I've saved seeds my entire life I do it because my grandparents who raised me saved seeds so the seeds I have come from plants he started saving seeds from back in the 1930s
What a treasure! Oh how I would love to have the seeds from my grandfathers garden, in the 50s & 60s. The tomatoes back then were so much better. Especially the Beefsteak, they were huge! You are blessed to have all those seeds. Enjoy 😊
@@sharonkortrey164 Nope but I have friends in Denver. Beautiful state. I live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on Lake Superior. Also beautiful area. What does where I live have to do with growing tomatoes? 🤔
When I was a child in the 50s my grandparents had a small farm My grandmother always saved her tomato seeds by drying them on muslin laid in a sunny windowsill. She then wrapped them in the muslin and stored them in her cabinet. I use her method and have always had viable seeds.
I moved my mobile home to another park and had to start over in my little garden. I always grow my own spearmint to use in tea and I could not find spearmint seeds. There is a person in town that I met through craigslist and he always has an abundance of spearmint that he lets us have. So I called him and he pulled up a whole bag full of his spearmint and I took the ones that survived the transplant and put them in my garden. :)
Due to the virus, I was unable to get the tomato plants that I wanted, Chocolate Cherry Sprinkle Heirlooms nor could I get the seed. So I purchased a hybrid chocolate cherry, but I was not very happy with them. Thankfully, I got several heirlooms that I let grow. These did wonderful, but now that I have tainted my garden, I don't think I can count on volunteers next season. So, I will be using this great advice to save the seeds I want, just in case.
So glad you told everyone not to save seeds from hybrid tomatoes. Also, tomatoes blossoms pollinate themselves so you don't need to bag em. And I would save the seeds onto a paper plate and never a paper towel....seeds tend to stick on the towel.
Thank you! I can not imagine a summer without black strawberry tomato plants! I will be using your method to keep this strain forever - with ❣️ from Montana
Thank you so much !!! this was a great help my family always saved the seeds for the next year ,i wish i paid more attention ,thanks the info is great I knew you had to do something to the tomato seeds thanks to you now i know what ,all the old timers are gone now ,so this is great you that put this out there .
I just take a ripe tomatoe cut it open spread the seeds out on a paper kitchen towel let it dry , fold it up and I’ve never had a problem the next spring getting new plants
I ordered seeds in early March and did not get them until Mid-May after I had already found some seedlings and planted them. I do have those seeds for next year :) The crazy thing is the place I ordered the seeds from is only 60 miles away from where I live but it was in the worse part of the pandemic here in Indiana and with me being immune compromised as well as my wife we didn't leave the home for about 6 weeks.
A very informative video, Thanks... I am extracting seeds from a small size tomato now , that I bought at a local Walmart store. They are approx 1 1/4 long by 3/4 inch wide. And not as overly sweet as some salad tomatoes are. The company name was SUNSET on the container , and the label said they come from Guatemala. They are excellent. PLEASE INCLUDE IN YOUR VIDEOS IF ANY SEEDS YOU DO VIDEOS ON , HAVE TO GO THRU A COLD PERIOD BEFORE PLANTING. Thanks...... Wrightsville, Georgia
Since watching this video, Ive been tasting tomatoes before putting them on a sandwich, and saving seeds from the best tasting fruit! Really slows down the eating process! 😂🍅😂
another great video. My sunrise tomatoes are fabulous tasting. Only could get two young starter plants of them. Can't find them in seed packets. NOW no problem. TYVM
Sticky notes are great to store them. (I usually put 10 in) Write variety and 'yr with Sharpie. Fold in half and staple sides 😀 Keep for yourself OR pass or trade at that end of Feb. gardening gathering
Yes I did learn something from this even though Ive been growing tomatoes for yrs. Its the cross-pollination issue. I have experienced some mutation in the fruit from these plants and why It happened, now I know , thanks.
More than 10 years ago, my daughter bought me a box of different veggie and herb seeds at a garden show. In that seed collection was a packet of heirloom cherry tomatoes (I call them purple tomatoes). I have never seen the purple tomato seeds in the stores, so I started saving their seeds. I had never heard of fermenting the seeds until a couple of years ago, when I came across a video about fermenting tomato seeds. I decided to do a comparison test between Method #1 fermented vs Method #2 un-fermented seeds. #1: I fermented my saved tomato seeds just like you did in this video, dried them on parchment paper. I saved the dry fermented seeds in a DIY envelope made from aluminum foil and labeled the envelope as FERMENTED. #2: I put the freshly harvested seeds in a medium-sized stainless steel sieve and placed the sieve in a bowl of cold tap water. I gently massaged the seeds with my fingertips to remove the jelly sacks, I changed the water in the bowl several times until I was sure that all the sacks were removed and the water came out clear. I dried the seeds in the same way as the fermented seeds and labeled the envelope as UN-FERMENTED. The fermented seeds and the un-fermented seeds performed equally well when I planted them the following Spring. I planted them indoors and later transplanted them in the garden. I could not see any difference in the way the plants developed or the quantity or quality of the tomatoes they produced. The fruit grew up to 1". I got up to 21 tomatoes on one flower branch. BTW, I use the same un-fermented method for saving my true English cucumber seeds with great results.
