How To Save The Seed From Tomatoes

Seed saving is an art form that is not so popular these days. But just two or three generations ago, most home gardeners saved their own seed. This was from both necessity and a need to maintain plant varieties. These days it is more a matter of popping into your local garden centre, and either picking up some seedlings, or their seed packets.

In the current financial climate though, seed saving may become a lot more popular. Many more people will be not only growing their own food, but saving their own seed as a way to save their money.

By far one of the easiest seed to save is from the tomato plant. This is because the tomato is a self-pollinating plant. Once the flower is open, there is no need for the wind or insects to transfer any of the pollen. Therefore the risk of cross-pollination is extremely slim.

While it is easy to save the seed, it is also important to determine whether the plant you have selected is an open pollinated variety or a hybrid. If hybrid plants are selected, the resultant seed may not be true to type. An easy way to determine whether you seed is from a hybrid plant or not, is to check the label and see if it has the terms F1 or Hybrid written anywhere on it. If it doesn’t, or if the terms open pollinated or heirloom appear, then you are probably safe to assume that the seed will grow true to type.

So now that you have determined that the seed is of a type that will grow true to form, you need to collect it. This can be done in a few simple steps.

1. Firstly, let the fruit ripen fully. It should be a little soft to the touch and a deep colour.
2. Cut open the tomato and scoop out the seeds into a sieve.
3. Run cold water over the seeds to remove most of the pulp.
4. There will be a coating of gel around each seed. This gel will need to be fermented off. This is easily done by tipping the seed into a small container and covering with at least its volume in water. Leave this container on the windowsill, but cover with some cloth to keep the dust off.
5. In a few days time, the seed will start to smell a little and a mould may appear. It is now safe to rinse the seed under cold water again in a sieve. The gel around the seed will have dissolved and will wash away easily.
6. Drain the seed well and lay it out on paper towel or a sheet of newspaper to dry.
7. Once dry, the seed can be stored in a paper envelope of a dark jar and kept out of the light in a cool, dry place. If the seed has stuck firmly to the paper, then it can be cut into strips and stored in a jar like this. Next season you can just plant the entire strips out. The paper will quickly decompose into the soil.

So there you have it, a quick, easy way to save tomato seed.