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Growing Tomatoes

Problems with fermentation of tomato seeds

12 years ago

I'm starting my annual seed saving, and have been using the fermentation approach where I rinse the seeds and then set them in water glasses for a few days until some scum forms, and then I re-rinse and dry. Today I was checking one glass of seeds that I had collected about a week ago, and about half of the seeds had little white "tails," which I assume meant that they were starting to germinate. They have been sitting on a windowsill in the kitchen, but not one that gets direct sun. I've never had this happen before. Did I let them sit too long, or should they have been in a darker place, or was this just an aberration, or what?

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Comments (6)

digdirt2
12 years ago
Sounds like they set too long in the water and sprouted as you suspected. A week is too long IME.

Dave
missingtheobvious
12 years ago
kudzu, I had some that did that after 6 days (I try to dry them on the 4th or 5th day, but sometimes lose track).

It actually didn't matter, because I hadn't labeled them with the variety ... and had forgotten which it was!

Moral of the story: don't get old!

Maybe before I clean the Juliets and Romas for dehydrating, I should check up on the batch of seeds that have been fermenting since Sunday....
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Thanks for the heads up on Vorlon tomato, google shows it to be greatly gaining in popularity; Lord willing I will grow it next year. How would you compare it to Cherokee Purple? I presume where you're at in CO the climate is very low humidity, excellent conditions for drying food, right? It's typically very high humidity here during tomato season, takes longer to dry tomatoes especially when the dehydrator is outside. I'll try your tip about selecting 'just turning ripe' tomatoes for drying, my observations support that also. Don't know how much you can tell from the OP photo of the Brandy Boys in the tray, but all those chunks of tomato have the skin on the backside. I was trying to replicate the success I had with drying the cherry tomatoes on their skins, and for the most part it was successful, just some turned dark/black, but I honestly couldn't even taste the black, it just didn't look good.
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A week of fermentation is too much time; chances are, the seed had begun to sprout before going dry. If you still have enough tomatoes left to do so, I would recommend starting over with a fresh batch
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The seeds need fruit juice/pulp too to actually ferment. Did you squeeze the tomato into the container so that some juice and pulp were also included? It isn't so much "mold" as froth or scum. ;) If not, by this time they are likely as done as they will get so I would take them out and dry them now before they sprout. They will most likely germinate fine without further soaking. For a great discussion on saving seeds from experienced seed savers, check out this post over on the Growing Tomatoes forum too. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Saving Seeds tips
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1. How long has it been? 2. Is it warm enough? This article says it should be 70-80 degrees. You might have to use a candle warmer or something to keep it warm enough. Fermenting Seeds-found on the internet Choose tomatoes that are fully ripe and have the best characteristics for their variety. Slice the tomato in half across the middle. Squeeze the seeds and juice into a clean glass jar. You can also scoop seeds from a tomato you are slicing for immediate consumption into a jar. Add water if the seeds are not covered in their own juice. Label the container with the tomato variety and year of harvest. Place the container where children or pets will not disturb it. Choose a location where the smell will not bother you, such as a garage, greenhouse or outdoors. Allow container to remain at room temperature until a layer of fungus has grown across the surface. Fermentation will happen within one to three days at temperatures of 70 to 80 degrees F. At cooler temperatures, the fermentation process could take a week. After Fermentation Remove seeds from the water when fermentation is complete. Add water to double the mixture. Stir vigorously. Good seeds will settle to the bottom of the jar. Pour off the water. Pour out floating hollow seeds, mold and any debris with the water. Add water. Pour off the water and hollow seeds again. Repeat this process until only clean seeds remain.
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carolyn137
12 years ago
Kudzu, I noticed that you said you rinse the seeds and then put them in a glass of water to ferment, but that isn't going to work. You need to squeeze out the contents of whole tomatoes, with the juice, seeds and all, b'c fermentation is dependent on having something to ferment, which are all the organic compounds present in the tomato innards, if you will.

If you just put rinsed seeds in a glass of water they will germinate, but that's not fermentation which is a biological process that uses the carbohydrates and more present in the fermentation container to produce the organic acids and other fermentation products that help to remove the gel capsules from the seeds as well as remove many of the tomato pathogens from the seed coat.

So do process several fruits of a specific variety at one time, if you can, and squeeze out the innards to your container first, and then let the normal fungi in the air form that fungal mat. And when you see gas bubbles along the sides of the container you know that the fermentation is working.

Hope that helps.

Carolyn
kudzu9
Original Author
12 years ago
Carolyn-
That helps a lot. You're correct: I've been taking just the seeds with their clear, outer coating and assumed that that coating would ferment away. I sometimes get a patch of scum on the surface, but nothing like the the junk I've read about. It seemed logical to me to do it that way, but what you say makes more sense. Thanks for turning my lightbulb on!
mulio
12 years ago
I would suggest doing separate collection times (e.g. days apart) of a specific variety instead of just one. That way if something happens to one batch it might not happen to another.
kudzu9
Original Author
12 years ago
mulio-
Thanks. Another good suggestion that I'll follow.../

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