Tomatoville® Gardening Forums


Notices

New to growing your own tomatoes? This is the forum to learn the successful techniques used by seasoned tomato growers. Questions are welcome, too.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old February 7, 2023   #1
Greenhouse_Geo
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: Oregon
Posts: 7
Default Seed Sizes

Last year I saved a bunch of tomato seeds. Today when I pulled them out to start some, I noticed there were a huge difference in sizes. Some were fairly large but others range from medium to tiny. Some are so small I can't barely see them. Will the small ones produce just as well as the normal size ones?
thanks
Geo
Greenhouse_Geo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 7, 2023   #2
FarmerShawn
Tomatovillian™
 
FarmerShawn's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Vermont
Posts: 1,001
Default

I think the smallest ones are probably immature, and may not even germinate at all.
__________________
"Red meat is NOT bad for you. Now blue-green meat, THAT'S bad for you!"
-- Tommy Smothers
FarmerShawn is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 7, 2023   #3
Fred Hempel
Tomatovillian™
 
Fred Hempel's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Sunol, CA
Posts: 2,723
Default

Did you ferment? Usually when you ferment, the smaller ones (like Shawn said, often non-viable) will float off during rinsing. Only the larger, viable, seeds sink during the rinsing steps.

Same idea as winnowing grain seed.
__________________
Artisan Seeds -- www.growartisan.com
Fred Hempel is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 7, 2023   #4
Greenhouse_Geo
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: Oregon
Posts: 7
Default

Yes I fermented and poured off the floaters. Maybe I didn't leave them soak long enough?
Since that was last year were there be any detriment to soaking them again for a couple hours or will that damage them at this point?
Geo
Greenhouse_Geo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 8, 2023   #5
Tormato
Tomatovillian™
 
Tormato's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: MA
Posts: 4,958
Default

I always select the medium-sized ones to start.

The very small ones can have problems, even if they germinate. The large ones, for me, shoot up to about 3" in the first couple of days after germinating. I grow seedlings outside. A very tall thin seedling will collapse in a bit of wind.

I have very few problems with the medium-sized seeds.
Tormato is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 8, 2023   #6
FarmerShawn
Tomatovillian™
 
FarmerShawn's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Vermont
Posts: 1,001
Default

Only soak them if you plan to plant them all. Soaking at this point will cause all viable seeds to germinate. Best to just plant what you plan to grow, and thin out any extras if you accidentally get some little ones in there and they happen to sprout.
__________________
"Red meat is NOT bad for you. Now blue-green meat, THAT'S bad for you!"
-- Tommy Smothers
FarmerShawn is offline   Reply With Quote
Old February 8, 2023   #7
ddsack
Tomatovillian™
 
ddsack's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Northern Minnesota - zone 3
Posts: 3,218
Default

If you have a lot of seeds to spare in one variety batch, maybe pick out all the small ones and just do a test germination on paper towels to satisfy your own curiosity. You can discard the results, but at least you should have an idea of what percentage of smalls might germinate in the future.

Also, size of seeds will vary between different tomato varieties, some cherries having very tiny seeds, and even some larger hearts and beefsteaks may not necessarily have particularly large seeds. So don't expect seeds from all your varieties to be uniform in size.
__________________
Dee

**************

Last edited by ddsack; February 8, 2023 at 11:15 AM.
ddsack is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 04:58 AM.


★ Tomatoville® is a registered trademark of Commerce Holdings, LLC ★ All Content ©2022 Commerce Holdings, LLC ★