

Most commercial and lots of non-commercial hybrid varieties aren’t likely to breed true from generation to generation. Most hybrid producers are combining an equivalent two base stocks year after year to make the seeds or are breeding specific seed plants that aren’t meant for or sold to the overall public. Likewise, most hybrid varieties are bred to possess fewer seeds per tomato, making it less economical to save lots of seeds from them.

Nearly all heirlooms and commercial non-hybrid varieties are great for seed saving, however. Because they’re more stable and have an extended history of stability, heirlooms are usually the sort of choice for seed savers.

Pollination isn’t a problem since all sorts of tomato are self-pollinating, though some hybrids are sterile and can’t pollinate or be pollinated in the least.

PROCESS OF SAVING TOMATO SEEDS

The process is often very simple or complicated, counting on your preferred method and the way long you’d just like the seeds to last. regardless of the method, the start steps are basically an equivalent.

Start by cutting the ripe tomato into halves or quarters and coitus interruptus the pulp or squeezing to get rid of the seeds and pulp. Leave the seeds in their juice for 2 or three days to ferment. This mimics the method in nature where the fruit rots round the seed, triggering the seed’s dormancy.

Separate the seeds from the pulp by carefully pouring off the liquids. Filter them through a rag, cheesecloth, or a fine mesh screen. Handpick any pulp chunks. Then spread the seeds onto a dry cloth or towel. allow them to dry, turning and/or replacing the cloth/towel a minimum of once. they ought to be dry during a day or two at temperature.

Place the seeds into bags or pouches and during a cool, dry, mostly-dark place freed from insects and pests. confirm to label the container with the variability and year stored. they ought to be good for 2-5 years if kept free from moisture and can germinate at an honest rate (70% or better) in most cases.

Another method is analogous to the above, except by placing the dried seeds into a jar or sealed container and freezing. This makes them last longer and is believed to enhance germination rates.

Saving seeds may be a completion of the complete circle of natural gardening and maybe a good way to make sure that you simply have excellent produce from your garden year after year. If your favorite tomato variety is doing well in your garden, why not save the seeds in order that you’ll have an equivalent great tomato every year?

How To Save Tomato Seeds

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