Were you presoaking seeds you saved last year or trying to ferment seeds you want to save??

yes that was the idea. I think did a big big OPPS.

What you've done is pregerminated-not really fermented-your seeds. Actually, since they were outside, froze and thawed, it's more similar to winter sowing but in water. Might as well plant them now or toss them. If they are starting to germinate you can't store them.

To ferment seeds you want to save just squeeze the cavity material and the seeds in a bowl and leave until mold covers the entire surface. Usually this only takes a couple days but may be a tad longer depending on the temps. Never had this take longer than a week, tops! It stinks, so the garage is a good place and one were animals can't get in it. Remove the mold and pour into a strainer, with tepid water, rinse and scrape the seeds gently on the bottom of the strainer to force the gunk our. Repeat with tepid water till seeds are clean. Wipe the bottom of the strainer with a towel to remove moisture and place on a tin or ceramic plate to dry. Don't try to dry the seeds on or remove the excess moisture by dumping the seeds on a towel (paper or otherwise). They will stick.

My method is slightly different. I do it indoors on my kitchen windowsill. I get several tomatoes and squeeze the slimy tomato goop into a mason jar. I add 2-3 inches of water, and secure the lid. Every time I wash dishes, I can have a look. For the first few days, it foams and ferments. When the foaming seems to have died down, I pour out as much old water as possible and add fresh. At least once per day. The good seeds sink to the bottom and everything else floats away with the rinse. After a few more days, the seeds are clean. A few might even start to sprout. That tells me it's time to get them out of there!

For the last time, I pour out all the water I can, then use the last little bit of water to swirl the seeds around and deposit them on a ceramic plate. Like a miner panning for gold, I carefully pour off all the extra water. When the seeds are dry, I scrape them off to a small bowl to continue to dry, and then put them into packets.

Take a mason jar or and tall wide jar, add seeds with pulp, no more than half full, best if one third full, add tap water till three fourths full, cover with paper towel, place rubber band around lid to let in air for fermentation to happen wait a few days till you see all the good seeds free of pulp, all the molded pulp (muck) and such (dead seeds) will float to the top, pour out, till just the seeds are left in bottom of jar, fill with water and pour into strainer rinse under tepid tap water, take a sheet of old newspaper and write name of seeds and date, dump on newspaper, spread out and let dry for a week or so till you can see seeds easly removed from paper, place in little ziplock bags with name and date, put all in larger bag with a tissue that has dryed milk in it and store in a cool dark place like the refrigator.

Hope this helps:)

farmerted361

oops...I am pretty good at this, but I must have used hot water on a rince and hold as my Jaunne Flamme seeds ( tomato) are all sprouted in my jar!

Hi all - my method is pretty much like Maryliz's - courtesy of Organic Gardening magazine several years back.....

I squeeze out the gel & seeds from the tomatoes I want to save seed from - into a clear glass custard cup, juice glass or small jar, add some water & cover loosely w/ a piece of foil & set it on my kitchen windowsill, over the sink & watch it until a scummy mold forms on top & most of the seeds sink to the bottom.This takes several days or a week, depending on how warm it is.When it's ready, I peel off the 'skin' & dump the rest into a fine mesh sieve & rinse well under the tap, then drain & knock the seeds off onto a china saucer & spread them out to dry.I usually put a little scrap of paper w/ the variety name on the plate too.

I let them dry (inside, in a corner of my 'dining room')for a week or 2 & then store in labelled & dated pill bottles or mini zip bags.

Did you look in the tomato forum? There is a FAQ called
"How Do I Prevent Tomatoes from Cross-pollinating?" that has info on how to make bags.

Tracy

Were you saving seeds from tomatoes that were still out on the vine over winter?

For the best tomato seed, you should choose one of your earliest, best looking tomatos, that your dying to eat, but should let mature on the vine till over ripe, then save the seed from that one.

Hi silly bum well. More like tomatoes that were purchased this winter for salads. Since then, they are now growing plants in my garden with new little tomatoes on them. All done via winter sowing and the seeds were put in water/then froze till the gel came off. Took about 2 weeks. Kid you not these are now over 2 foot high plants. I did two types Ulgy Ripes and red pear Jelly Beans. So no bagging or tagging were done.

Could someone enlighten me as to why you must ferment the seeds before drying them? Why can't you simply dry seeds right after excavating them from a ripe tomato?

"Fermenting the seeds is necessary to produce quality seeds as the fermentation process
kills many diseases and disintegrates the anti-germination gel that encases the raw seed. "

from the Anioleka Seeds site.

I save tomato seeds every year and have never soaked them. I just get the seeds from a good tomato and let it dry on a plate. I then put the seeds in an envelope and plant them in April. They always make great plants.

same here clairdo2. I gently scrubbed mine and let them dry on a clay plate. My persimmon tomato plant was about the best-looking of the bunch this year!