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Old September 9, 2018   #1
HudsonValley
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Default Do seeds continue to mature in tomatoes picked at first blush?

Hi, all,


I've bagged and tagged tomatoes for seed-saving all season, and now find myself in a losing battle with caterpillars and stinkbugs. I've been picking all of my tomatoes at first blush and allowing them to finish ripening indoors to avoid further losses. For the tomatoes that were bagged and tagged, can I start fermenting the seeds of the slightly underripe ones, or should I allow them to fully ripen first?



I've tried Google and searching older threads, but can't seem to use search words that point me toward the answer... Thanks!
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Old September 9, 2018   #2
Goodloe
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This will be my first year saving seed, but at first blush (;/), it seems to me that the longer the fruit stays on the vine, the better.
Maybe Miss Carolyn could chime in on this one?
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Old September 9, 2018   #3
Father'sDaughter
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I always pick at first blush, let them go completely ripe indoors, then save seeds. I've been doing it this way for years.

I believe the seeds are not mature until the tomatoes are ripe, but I don't know if they need to be dead ripe or is almost ripe is good enough.
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Old September 9, 2018   #4
Rajun Gardener
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Father'sDaughter View Post
I always pick at first blush, let them go completely ripe indoors, then save seeds. I've been doing it this way for years.

I believe the seeds are not mature until the tomatoes are ripe, but I don't know if they need to be dead ripe or is almost ripe is good enough.

+1

I've saved seeds from store bought cardboard tasting tomatoes that grew fine and I know they were probably green when they were picked and forced to ripen on the way to the store.

I'd let them ripen just to be safe.
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Old September 10, 2018   #5
zipcode
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You need to let them ripen first, then collect the seeds.
If they were blushing it will be more than fine, I got viable seeds even from fruits that did not reach their final size yet and ripened in house.
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Old September 10, 2018   #6
bower
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Yep I agree. Pick at blush is fine, let them fully ripen, then save the seeds.


I have gotten viable seeds from fruit that were picked green and took more than a month to change color in a paper bag (a late cross that didn't have time to get big and ripe on the vine).
There was a thorough discussion of this involving Tom Wagner some years ago, who shared his wealth of experience, and how to get viable seeds from 'green ripe' fruit.


Iirc, the only defect in seeds from fruit picked at green ripe, is that they may not stay viable for as many years as seeds from ripe fruit. But this would not apply to fruit picked at blush and allowed to finish ripening before saving the seeds. Those are as good as seeds from the vine.
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Old September 10, 2018   #7
imp
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if in any doubt about viability, do a germination test.
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Old September 10, 2018   #8
carolyn137
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There are about 4 stages of ripeness. First just at he blossom end,then 1/3 of the way up to the stem end,etc.

Florida commercial tomato growers pick their tomatoes at half blush and then put them in chambers where they introduce ethylene oxide gas,which looks like they are ripe,but anyone who buys those fruits in a store knows darn well they taste horrible. And I'm talking mainly about winter tomatoes sent up north where we as mostly so called amateur growers cannot grow much of anything. The same situation exists for tomatoes grown in Mexico.

I thought I'd Google a bit to see if the various stages of ripeness were discussed and was glad to find the following.

https://www.google.com/search?q=toma...&bih=815&dpr=1

Carolyn,who also has picked unripe tomatoes from time to time,especially if a hard frost was expected and either wrapped them in newspaper or put them in a paper bag with a few slices of apple .Crag L had requested the seeds from PCGRIN for a variety, we both were doing that many years ago,he couldn't germinate anything, sent some seeds up to me and I was able to get 2 plants up, sent one to Craig, I kept the other one and seeds I saved were from a variety that Livingston descibed in their catalog,maybe from about 1900,so all seeds out there now are from my initially saved seeds.
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Old September 10, 2018   #9
HudsonValley
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Thanks, all, for your wisdom and instructional links! I will follow the advice to keep picking the blushers but allow them to ripen before fermenting the seeds.
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Old September 11, 2018   #10
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Here's a thread on the subject:

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=9349

According to Tom Wagner-

"The question of when a person can save seed from a tomato fruit, and how ripe the fruit must be, appears to be an on-going concern for quite a few people.

The simple answer:
Anytime the tomato fruit develops a gel around the seed.

Normally this occurs during the mature-green stage."

Your mileage (and experience, and opinion) may vary.

Jim
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