Tomato seeds - how to collect and prepare properly

Many gardeners buy tomato seeds from the store. Unfortunately, we often have to be disappointed, because the variety indicated on the package does not at all look like the one that grew in the end. Or the seeds may not germinate at all. Therefore, experienced gardeners, who have already made the mistake of choosing a seed package several times, decide to grow tomato seeds on their own from those tomatoes whose harvest turned out to be the best.

By sowing your own tomato seeds, you can be sure that the seeds will sprout and the plants will be the ones you wanted to grow.

How to Harvest Tomato Seeds - Choosing Tomatoes for Seed

Each summer resident can plant those varieties of tomatoes that he likes. Someone likes large, fleshy tomatoes. Someone loves, on the contrary, chooses small bushes covered with tomatoes. In addition, there are also yellow tomatoes, and brown, and green, striped. And there is also a fluffy peach-like skin. Indeed, more than 25,000 different types of tomatoes have been created in the world, which differ from each other, both in fruits and in the appearance of the bushes and the requirements for certain climatic conditions. The heaviest tomato fruit is known to weigh about 3.5 kg.

When choosing a particular variety, it is important to adhere to two main points:

- Tomatoes must be varietal. Hybrids, they are marked as F1, cannot please with a good harvest, since they are crossed varieties, and it is not known what the harvest will be: it will look like one parent or the other. In addition, as a rule, crossed species degenerate in a couple of years.

- The second point is that the culture should correspond to the region in which you live. Thus, varieties created for certain weather conditions will not grow and bear fruit well in excellent areas. If you choose a variety that is suitable for your climatic conditions, then you can be confident in the future harvest.

The most popular of the hybrids are Aphrodite, Spasskaya Tower, Azhur,Doll" and others.

In addition, when choosing a certain variety of tomato, it is necessary to pay attention to its external characteristics and taste. Varietal tomatoes will be much tastier than hybrids.

Choosing the right seed

If you decide to grow your own tomato seeds for sowing, then you need to choose those fruits that grow on strong, powerful, healthy bushes. There should be no signs of illness on such a bush: white spots, dried and sluggish leaves.

In addition, those tomatoes that have grown on the lowest branch are suitable for seed propagation. This is necessary because the flowers on the lower bushes ripen very first, just at a time when the bees are not yet actively pollinating the plants, so you do not risk getting a hybrid.

You should also leave the fruit on the branch as long as possible, but also avoid overripening, since such a fruit is not suitable for sowing. When the tomato is overripe, the seed skins are broken, and these seeds are unlikely to germinate.

Thus, if you approach responsibly in the choice of the fruit that will serve as a source of seeds, then you will be more successful in getting a good harvest.

Seed preparation process

In order to collect the seeds, you will need ripe fruits, a sharp knife, a spoon, a cup or saucer, a fine sieve, or gauze, a dry cloth, a storage container - a paper bag or bags sewn from fabric are perfect.

The selected ripe fruit must be cut into small slices. Depending on the variety, a different number of slices must be cut to gain access to all the seed chambers. Using a spoon, collect the seeds floating in the pulp and put them in a cup. The seeds in the cup should be completely submerged in the tomato juice. Next, cover the cup with seeds and juice with a lid through which air will pass for a couple of days. The fermentation time will depend on the ambient temperature around.

When you saw that bubbles appeared on the surface, and the liquid became lighter, and the seeds settled, then the process is complete.

Now the seeds need to be filtered and rinsed. It is better to use a sieve for this. The seeds just need to be rinsed from the tap. When the seeds are completely cleaned, they should be placed on a napkin, evenly distributed over the surface. It will be very convenient to use a plate.

If you have used several varieties, then you need to divide them into different containers, so as not to confuse them later, and it is also advisable to sign the variety, since this is all very much forgotten.

It will take a week for the tomato seeds to dry out, and after that they will only have to be scattered in paper bags or rag bags. Store seeds in a cool, dark place, and be sure to maintain the conditions for storing seeds.

Simplified version of seed preparation

There is another way of separating the seeds, which is considered easier. It is recommended for those who do not have enough time or space for the above method.

Thus, the fruit is cut, and the contents are carefully distributed over the napkin, after which the napkin is laid out on a ventilated, sun-protected place, also for a week. After that, skipping the procedure for washing the seeds, they are placed in paper bags and sent to storage.

This method is not the most optimal, however, this will not greatly affect the germination of seeds.

How to pick tomato seeds correctly - gardeners' advice

Experienced gardeners give their recommendations for collecting seeds, and shares the name with novice gardeners. Here are some of them:

- On the contrary, they believe that it is better to use tomatoes that are not yet ripe as a maternal fetus. They need to be ripped off and brought to condition at home, within about 2 weeks.

- To save time and effort during sowing tomatoes, it is better to reject good seeds from low-quality ones immediately after washing the seeds. For this, the seeds are placed in a glass of warm, salty water. Those seeds that have surfaced must be removed, as they will not sprout.

- It is also good to immediately disinfect the finished seeds. For this, a solution of laundry soap is suitable, in which the seeds are placed for half an hour. The light pink manganese solution will also help disinfect the seeds. After the seeds have lain in the solution, they must be thoroughly rinsed.

- It is very convenient to dry the washed seeds on a roll of toilet paper, placing them immediately at the level at which you want to sow the seeds of this tomato variety. When the seeds are dry, they can be sown in a container with soil without separating them from the paper. In the ground, the paper will decompose.

- It will be better if you store the seeds in a room where the air humidity does not exceed 55, and also where it is cool enough

- Do not use as a seed the fruit that grows on the same branch together with fruits of different sizes

- Do not use utensils made of iron or aluminum, as the oxidation reaction will negatively affect future seeds

- It is not necessary to add water during the fermentation of the seeds, as in this case they can germinate

- Do not store prepared seeds for too long, as their germination decreases every year

- It would be a good idea to wrap the seed bags additionally in foil to keep air out of them.

It is impossible not to agree that the process of harvesting seeds for the future harvest is quite painstaking work, but it is worth it, since it is really worth growing from such seeds the crops, the taste and external qualities of the fruits of which you liked the most. Plus, the percentage of germination of these plants will depend on how carefully you approach the selection of seeds and their preparation for sowing.

Thus, summarizing the above, it can be noted that it is very rational to grow your own tomato seeds for seedlings, taking into account not only the external and taste characteristics of the variety, but also its adaptation to suitable climatic conditions.

Tomato seeds photo