Seed Saving

[Barryblushes]

Hope you didnt hit yourself too hard Kay.Yeah I learned the hard way to keep a list.I usually only forment four types at once,makes less confusion. Gotta marked the drying seeds too or they will get mixed up also. Barry

[elmtree3]

I don't know about the rest of you. But when the tomato seed saving and all the work is done for the year, I miss it.

[b54red]

I don't have any baby food jars anymore but I do use a lot of small glass jars. Instead of drilling a hole in the lid I just don't tighten the lid. I like to dry mine on the really heavy paper plates and just write on the edge the variety and reuse by marking through the old name and adding the newest to dry. The heavy paper plates work great because they wick the moisture well and don't buckle and bend. Then I just scrape them up with the flap of the coin envelope they will be stored in when they are dry.

[pacmanJohn]

Similar to others I cut a tomato in half, take a teaspoon and scoop the cavities (juice and seeds) into a labeled plastic bowl. Bowl goes outside somewhere in the shade (shed or front porch). Only takes about 3 or 4 days for me for fermentation. In the grass I just poor the scum and water, floating seeds etc out slowly until just a wet pile of seeds are left. I just poor the seeds onto a coffee filter which wicks perfectly. About a week or two I just pick the coffee filter up with seeds and stuff into a sandwich Ziploc bag and label. I’ve done this for a few years and get very good germination.

Good luck.

[kay]

Haha, no I avoided hitting myself too hard. I do big swaths at a time - generally 10 varieties and up all at varying stages of fermentation so the list is absolutely brilliant for my haphazard ways.

[FILMNET]

Coffee filters perfect, even write the name on the side, WOW

[shlacm]

Originally Posted by Timmah!

Just squeeze the guts of the tomato into an empty cup & let it sit & ferment for about a week. Then rinse the contents until all you have left is your seeds. Spread them on a paper plate or news paper for a week or two to dry.

Tried it... didn't work! My tomato guts dried up instead of fermenting! On the bright side; I've never seen our Tortoise eat anything as ravenously as she eats those Yellow Pear remains!!!

[Timmah!]

You have to maintain liquid in the vessel of choice to maintain fermentation.... the juice of the tomato(es), more specifically, the starches & sugars allow the anaerobic process to take place. Letting it dry out is exposing it to air & ending the fermenting. There are links in other posts in this thread that explain the process in great detail if you're having difficulty.

[Timbotide]

I have a batch of black prince seed that have been fermenting for three days
but so far no mold is growing on the surface. Do i wait for the mold to form or does the fermentation kill the bad stuff?

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Timbotide

I have a batch of black prince seed that have been fermenting for three days
but so far no mold is growing on the surface. Do i wait for the mold to form or does the fermentation kill the bad stuff?

Three days may be enough for you with your ambient temps but wouldn't be enough for my fermentations.

I've fermented some varieties where no mold layer ever appeared, but that was a rare circumstance.

What I look for is separation of the material in the container, matted tomato gunk in the top and a watery liquid layer below as well as looking for the gas bubbles that appear on the side of the container to indicate when the fermentation is working well and is almost complete.

The mold layer is just from normal fungi found in the air and it's not killed by the acidity of the actual contents of the fermentation.

I didn't go back and read all the posts, but I suggest never doing fermentation inside. First, the lovely stink, second, there's a much better chance of fungal spores landing on the surface of the mix if outdoors, but not in the sun.

When the fermentation is first set up everything is aerobic, but once the oxygen is used up there's a switch to the anaerobic fermentation that you want and there's no need to cover the container. I never have and never will b'c it's really not necessary.

[shlacm]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

I didn't go back and read all the posts, but I suggest never doing fermentation inside. First, the lovely stink, second, there's a much better chance of fungal spores landing on the surface of the mix if outdoors, but not in the sun.

When the fermentation is first set up everything is aerobic, but once the oxygen is used up there's a switch to the anaerobic fermentation that you want and there's no need to cover the container. I never have and never will b'c it's really not necessary.

Then how do you keep it from drying out? I'm not doing large quantities of seed here.

[FILMNET]

add some water to the cup, you must have some to dilute the stuff.

[TZ-OH6]

I usually use lidded 16 oz deli containers, but have used ziplock bags, which every one has easy access to. After working with wet specimens in museums for years I just automatically use tags cut from notecards (with pencil) placed in the liquid instead of trying to mark and remark the containers. The card material stays together even if I shake the containers.


Aerobic decomposition seems to be more efficient, and if I shake the containers daily I usually get clean seeds in three days at room temperature, but for seed from a single tomato in a 16 oz delicontainer, shaken or not four days is my usual wait.


Here are pictures of my process

http://www.flickr.com/photos/5125150...7624494344495/

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by shlacm

Then how do you keep it from drying out? I'm not doing large quantities of seed here.

As Filmnet said, just add some water. Not too much b'c you don't want the fermentation to be too dilute or it won't work as well as it should.

it's jsut a matter of practice to find out what's best for any one person treating seeds, whether it be fermentation, which I prefer b'c it's natural, or those who use oxiding agents or acids, etc.

I use one pound deli containers when I'm using several fruits for a variety, and for small fruits that can be many and for some of the larger fruits just using 3-4 may be OK and seldom have I ever used just one fruit b'c of the concern that just that one fruit may have some Cross pollinated seeds, but when I've been forced to do that I use either those small plastic drinking cups or dixie cups.

And I should add that I don't bag blossoms so that's one reason why I never use just one fruit to ferment seeds. The more fruits you use if one has some X pollinated seeds then using many fruits you dilute out the x pollinated ones.

I've distributed hundreds of seeds for a variety before an offtype has appeared. And most of the time due to self pollenization all the seeds are true. Knowing what your x pollination frequency is in most seasons is a good thing. Some use just first fruits b'c they say bee activity is usually later in the season but I use later fruits b'c I know bee activity is greatest where I live early in the season.

In addition, just on the basis of trying to maintain genetic diversity withn a variety I don't think it's a good idea to use just one fruit for seed saving. Just my opinion and I think the opinion of several folks although some will point out that using just one fruit is fine.

[ubergoober]

Originally Posted by TZ-OH6

I usually use lidded 16 oz deli containers, but have used ziplock bags, which every one has easy access to. After working with wet specimens in museums for years I just automatically use tags cut from notecards (with pencil) placed in the liquid instead of trying to mark and remark the containers. The card material stays together even if I shake the containers.


Aerobic decomposition seems to be more efficient, and if I shake the containers daily I usually get clean seeds in three days at room temperature, but for seed from a single tomato in a 16 oz delicontainer, shaken or not four days is my usual wait.


Here are pictures of my process

http://www.flickr.com/photos/5125150...7624494344495/

Thanks! Photos are always a big help