{"id":477,"date":"2019-11-08T01:46:29","date_gmt":"2019-11-08T01:46:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.k7farm.com\/victorygardener\/?p=477"},"modified":"2019-11-08T01:46:29","modified_gmt":"2019-11-08T01:46:29","slug":"saving-tomato-seed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.k7farm.com\/victorygardener\/seed-saving\/saving-tomato-seed\/","title":{"rendered":"Saving Tomato Seed"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-477 gallery-columns-5 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.k7farm.com\/victorygardener\/ramblings\/end-of-season-reflection-2019\/attachment\/68243282_10158901799384768_2215687638466166784_n-1\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/www.k7farm.com\/victorygardener\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/68243282_10158901799384768_2215687638466166784_n-1-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.k7farm.com\/victorygardener\/seed-saving\/saving-tomato-seed\/attachment\/70596764_10158979320849768_6983567504186540032_n\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/www.k7farm.com\/victorygardener\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/70596764_10158979320849768_6983567504186540032_n-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-480\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-480'>\n\t\t\t\tBeginning the process\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.k7farm.com\/victorygardener\/seed-saving\/saving-tomato-seed\/attachment\/71138572_10158979320889768_3439560409370066944_n\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/www.k7farm.com\/victorygardener\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/71138572_10158979320889768_3439560409370066944_n-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-481\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-481'>\n\t\t\t\tGood seeds sink\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.k7farm.com\/victorygardener\/seed-saving\/saving-tomato-seed\/attachment\/70118494_10158979320859768_1918154831302754304_n\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/www.k7farm.com\/victorygardener\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/70118494_10158979320859768_1918154831302754304_n-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-478\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-478'>\n\t\t\t\tDrying on a screen\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.k7farm.com\/victorygardener\/seed-saving\/saving-tomato-seed\/attachment\/70185469_10158979319769768_9088943992896225280_n\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/www.k7farm.com\/victorygardener\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/70185469_10158979319769768_9088943992896225280_n-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-479\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-479'>\n\t\t\t\tStoring dried seeds\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>This post will focus on\u00a0<em>how<\/em> to save tomato seeds.\u00a0 In order to learn which plants are best to save seed from, be sure to<a href=\"http:\/\/www.k7farm.com\/victorygardener\/seed-saving\/whats-involved-in-saving-seed\/\"> read this article!<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Tomato seeds are one of the few seeds that can be saved when your tomato is nicely ripe &#8211; and still edible.\u00a0 You want it to be on the verge of being over-ripe, but not inedible.\u00a0 These plants are self pollinating, and due to flower structure (exposed stigmas) the ability for insects to cross pollinate is extremely limited.\u00a0 There are three types of tomato plants that may still cross with one another: currant tomatoes, potato-leaved varieties (those with a smooth leaf edge, vs. a serrated edge), and any fruits that are formed from double-blossoms on beefsteak types (do not save seed from double-fruits).\u00a0 If you choose to grow one of each variety, you should have no problem with cross pollination.<\/p>\n<p>Pick and wash your tomatoes first.\u00a0 As you are preparing to eat your tomato, just squeeze the tomato seed &#8220;guts&#8221; into a clean jar.\u00a0 Be sure to label your jars and use one jar per variety if you are saving seed from more than one variety.<\/p>\n<p>Fill each jar with water and stir to help separate the seeds from the gel surrounding them.\u00a0 They won&#8217;t separate immediately, but you can get a lot of debris to rise to the top of the jar after stirring and letting it sit.\u00a0 Seeds will set to the bottom, while bad seeds and debris will rise.\u00a0 Pour off this debris, replace the water, and allow the seeds to sit at room temperature overnight.\u00a0 Stir a few times per day, but allow the debris to stay on the top.\u00a0 It will eventually start to mold, and this is actually encouraged.\u00a0 The fermentation will help kill seed-borne tomato diseases.\u00a0 Your tomato mixture will begin to stink, so you may wish to move these to a less populated area of your house or garage or other space, but keep it in warmer temperatures.<\/p>\n<p>Once the mold covers the top\u00a0 surface of your seeds, or you notice bubbling, you may stir the debris, let it sit for a few moments, dump off mold and debris, refill with water, stir, and allow seeds to fall again.\u00a0 Pour off debris again, replace water, stir again.\u00a0 By this time, the seeds should be well cleaned and ready to dry.<\/p>\n<p>Using a fine-mesh strainer, pour the remaining clean water and seeds into the strainer, then place on a screen to dry.\u00a0 You can create a drying tray by building a small wooden frame and stapling screen on the bottom.\u00a0 You may also dry on a ceramic or glass plate but remove excess moisture with a paper towel before letting them dry.\u00a0 Don&#8217;t dry seeds on paper towel or cloth, as removing them will be too hard.\u00a0 Stir the seeds a few times per day to eliminate sticking and clumping.\u00a0 Don&#8217;t forget to label the screen with the variety, because most tomato seeds look the same.\u00a0 Don&#8217;t dry the seeds in direct sunlight, or in an oven or dehydrator.<\/p>\n<p>Save the seeds in an airtight container and stored in a cool, dry area.\u00a0 They can last 4-10 years with proper storage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This post will focus on\u00a0how to save tomato seeds.\u00a0 In order to learn which plants are best to save seed from, be sure to read this article! Tomato seeds are one of the few seeds that can be saved when your tomato is nicely ripe &#8211; and still edible.\u00a0 You want it to be on&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.k7farm.com\/victorygardener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.k7farm.com\/victorygardener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.k7farm.com\/victorygardener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.k7farm.com\/victorygardener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.k7farm.com\/victorygardener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=477"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.k7farm.com\/victorygardener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":482,"href":"http:\/\/www.k7farm.com\/victorygardener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477\/revisions\/482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.k7farm.com\/victorygardener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.k7farm.com\/victorygardener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.k7farm.com\/victorygardener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}