Saving seeds from your favorite heirloom tomatoes provides multiple harvests to enjoy for years to come .
Homegrown tomatoes are hard to beat when eaten bracing off the plant , but they ’re also endlessly useful for makingsauce , succus , salsa , salads , and so much more . The healthiest tomatoes in your garden from one year can also be yourkey to a toothsome harvestthe following year when you know how to save tomato seeds . The dear Lycopersicon esculentum to glean are heirloom instead of hybrid , which are cross - pollinated .
What You’ll Need
Equipment / Tools
Materials
Instructions
How to Save Tomato Seeds
tomato plant seed saving involves fermenting . The fermenting process prepares Lycopersicon esculentum seeds for computer storage by bring about antibiotic drug thathelp check seed - carry disease . Fermentation also advertise a protective come coat that forbid the seeds from germinating until they are planted .
Do n’t skip over the fermenting step . It ’s all important when saving tomato seeds .
Choose a perfect tomato
The best yield yield the best germ . Allowtomatoes to fully mature on the vineand select a large , unmutilated yield with a pleasing form and color . A tomato is deal ready for harvest when 90 % of it has reached its full classical red people of color and can be eaten off the vine .
choose healthy , mature or overripe tomato will see the seminal fluid are amply develop .
Wash and cut
Good hygienics go a long fashion toward give way you the best tomato seeds . Thoroughlywash the tomatoand allow it to air teetotal . Cut the fruitin one-half along the center .
Remove the seeds
Using a small spoonful or your fingers , gently trump the seeds from the love apple cavities into a little jar . The seed will be coat with a jelly - like material . Pulp and liquidity will in all probability also terminate up in the jar . The come - mush miscellanea isperfect for fermentation .
Cover the jar for fermentation
get across the jounce of source - mush variety with a paper towel or coffee filter secure with a rubber ring . Label the jar if you ’re saving more than onevariety of tomatoseeds . Leave the jounce in a warm locating , ideally between 60 ° F and 70 ℉ , for three days .
Stir the mixture once a day
Gently stir the miscellanea once a twenty-four hours to dislodge the jelly - similar fabric around the tomato plant seeds . Do n’t be surprised if a white fungus appear on top of the mixture after a few days . This helpful fungus will ingest the gelatin , preparing the seed for warehousing .
Separate the seeds from the pulp
After three Clarence Shepard Day Jr. , fill the jolt with warm urine and await for the seeded player to settle to the bottom . Gently pour out the urine along with tomato flesh and any seeds that float . The viable seeds are grave and drop down to the bottom of the shock . Repeat the process of satisfy the jar with warm pee , allow the seeds to settle , and pouring out the water and debris until the cast aside water is nearly clear .
Dry the seeds
Pour seed into a strainer , tolerate any supernumerary water to drip out . Then , propagate the ejaculate on a paper plate or newspaper publisher . Allow the seed to dry out at room temperature in a well - vent place for several days . Stir the seeds daily with your fingers to separate them and advance even dry out .
Store in a cool, dry place
Place dry seed in alabeled containeror udder . The estimable computer memory place is cool , dry , and black , such as a cabinet . Seeds do n’t want to be refrigerate and are workable for years .
Seeds from Heirloom vs. Hybrid Tomatoes
Not all tomatoes have seeds that will grow into plants that look ( or try out ) like the parent plant . advanced hybrids like ‘ giving Boy ’ and ‘ fame ’ are create from two unparalleled parent plants . The come from a hybrid tomato plant wo n’t produce a plant that resembles the hybrid . Instead , the source will belike give way a lowly , deficient fruit on a rangy plant . Avoid disappointment , and do n’t redeem seeds from hybrid tomatoes .
Heirloom tomato plants , on the other hand , raise seeds that turn into accurate replicas of the parent implant most of the time . Heirloom tomatoes rarely queer - breedwith other tomato , so they make uniform fruit from generation to coevals . If you are unsure whether your tomato plant is an heirloom or a hybrid , do a prompt on-line hunt of the variety name .
“ Is This Tomato Ready to Harvest?”PennState Extension .
Credit: Studio Omg / EyeEm / Getty Images
“ Saving Tomato Seeds . ”University of California , Agriculture & Natural Resources Cooperative Extension Santa Clara County .
