saving seeds

[framer]

All of my tomato growing is from seedlings. I have acquired a couple of seedlings from friends that I am interested in growing next year. Unfortuneately I don't have names for them. For this reason I would like to save seeds in hopes that I could grow them again next year. What procedure do I use to save seeds for next year? Hopefully these tomatoes will grow true to this years fruit.
Thanks
framer

[recruiterg]

http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-h...gardening/7341

Make sure the seeds you are saving come from open pollinated varieties. I would make sure the plants you have been given are not hybrids, otherwise, the plants you grow from saved seed won't match the plants you are now growing. I would recommend finding out the variety name from the person who gave you the seedlings before you go to the trouble of saving the seeds.

Otherwise, do some research here, find varieties you are interested in, and go to the Wanted Varieties section of Tomatoville and post. You'll be surprised, but many people will send you seeds to get started with. In the future, you can trade the seeds you save with others on the board or give away seeds to new members.

[Darren Abbey]

Saving seeds from hybrids won't get you the same plant the next year, but it may give you something interesting.

About 1/3 of the tomatoes in my garden this year are from hybrid parents. Some seem to be producing fruit like their parents, others not-so-much. I'm a biologist and I like to use my garden as a play area to work with genetics.

The general process I use (mostly successful so far) is :
1) Find ripe tomato.
2) Cut in half, extract seeds (covered in gel) into open jar.
3) Cover with tap water, place jar somewhere convenient.
4) Wait a few days. Some folk wait until mold has grown over the surface, I don't.
5) Pour jar through clean small strainer, rinse thoroughly while using fingers/hand to push seeds around and break up residual gel/etc material.
6) Bleach treat seeds for a few minutes. (Dip strainer into dilute bleach) Too long will kill the seeds, but a few minutes only kills off any fungus on the surface of the seeds (resulting in better survival through storage).
7) Rinse thoroughly with water.
8) Dry seeds on plate in front of fan.
9) Store dried seeds in vial.
10) Label vial clearly!

Others use methods that vary in the details, with perfectly good results... so don't worry too much about the process.

[ginger2778]

http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/w...g_Fermentation
This article by ContainerTed shows very fine detail and step by step photos of how to do it. The biggest thing to be careful of is not letting the seeds ferment for too long, usually 3 to 4 days is safe, more may not be.
After you do it once, it becomes very easy.

Marsha

[NarnianGarden]

The place I live in currently is so small that there literally is no space on the countertops for extra jars for fermenting... I have collected seeds with the 'paper towel method'. Should work ok, the seeds should be viable, but of course the possible pathogens haven't been effectively destroyed, as in the fermentation process.
Will try next year and see what will sprout...

[habitat_gardener]

Originally Posted by NarnianGarden

The place I live in currently is so small that there literally is no space on the countertops for extra jars for fermenting...

You have countertops?

I've fermented my seeds mostly outdoors. I have translucent plastic bins I use as cold frames. When I don't have seedlings in them, I put my small containers of fermenting seeds there, and I cover the bin with screening to keep out most bugs. If I have only a few containers, I put empty containers or rocks around them so that they won't tip over.

[wally mcgee]

I am new to saving seeds.
I have fermented, cleaned and dried seeds from several nice Cherokee Purple, and Brandy Wine tomatoes.

Can I give them a beach bath now?
1 part bleach to 5 parts water?
For 2 minutes?
Or should I have bleached them before I dried them?

[Loic12]

You can soak seed before sowing in bleach, see here article.

http://tgrc.ucdavis.edu/seed_germ.aspx

[wally mcgee]

Originally Posted by Loic12

You can soak seed before sowing in bleach, see here article.

http://tgrc.ucdavis.edu/seed_germ.aspx

Thank you for sharing that link. I read it and will save the bleaching until next spring before sowing.

Is that the way you do it?

[kurt]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RfRh...ature=youtu.be At about minute 1:30 these guys" down under "have a novel way of seed sterilization,if you are apprehensive about bleach ratios.

[Loic12]

Originally Posted by wally mcgee

Thank you for sharing that link. I read it and will save the bleaching until next spring before sowing.

Is that the way you do it?

No not less I have old seed.

I do bleach wash before drying seed here from this site under disinfectants

http://www.growseed.org/seedtreatments.html