If your here, it's because you know the struggle
You know the slimy outer coating of the tomato seeds that make saving them correctly such a pain, and how tedious it can be trying to pull any significant number of seeds from the tomato itself?
It has been especially frustrating to me as I've been trying to develop a new land-race cherry tomato for my bio-region. So I need a LOT of seed to pack in as much biodiversity as possible.
Well I finally found an extremely efficient way to get the job done and its so simple i'm kicking myself for not finding this solution sooner.
All I have to do is allow other creatures to do the work for me.
How to do it in 5 steps
Probably the simplest how-to I've ever written
What you need:
- some tomatoes to save seed from
- a container (mason jar, a glass or cup, a Tupperware container, etc)
- a fine mesh strainer
- Some paper towels
- A dry sunny spot (indoors next to windows work)
Collect the tomatoes that you wan't to save seed from, this year we have had a lot of rain so i've just been using all of the tomatoes that have split.
- Squeeze the seeds out of the tomatoes into your container
leave the container out without a lid for a few days
This allows it to start fermenting, the natural bacteria in the tomatoes grows and eats away the slimy matter around the seeds.
You will know it's done once a grey film starts to develop on the surface
strain the seeds in the fine mesh strainer
I like to let my seeds sit in the strainer a bit so the excess water can drain off
- Spread the seeds out on a paper towel or some other extremely absorbent material, place in a dry sunny location until completely dry.
- Store your seeds in an envelope, make sure that you label and date it
Its really that easy. Thank you tiny little lifeforms!
Let me know if you guys have any other ways of doing this.
I think next I will do a detailed article on developing land-races.