@@spirit469 You're not the first person suggesting that I start making my own videos, rather than writing long, very detailed comments. But first, I will have to find out how to set up and customize my currently dormant RU-vid channel. I would like to do it right the first time, rather than rushing into it and then having to fix my mistakes later. Hopefully, by the time I am ready to start saving my tomato and cucumber seeds this summer, I will feel comfortable enough to make my first videos. I have quite a few ideas floating in my head on the subject of gardening and baking. It's time to make myself a to-do list. Thanks for your little nudge.
I have been looking forward to this vid to save this years crop of Juliette and sweet 100's. However, just like you, I couldn't resist the Burpee catalog and bought more anyway. Its tough to beat a price of 0.05cents per seed even with say, 80% germination. How many plants will I grow next spring? I know already, it is 8 tomato plants. I will defo try seed saving though.
Question, what do you do with the plants that you remove or cut down from the garden? I propagated my cherry tomato plants, it’s been well over 100 here so my parent plants are looking pretty spent. They’re not diseased, anyadvice on what I should do with them?
Well wish me luck ive watched the video 3 times through and on the 3rd i was doing it stage by stage with mini san marzano tomatos they will get processed for drying on Saturday midday and stored in a paper packet on the 4th of march they will then get activated in a week or 2 when i get a mini greenhouse lets see if they are cross pollinated or true to the variety which is chiquito 20-35mm elongated fruits. a product of italy 🇮🇹 grown in sunny scotland 🏴 😄
Maybe not related, but some munchkins decided to pick my tomatoes while they were still green and, combined with high temperatures, that was the death of my best tomato plant. When I tried to uproot the plant, all the surrounding soil came up with it as a unit, indicating a good root system, no? Should I save it for next year?
I tried this for the 1st time this year ('21). The variety was Beaver Lodge. The blossoms I isolated produced 2 small tomatoes. Each Tomato only had 3 seeds. Was it because I didn't do a good job of shaking the blossoms? Or something else? The rest of the tomatoes on the plant are much larger (I'm going to save some of their seeds too hoping they were not cross pollinated) Next time I'll put bags on several buds. I don't NEED a lot of seeds I only grow about 10 tomato plants, but still this experiment was a disappointment.
great advice is it ok to freeze seeds of any variety for next year. I have bought seeds and had extras and planted them the next year with no germination thanks
Question: Is there a time span from the time you pick the tomato to the time you start seeding it to save the seeds? Like same day or within hours? Thanks.
Thank you for the video! Is there a threshold ripeness for the tomato before harvesting for seeds? I heard for peppers that you want the pepper to be shriveling.
Knock on wood, I've able to buy what I've needed locally this year. How long are seeds viable from year to year? Thx! Love your videos! Getting new ideas and learning alot!
Seed maintain almost a 100% viability for 2 to 3 yours. After that you're going to get a break down and percentage year to year. But even after 10 years some will still sprout. In fact I have seen 80 year old seeds sprout. Not very well but they have.
HI CG, what is your opinion of saving seeds from your largest tomato or saving your largest garlic bulb? I see so many different opinions on different sites. Have you experimented with both? Would appreciate your comments. Thank you for your content and God Bless!!
I buy tomato seeds and I get different kinds of tomatoes. I have yet to buy a packet of tomato seeds and use those seeds and get the same kind of tomato on every plant.
Seed swap..sounds kinky, I like it! About cross pollination.. I have my different heirloom varieties fairly close to each other and can easily imagine them cross pollinating. If I save seeds from a regular big boy tomato, that was unknowingly cross pollinated, and plant them next year, are we saying that cherry or roma tomato plants might emerge? Or that they would be regular tomatoes with characteristics of the other varieties? I guess at that point I would have a hybrid plant and no telling what would emerge from the seeds of those tomatoes the following year..?
I know about tomato seed fermentation. But if I come across a tomato that tastes good, I simply smear some of its seeds on a paper napkin then write down the date and source. Next season, I use a pair of scissors to cut away ones I want to sprout. This works well for me.
I do the same. Less work. I have about an 85% germination rate in this method. When planted 2 seeds per pod it’s 99% that each of my pod trays are full.
I have saved seeds for years. If a plant grows particularly well on your property, it will be more likely to do well next year because it's acclimated. If I do buy seeds, I buy them from a local grower for that same reason. I don't know if this is true everywhere but in CA, my local nursery and seed store have a year end sale because they cannot sell seeds packaged for that year in the next year...so they are half off in December.
