Seed Saving Jars

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

Yes you do, and remembering in that other very long thread about seed saving where I posted what I do,I asked you how long you left the crud in the zip bags and you said something like...a very long time since I am slow.

My concerns,as you might remember,was about oxygen and fermentation and whether you were under or over fermenting.

Carolyn

I recently received some Rosado De Ayerbe seeds from a third party that were given to this person as a bonus from Ilex, and unfortunately all 5 seeds did not germinate. So the other 5 were put into a gemination test, damp paper towel over, then ziplock, and unfortunately after 8 days, no germination there either. Maybe they were overfermented?

[ContainerTed]

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

I like seeing everyone saving them in different ways.

Ted, I have never used a solid lid - at first in 2014, I used a coffee filter over the jar with a rubber band. I know you have been saving seeds longer than I have. I listen to experience.

As can be seen in my pictures above, I use a lot of different sizes of the jars. When I have something like a couple of cherry tomatoes or just want a small sample to have fresh seed for the next planting, I will use the scouring powder method to scrub away the gel sacs. The chlorine bleach in (as an example) Comet or Ajax will also help with some pathogens. They get scrubbed and well rinsed to make sure the scouring powder residue is removed. Then it is business as usual and they go on an uncoated paper plate and put into my homemade seed dryer. They will be ready to store in about 2 or 3 days in my dryer.

What I would like to see is a comparison in a good laboratory of just how well the fermentation and scouring powder methods do in regard to killing pathogens.

[FarmerShawn]

Here's a couple of refinements I use, which someone may find useful. I use clear plastic drink cups, no cover at all, for fermenting, but I have a nice outdoor shed to keep them out of the house for the stinky part of the process. I use big ones for big tomatoes with lots of seeds, and small ones for cherries or few seeds. I write the name of the tomato and any pertinent information on a Post-it, and tape that to the cup.
After the initial rinsing and pouring off process, I bring them into the house and finish the process next to the kitchen sink. I grab a cup, remove the Post-it with tape, and stick it to a cheap, uncoated paper plate. I have a small sieve, which I dump the seeds into from the cup, then rinse a final time. I used to use a paper towel for wicking the water from the pile of seeds by pressing the bottom of the sieve onto the towel, but found that a microfiber dish towel, which I despise for most other purposes, works fantastically well for wicking the water from the bottom of the sieve full of seeds. Then I just dump the seeds onto the paper plate and tap the pile with the sieve bottom to spread them out at least to a single layer, which is easy to crumble when dry. A metal spatula works nicely on the paper plate to remove the stuck seeds. The Post-it stays with the seeds until I am ready to package them up, at which time I just copy the relevant information, with any additions, onto the coin envelope I will store the seeds in.

[ilex]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

Yes you do, and remembering in that other very long thread about seed saving where I posted what I do,I asked you how long you left the crud in the zip bags and you said something like...a very long time since I am slow.

My concerns,as you might remember,was about oxygen and fermentation and whether you were under or over fermenting.

Carolyn

I try to do it when they look ready. Usually it's 7-10 days.

I've seen some sprout in the bag a couple times, but that's when they stay there for a LONG time. Very rare.

[ilex]

Originally Posted by ginger2778

I recently received some Rosado De Ayerbe seeds from a third party that were given to this person as a bonus from Ilex, and unfortunately all 5 seeds did not germinate. So the other 5 were put into a gemination test, damp paper towel over, then ziplock, and unfortunately after 8 days, no germination there either. Maybe they were overfermented?

I had problems with a couple varieties last year. That one is one of them. I'm pretty sure I made a mistake drying them. I use a drier, and it seems one day it got too hot.

It was a painful lesson.

[ginger2778]

Originally Posted by ilex

I had problems with a couple varieties last year. That one is one of them. I'm pretty sure I made a mistake drying them. I use a drier, and it seems one day it got too hot.

It was a painful lesson.

Oh, I understand. Seeds are so fragile, one little error is all it takes to mess up a whole batch. So sorry that happened to you. ( me too-I was looking forward to that one.)