SAVING SEEDS - TOMATO
By: Ron
The One Who Walks Two Paths
Ah, the lovely tomato, a basic in my pantry! I normally plant anywhere from 120 to 200 plants depending on how much of last season's canning I have left in March. I plant my seed on or around March 15 in my greenhouse. I don't use a six-pack like you buy at the garden center as it tends to stunt them too much. I like to start the seed in a small paper Dixie Cup and when the plant gets 3 true leaves I plant it, cup and all, in a 4-inch pot. I transplant them again into something the size of a half gallon milk carton about three weeks later.
By the time they are ready for the garden they are anywhere from 12 - 18 inches tall and I have removed all flower clusters from the plant. After a week in the cold frame to harden off it is time to plant in the garden. I pop out or rip the carton off the plant and plant it in a well composted hole about three inches deeper than it was in the pot. This assures a good vigorous start on root growth. The key to a heavy tomato crop is a heavy composted manure in the row. I normally add a half-bushel bucket for each plant, then mulch them heavily.
Now comes the fun part, saving the seed. I will not save seed from just any old tomato; I am quite picky. You can get a bad tasting tomato from the same plant you get a wonderful tasting one from, so if the tomato tastes good, save the seed. We all slice tomatoes for sandwiches and really do not need the seed.
Now that you have seed taken from a good tasting tomato, you need to ferment it. Sounds strange, but if you dry the seed with that gelatinous mass around it, chances are it will not grow when planted next year. Put a tablespoon of seed pulp in a cup of water and let it sit for week. You will notice that it will get smelly and moldy looking, but if you stir it a couple of times a day it won't be too bad.
Pour off the liquid into a coffee filter and rinse the seed with clean water several times, being careful that the filter doesn't rip. Next, spread the filter and cleaned seed out to dry for several days on an undisturbed part of your laundry counter (or workbench, etc.). After the filter dries for a few days, you will notice the seed is easily brushed off. Move the seed one more time to a paper towel and fold it and place it in an envelope for a week or two to finishing drying (don't seal it). Now the seed is ready to be placed in a container for long term storage. I use old film containers.