Excellent gardening and seed-fermentation advice. But Brian fails to clearly distinguish between hybridized and dehybridized (usually known as "heirloom") plants. "Better Boy" et al are F1 (parentage is a trade secret) hybrids, and best for beginning gardeners: You get high yield, nice spherical fruits, great flavor, and genetic vigor; i.e., better disease resistance. But the progeny of an F1 fruit (even if self-pollinated) are F2 hybrids and are JUNK. Therefore, never ever save the seeds that come from any hybridized parentage. Heirlooms are a subset of deyhybrized genotype (parentage) ... meaning "worth keeping" = "heirloom." Meaning that if the pollination occurs within the blossom, or if cross-pollination occurs from a like-kind plant... the seed remains heirloom... with predictable PHENOTYPE (visible plant characteristics)... especially regarding next year's fruits. Where does this predictability come from? That the genetic deck is stacked with homozygosity... meaning there is no variation (two alleles notwithstanding) in the chromosomes, for all traits worth talking about. Nevertheless, there is SOME diversity between "Cherokee Purples" or whatever heirloom is your favorite. Just not in the phenotypical traits that the gardener cares about. My crop (20 years now) I call "Potato Leaf Polish" and that's all I grow, anymore. The recessive leaf type (a phenotypical marker that assures me of self-pollination and continued heirloom quality) emerges so early in the growing season that I know the crop is worth growing out. Why? Because almost all tomato plants have rugose or regular leaf forms... genetically dominant traits (ref basic Mendelian genetics) and if a bee got into the making of my seeds, the resultant plant would likely have regular (not SPADE SHAPED) leaves... betraying the mixed parentage. PS This cross up has never happened to me, but I remain vigilant.
Had a friend give me seeds his mother had saved 5yrs after her death when he cleared out her home so I tried to grow them and they have done great and he was so happy and I was also. Thank you for putting all this out there for all of us you are a blessing 🙏🇺🇸❤
I read about tomato seed saving in a book, and it sounded so difficult, I doubted I would ever try. But, your video makes it look sooo easy! Now I know I can handle it. Thanks!
Great video I will do that this year! I unintentionally saved seeds from last year, as I had a bucket of newly sifted homemade compost in the greenhouse after a week I noticed all these tomato seedlings sprouting up! I was able to use some and I gave loads away! Pleasant surprise! ☘️☘️☘️☘️🍅🍅
I didn't get around to cleaning my raised beds last fall, so this spring I had at least 38 "free" tomato plants sprout. I gave several away, and still have plenty for myself. I thought they were all going to be grape and cherry tomatoes, but I believe there's some beefsteaks and early girls, too. Everywhere I looked, a tomato plant was growing. Lol!
Neither did I. Down in a wzrmer climate i just popped a few seeds from a fresh tomato into a pot and planted the seedlings into the ground. Plants usually lasted 2-3 years. Now that we live where there is actual winter, there is a lot to learn.
I learned to seed save as a kid from my Grandpa. Loving memories for sure. He gifted me some of his seeds when my husband and I bought our first home. We still seed save today. And now my children seed save with me. But also yes, restraint with the seed buying a must. Leave seeds for others!
Do you have to use the seeds of a ripe tomato? Or can you use the seeds from a tomato that hasn’t fully ripened yet? I still have a lot of tomatoes growing but it suddenly got a lot colder and I’m worried they won’t make it.
*I love saving seeds!* I like to grow Siam Queen Thai basil sprouts & microgreens so saving these save some major money. I like to have Cilantro growing in all stages everywhere in my garden with to feed the Navy so I have to plant patches dedicated to saving seeds. (I'm looking to trade seeds, btw: I just need Comfrey.) _I want to try to isolate a few cherry tomatoes next year. I live on a farm and have the 100+ yard space needed... I just hope nobody's growing beefsteaks nearby._
OMG!!! Your knowledge never ceases to amaze me. I ordered seeds late this year and had a horrible time finding them in stock until I discovered Calikim’s. Some seeds I wanted from others were unavailable or came way too late. I will definitely use your method here. Thanks again for another fantastic video. Side note~I loved your face when you were talking about animals eating the plants and you said “rats”. They are clearly your nemesis as are squirrels for me. Love your humor and smile. Thanks again! ❤️
California Garden TV - Advice for All Climates they were probably so big because they’ve been using your rat traps for stools and were able to fatten up on your fantastic tomatoes. 🤣🤣🤣
You can scoop out tomato seeds, dry them & put them up...I do it all the time...you just squish the seeds out on to a paper towel, pick the seeds out of the tomato guts & put them on a fresh paper towel, make sure to squish the sac that surrounds the seed, & let them dry, then, when dry, pick them off the paper towel & bag them up...it can be a little time consuming, but it certainly works...& it doesn't take 3 days to do it...
I started saving seeds recently, just in the last few years. I relate to the excitement in looking at a seed catalog! Had trouble ordering a few months ago and for the first time was glad I had previously overshopped from seed catalogs! Also, save seeds from squash or peppers you buy from the store-- amazing how much nature produces for us if we just make a little effort. :)
