Evan, if the tomato is open pollinated you can save the seed, if it is a hybrid it won't come true to the tomato you saved. Since you are going to plant them right away I would just use a strainer and wash the pulp. Put the seed in a small bowl with water and a little bit of ajax for 10 minutes. Wash again in the strainer and put a drop of soap to clean the final seed. From then you can plant them in the medium or dry them in a paper plate to save them for the future. Silvia

The issue is are they hybrids or heirlooms/open pollinated varieties. If they are hybrids then the seeds you save won't breed true. Hybrid seeds in the packet are the result of manual cross-pollination of at least 2 parent varieties. The seeds saved from those hybrid plants once grown, will revert to the parent stock or some strange combination of them. If your seeds planted and grown are heirlooms or open-pollinated plants, not hybrids, then yes you can save the seeds and re-grow them. Depending on what the plant is - self-fertile like tomatoes or insect pollinated like most flowers, they may or may not grow true. In some cases, like hollyhocks you will still get lots cross-pollination by insects so your saved seeds may change color etc. It all depends on how much you care whether or not the seeds you saved breed true or not. Many don't care, many do. Some research on cross-pollination will explain this in more detail. ;) Dave

ARGG said the forum pirate to his favorite proffy Dr. Carolyn. I'm a pupil at heart and appreciate your help. Just tell me if I only get three wishes because then I want to pick and choose some of the more burning questions I have; NAR is on top of my next list. ;-) Hi Sue, Like they say, life is tenacious, so whether sun affects what's inside depends on whatever fungi and bacteria happen to be doing the fermenting and it sounds like your E's ML has developed quite an active micro-community. Glass blocks more of the UV radiation than clear soda/water bottles so if you had a choice I'd probably pick glass. I don't know about the FAQ, and didn't see it, but I ferment mine at 77 degrees F which in my opinion is quite warm, but that's my room temperature, which drifts up to 80 F in the hottest part of the day. It is not critical, but warmth is usually required to get things moving or it will take long and I get mine done in 4 days like that, sometimes three. I always add a little non-chlorinated water, but this is hotly debated and not necessary, and in fact under some circumstances not a good idea. Here things are always warm and putrefying fungi and bacteria abound, so the water is like my control rod and allows me to mix it well, towards the end, just to be sure everything gets done uniformly, but your mileage will really vary depending on whatever happens to be the ambient conditions and sort of microbe family in your tomato and air, and bottoms of the feet of creatures that step in the tomato outside, etc. The sun is not required for fermentation; most microbial critters that do the job can't photosynthesize, so adding Sunlight is just going to upset the micro flora balance in there. Probably they just didn't want you fermenting too cool because generally the quicker you get it done, the less that can go wrong, and you really don't want a stinky mess for 2 weeks. Put a thermometer on the window, or use your creativity in the house looking for the warm place. As a rule of thumb, don't subject the seeds to over 85 F, no reason to since in general when you stat seeds they do better between 76 and 83 F of so. Little things like that will give you an edge with higher quality seed and soon you will find what worked. The reality is fermentation is extremely robust and nearly anything works. But good technique has a more professional feel and less smelly things associated with it in the case of a fermentation gone wild. Hope that helps Happy Growing PC

The way I save all my seeds from fruit such as peppers, tomatoes, etc. is quite simple and not at all scientific. LOL! I usually collect seeds from food I'm eating such as salads or sandwiches. So I just tear a paper napkin in half and write the fruit type, where I got it and the date near the top edge. Then I flip the napkin over and write the same information on the bottom edge. Then I flip it back to the first side and picking up some seeds with a spoon place them on the paper then spread them out up near where I wrote the data. Then I fold up the napkin and allow it to dry while I finish my meal. (Now the note from the back side is visible on the top side.) Here are some seeds I saved from an eggplant from the grocery store: When I get home, I put the folded napkin on a window sill to fully dry. When it does, I stick it into a cleaned out 16 ounce plastic yogurt tub marked with the year I collected the seeds. I have several such tubs going back 5 or 6 years. When winter starts to fade, I pry open the napkins and put the seeds into sterile seed starter that is in pairs of small 3 ounce white plastic cups that I buy in bags of 150 for a couple dollars. These are sold as disposable bathroom drinking cups in my local Kroger grocery store. I heat the tip of a cheap Phillips screw driver and melt a hole in the bottom middle of half of the cups. The sterile seed starter goes in these cups. The cups without a hole are where I put the water. This way the seeds, new roots and tender shoots are evenly bottom fed. I use a black Sharpie pen to write the seed information, date I started them etc. on the white plastic. Here is a pair of cups where the seed starter has just started to absorb some of the water from the bottom one: Once the seeds have spouted, the stem grown and real leaves get going, I transfer the plant to pairs of 8 ounce beverage cups that I have prepared in the same manner but with those I use potting soil or Mel's Mix instead of sterile seed starter. When those plants get going I transfer them again to pairs of 16 ounce beverage cups prepared in the same manner. For final containers I decapitate 2 liter plastic soft drink bottles then burn a hole in the bottom of them for drainage. Or the plants are now ready for the garden. Here are various peppers that are happily growing in the manner that I have described: As I said, my method of collecting seeds to grow is not at all scientific but it is fast, simple, cheap and works. Terry Thomas Brookhaven Gardens Brookhaven (Atlanta), Georgia USA Skype: AtlantaTerry