Saving Seeds from Tomatoes

Presented by Gabi Masek

2012 Seed Savers Exchange Webinar Series

Tomato Seed Saving

Our mission is to save North America’s diverse, but endangered, garden heritage for future generations by building a network of people committed to collecting, conserving, and sharing heirloom seeds and plants, while educating people about the value of genetic and cultural diversity.

Seed saving is the process of saving seeds from open-pollinated fruits, vegetables, grains, flowers & herbs.

Traditional agriculture relied on seed saving to maintain farms and gardens year after year.

When you save seeds from a particular plantvariety, you want those seeds to grow into a plantthat is identical to its parent plants. This trait isknown as varietal purity.

An open-pollinated variety exhibits varietal purityand breeds true from seed; open-pollinated varieties are maintained by allowing a natural flow of pollen between plants of the same variety.

When pollen flows between different varieties within the same species, this is known as cross-pollination.

Cross-pollinated seed is not ideal for seed saving, especially when you want to preserve a variety.

Is your plant a Hybrid or an OP?

Hybrid plants will not reliably produce seeds that will grow up to be like its parent(s).

Open-pollinated plants can produce seeds that will grow up to be like its parent(s).

Popular Hybrid Tomatoes:Sun Gold, Big Boy, Early Girl, Celebrity

Popular Heirloom Tomatoes:Brandywine, Amish Paste, Black Krim

fusedanthers

population size and plant health

Tomatoes – Solanum lycopersicumTomatoes are seed mature and ready for harvest when the fruits are ripe for eating.

Market maturity = seed maturity

Tomatoes – Solanum lycopersicumTomatoes are seed mature and ready for harvest when the fruits are ripe for eating

Scoop or squeeze out the seeds into a tallcontainer

Tomatoes – Solanum lycopersicumTomatoes are seed mature and ready for harvest when the fruits are ripe for eating

Scoop or squeeze out the seeds into a tallcontainer

Add a bit of water to the container, let thewater/seed/pulp mixture ferment for one tothree days as close to 70 degrees as possible.

Tomatoes – Solanum lycopersicumTomatoes are seed mature and ready for harvest when the fruits are ripe for eating

Scoop or squeeze out the seeds into a tallcontainer

Add a bit of water to the container, let thewater/seed/pulp mixture ferment for one tothree days as close to 70 degrees as possibleStir the mixture daily for 1-3 days. When majority of seed sinks to the bottom of your container, pour off floating seeds, pulp, and any mold, and pour seeds into a colander

Tomatoes – Solanum lycopersicumTomatoes are seed mature and ready for harvest when the fruits are ripe for eating

Scoop or squeeze out the seeds into a tallcontainer

Add a bit of water to the container, let thewater/seed/pulp mixture ferment for one tothree days as close to 70 degrees as possible

Stir the mixture daily for 1-3 days. When majority of seed sinks to the bottom of your container, pour off floating seeds, pulp, and any mold, and pour seeds into a colanderSpread seeds out to dry on a coffee filter with good air flow. Stir seeds daily. Tomato seeds are dry enough for storage when they break rather than bend under stress

seed storage

Thank you! Questions?

2012 Seed Savers Exchange Webinar Series

For more information please visit these resources:

Seed Savers Exchange website: www.seedsavers.orgForum: forum.seedsavers.org

Online Yearbook: yearbook.seedsavers.org

To learn more about seed savingRead Suzanne Ashworth’s Seed-to-Seed

Visit www.seedalliance.org for the free publication, A Seed Saving Guide for Gardners & Farmers