The reason is that most hybrids seeds don't breed true and you will find many discussions scattered all over the forums on the problems associated with saving seeds from hybrids. They revert to one of the parent stock or a mutated form of one of them depending on the stability of the parent stock. Sure they will germinate and grow and the tomatoes they produce may be fine, then again they may not be. ;) Either way, the odds are they won't be the same. Open pollinated (often called heirlooms) breed true assuming there was no cross-pollination. Dave

I saved about 10 different kinds of seeds this year including some blue lake beans. Surprisingly they were my biggest challenge. Those that matured wanted to rot but I did get a few. Wait until the pods turn brown. The pod will hold the seeds. You don't need the stocking.

Poodlepro's advice is what works for me too. In summer, in fact, I've been known to break a piece off, stick it in the ground, maybe water it, maybe not. And, voila, they survive and thrive! I haven't tried the water method. I don't use rooting hormone. Well, I did use it twice, with terrible results. For the seeds, you should just be able to collect them into paper envelopes. I have a bunch I collected into a pie tin last autumn, am going to try sowing them now. (Winter sowing- my first.) Also will try sowing some in my cool sunroom. But haven't grown pellies from seed before, so I'm winging it. For a couple of years, I've taken cuttings of my pellies in the fall, grown them in the cool sunroom over the winter. But this last season, they got rust really badly, so I really reduced the stock, and am being vigilant for signs of rust. They got the rust after being moved outside in spring. Very wet year here. Everything had fungus, rust, yuck! Good luck with yours.

http://www.farmradio.org/english/radio-scripts/42-2script_en.asp Quote from the link: There are three rules for storing seeds so that they will grow well in the following season. Make sure the seeds are well dried before you store them. Store them in the coolest place possible. Protect the seeds from moisture. Lots more to the article at the link!