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Advice Needed for Saving Tomato Seeds

17 years ago

I'd like to try saving tomato seeds this summer, but I have to grow my plants very close together. I'm worried the seeds I save (and would then offer to other people) won't be true to what I planted because of cross-pollination. Is it worth saving these seeds?

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Comments (2)

remy_gw
17 years ago
Hi,
You can save the seeds and still trade, just tell traders that they are open pollinated and there is a possibility of cross-pollination. Most tomatoes have blossoms that fertilize themselves and don't cross easily. There are a few exceptions. And if a very rare variety, you may want to have more distance to insure purity. Of course you can bag the blossoms too. The link below gives more indepth info.
Remy

Here is a link that might be useful: Seed Saving Tomato FAQ
zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin
17 years ago
Shutterbugsyl, you are right to be concerned; I grow a lot of tomatoes from seed swaps, and crosses are a frequent problem. You are thinking ahead - which is good on you! There is a difference between those who save seed strictly for their own use... and those who intend to share with others, who should take extra precautions to ensure purity.

Remy's link is one of the better ones on GW, since it covers all the bases - with illustrations. If you are growing large numbers of tomatoes in close proximity & saving seed, blossom bagging is your best option. You only need to bag one or two clusters per plant (or per variety), and Remay or Agribon floating row cover is easy & economical for this purpose.

When the tomatoes begin to enlarge within the bag:
(1) Check for holes in the bag caused by insects; if you find one, do not save seed from that cluster.
(2) Pinch off any remaining flowers or buds.
(3) Mark the cluster with something that is bright and not easily removed (birds love string!). The marker should be easily visible when the tomatoes are full-grown, to avoid accidentally destroying the pure seed.

Then harvest the marked tomatoes separately when ripe, and process the seed. Fermentation is the preferred method. There are many existing threads & FAQ's on this, just search for "tomato fermentation", or refer to the link below which discusses many aspects of saving tomato seed.

Here is a link that might be useful: Saving tomato seeds
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>And what's the dog's name? DOG. LOL That's just not right. What's not right, Carolyn? I used to have a German Shepherd named Dog. I figured there are enough identity crises in the world as it is, so why add to the confusion? :>) And didn't Holly Golightly have a cat named Cat? As to naming otherwise unnamed varieties, isn't that what Gary Ipsen did with the Julia Child? Took an unnamed pink somebody had sent him, and turned it into a memorial. On one hand, I have no problems with that. If we're going to communicate about varieties they need to have some sort of name. But, on the other hand, I'm concerned about the proliferation of names for what may be the same variety. Sometimes we can straighten it out, as Melody Rose did with the Uncle Mark Bagby's---which is grown in western Kentucky under at least six other names. The seed can all be traced back to one source, however. But it's rare that the detective work _can_ be done, even if somebody is willing to do so. If you think this is a problem with tomatoes, you should take a look at cowpeas. Not only are there numerous names for the same variety, often enough they use the same names for totally different varieties. That is, to use a made up example, Yin/Yang might be a local name for Calico (or one of its many variations). But, somewhere else, somebody is using Yin/Yang for a red pea with a white blotch. In my collection I have at least seven cowpeas, under different names, that are indistinguishable from Calico. Are they really different varieties? Only the DNA mappers know for sure. And they ain't talking yet, not at $250/pop.
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