Newbie question

Black River · October 20, 2017

Hi everyone. I'm interested in saving some of my tomato seeds next year from heirloom varieties. I'm sure this has been asked many times before, but how much separation is required between plants to ensure purity?

Cole_Robbie · October 20, 2017

Accidental crosses are fairly rare, at least with tomatoes. It happens a lot more with peppers. If you want to be sure, I think bagging blossoms with tule or some sort of mesh bag is more reliable than separating plants by distance.

sirtanon · October 20, 2017

While I'm not an expert in this kind of thing, if I remember correctly, the minimum distance to prevent cross-pollination is something like 1/4 of a mile.. but for most home gardeners, this is definitely not an option.

An alternative option is to 'bag' flowers on the plants you want to save seeds from. You can get the small tulle bags from the hobby stores and tie them around a couple of flowers on the plant, and then they can only pollinate themselves - Bees can't reach them.

This thread talks more about bagging flowers.

AlittleSalt · October 21, 2017

Bagging the plants is the best answer for most of us. Of course growing all of the same variety is a pretty sure-fire bet, but not as effective as bagging - because who knows what your neighbors are growing and a cross can happen.

Black River · October 21, 2017

Ok, yes, I think I saw a video once where they used a small bag over the blossoms.....I didn't remember that. Thanks so much for the replies and help!

bower · October 21, 2017

Another way to hedge your bets, if you forget to bag or it doesn't work, is to save seed from first and last fruit. That's because pollinators are less active early and late in the season, most places.

I've been watching what happens with my tomatoes here, where bumblebees are the most dominant pollinator (at least, they are most obvious about it). Early in the season only the queens are out foraging until their first brood hatches. They will not bother with tomatoes because the flowers only contain pollen and no nectar. The queen herself needs nectar to eat, and pollen to feed the brood, so she's looking for flowers that have both. I've seen them check out the tomato plants and fly off without taking anything (with a buzz that sounds like a complaint to me!). But once the first crew of worker bees have hatched, these little ones are working the tomato flowers for all they're worth, and no blossom is left untouched.

This is not the case with peppers, since they produce both nectar and pollen, the queens themselves will meet me at the door falling all over a pepper plant.

Labradors2 · October 21, 2017

Wow! That's fascinating info Bower!!! I wondered why my bees (spill chick changed that to bears!) preferred catmint to tomatoes at the beginning of the season, but later they all swooped in on the tomato flowers

Now I know

Linda

October 20, 2017	#1
Black River Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: NE Arkansas Posts: 16	Newbie question Hi everyone. I'm interested in saving some of my tomato seeds next year from heirloom varieties. I'm sure this has been asked many times before, but how much separation is required between plants to ensure purity?

October 20, 2017	#3
sirtanon Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Phoenix, AZ (zone 9b) Posts: 796	While I'm not an expert in this kind of thing, if I remember correctly, the minimum distance to prevent cross-pollination is something like 1/4 of a mile.. but for most home gardeners, this is definitely not an option. An alternative option is to 'bag' flowers on the plants you want to save seeds from. You can get the small tulle bags from the hobby stores and tie them around a couple of flowers on the plant, and then they can only pollinate themselves - Bees can't reach them. This thread talks more about bagging flowers. __________________ I could sail by on the winds of silence, and maybe they won't notice... but this time I think it would be better if I swim..

October 20, 2017	#2
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	Accidental crosses are fairly rare, at least with tomatoes. It happens a lot more with peppers. If you want to be sure, I think bagging blossoms with tule or some sort of mesh bag is more reliable than separating plants by distance.

October 21, 2017	#4
AlittleSalt BANNED FOR LIFE Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 13,333	Bagging the plants is the best answer for most of us. Of course growing all of the same variety is a pretty sure-fire bet, but not as effective as bagging - because who knows what your neighbors are growing and a cross can happen.

October 21, 2017	#6
bower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Newfoundland, Canada Posts: 6,794	Another way to hedge your bets, if you forget to bag or it doesn't work, is to save seed from first and last fruit. That's because pollinators are less active early and late in the season, most places. I've been watching what happens with my tomatoes here, where bumblebees are the most dominant pollinator (at least, they are most obvious about it). Early in the season only the queens are out foraging until their first brood hatches. They will not bother with tomatoes because the flowers only contain pollen and no nectar. The queen herself needs nectar to eat, and pollen to feed the brood, so she's looking for flowers that have both. I've seen them check out the tomato plants and fly off without taking anything (with a buzz that sounds like a complaint to me!). But once the first crew of worker bees have hatched, these little ones are working the tomato flowers for all they're worth, and no blossom is left untouched. This is not the case with peppers, since they produce both nectar and pollen, the queens themselves will meet me at the door falling all over a pepper plant.

October 21, 2017	#7
Labradors2 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Ontario Posts: 3,896	Wow! That's fascinating info Bower!!! I wondered why my bees (spill chick changed that to bears!) preferred catmint to tomatoes at the beginning of the season, but later they all swooped in on the tomato flowers Now I know Linda