Save Tomato Seeds for Next Year

You can save your best tomato seeds and plant them next season. If you select the seeds you want to save from your healthiest and tastiest tomato plants, you can propagate your own tomatoes year after year.

Choose Your Seeds

 * 1) Choose seeds from a tomato that has been open-pollinated. These plants have grown from true seeds, whereas hybrid tomato plants have been produced by seed companies. They are a cross between two parent plants and their seeds will not breed true.[[Image:Save Tomato Seeds for Next Year Step 1.jpg|center]]
 * 2) *If you don’t have any open-pollinated tomato plants in your garden, you can buy some heirloom tomatoes from your local grocery store or farmer’s market. All heirloom tomatoes are open-pollinated.

Ferment Your Seeds

 * 1) Collect the seeds from the tomato. To do this, slice your ripe heirloom tomato in half with a knife.[[Image:Save Tomato Seeds for Next Year Step 2.jpg|center]]
 * 2) Scoop out the inside of the tomato. You'll get both the seeds and the gel surrounding the seeds.[[Image:Save Tomato Seeds for Next Year Step 3.jpg|center]]
 * 3) Spoon this mixture into a clean cup, bowl, or other container. You don't need to separate the seeds from the gel, as this will happen naturally later on in the fermentation process.[[Image:Save Tomato Seeds for Next Year Step 4.jpg|center]]
 * 4) Label the container with the name of the tomato seeds you are saving. This is especially important if you are saving different types of seeds.[[Image:Save Tomato Seeds for Next Year Step 5.jpg|center]]
 * 5) Add enough water to the container to cover the seeds. The amount of water you use doesn’t matter as long as the seeds are covered; the mixture can even be soupy.[[Image:Save Tomato Seeds for Next Year Step 6.jpg|center]]
 * 6) Cover your seed container with a paper towel, cheesecloth or with plastic wrap. Make sure to leave enough room so that air can get to the seeds. The air transpiration encourages seed fermentation.[[Image:Save Tomato Seeds for Next Year Step 7.jpg|center]]
 * 7) *If you use plastic wrap for a cover, be sure to poke a few holes in it.
 * 8) Place your covered seed container in a warm location out of direct sunlight. If possible, choose an indoor location instead of an outdoor one so nothing can interfere with the fermentation process.[[Image:Save Tomato Seeds for Next Year Step 8.jpg|center]]
 * 9) Once a day, remove the covering, and stir the seed mixture. After you're done, replace the covering.[[Image:Save Tomato Seeds for Next Year Step 9.jpg|center]]
 * 10) Allow your seed container to sit. This could take up to four days or until a film forms on top of the water and most of the seeds have sunk to the bottom of the container. Any seeds that are still floating on top of the water are not useable.[[Image:Save Tomato Seeds for Next Year Step 10.jpg|center]]

Collect Your Seeds

 * 1) Use a spoon to remove the moldy film and all of the floating seeds. Discard these, as you won't be able to use them to grow a tomato plant.[[Image:Save Tomato Seeds for Next Year Step 11.jpg|center]]
 * 2) Clean out your container and fill it with fresh water. The water should be room temperature.[[Image:Save Tomato Seeds for Next Year Step 12.jpg|center]]
 * 3) Wash the seeds by gently swishing them around in the fresh water. Use a spoon or other stirring implement that's long enough to get to the bottom of the container.[[Image:Save Tomato Seeds for Next Year Step 13.jpg|center]]
 * 4) Carefully discard the rinse water. Put a covering over your container when you pour off the water so that you don’t lose any seeds.[[Image:Save Tomato Seeds for Next Year Step 14.jpg|center]]
 * 5) Place the seeds in a strainer. Rinse them under running water, but make sure the holes in the strainer aren't so big that the seeds can slip out.[[Image:Save Tomato Seeds for Next Year Step 15.jpg|center]]
 * 6) Spread out all the seeds in a single layer on a paper plate. Avoid using other kinds of plates, as the seeds tend to stick together when placed on non-paper surfaces.[[Image:Save Tomato Seeds for Next Year Step 16.jpg|center]]
 * 7) Allow the seeds to dry out of direct sunlight.[[Image:Save Tomato Seeds for Next Year Step 17.jpg|center]]
 * 8) *Shake or stir the seeds periodically so that all the surfaces of the seeds are exposed to the air. They are completely dry if they slide off the plate easily and don’t stick to each other.[[Image:Save Tomato Seeds for Next Year Step 17Bullet1.jpg|center]]
 * 9) Put the seeds in a jar that has a tightly fitting lid. Label the jar with the name of the seed variety and the date.[[Image:Save Tomato Seeds for Next Year Step 18.jpg|center]]
 * 10) Store in a cool, dark place, such as the back of your refrigerator.[[Image:Save Tomato Seeds for Next Year Step 19.jpg|center]]

Tips

 * Don’t use plastic or ceramic plates to dry your cleaned seeds because water needs to be wicked away from the seeds.
 * Properly dried and stored seeds will remain viable for years.
 * You can store your saved seeds in an envelope, but it is best to then put the envelope into a sealed container.
 * If you aren’t sure if the variety of tomato is a hybrid, you can look it up on the Internet or in a gardening catalogue. You cannot save hybrid seeds, so if the word “hybrid” is part of the description of the tomato, don’t try to save its seeds.
 * Ripe fruit contains ripe seeds, so be sure to always choose perfectly ripe tomatoes.
 * Give your home-saved tomato seeds as gifts. You can purchase blank, self-sealing seed packets at your local nursery or from a seed catalogue company.

Warnings

 * If you store your saved seeds in the refrigerator or freezer, allow the container to come to room temperature before you open it; otherwise you will introduce moisture from condensation into your container.
 * Be very cautious about storing your seeds in a plastic packet. If there is any moisture at all left in some of the seeds, it will transfer to all the seeds; this will encourage mildew and rot and your seeds will not be useable.
 * It is not absolutely essential to ferment your tomato seeds, but if you don’t, you increase the chances that you will get seed-borne diseases. Fermentation also eliminates a germination inhibitor.

Things You’ll Need

 * Small jar or bowl
 * Paper towel, cheesecloth, or plastic wrap
 * Strainer
 * Paper plate
 * Labels and pen
 * Envelopes (optional)
 * Glass storage container with lid

Sources and Citations

 * http://www.tomatodirt.com/save-tomato-seeds.html
 * http://www.weekendgardener.net/plant-propagation/tomatoseeds-080808.htm
 * http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/seedsave/2002084456024410.html
 * James Underwood Crockett, Crockett’s Victory Garden, (Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company, 1977)