New to me seed saving method

[Rajun Gardener]

I tried something new and it seems to be the fastest and easiest way to save seeds. I put them in a 3 gallon bucket half filled with water and used a whisk to break the gel sac from the seed. I would whisk then rinse and I did this about 4 times. Then I put 1oz of bleach in the bucket 1/2 filled, used the whisk again and let it sit for 15 minutes then rinsed them a few times. I spread them out on an old pillow case draped over a tray and set them under a ceiling fan to dry over night. A few minutes ago I used a spatula to scrape the seeds off and put them in a jar with a desiccant container and a folded up paper towel to suck any remaining moisture out.

FYI, if you save seeds, using linen like a sheet or pillow case makes it so easy to get the seeds off when dry.

I just put a few in water for a germination test and I'll go from there.

I picked these Creoles to make spaghetti sauce so I had plenty of seeds which is why I used a bucket but if I had to do just a few tomatoes I would use something smaller.

[AlittleSalt]

I hope it works - That is a LOT of seeds.

[Rajun Gardener]

It should be fine, I made sure the gel sacs were off of them and that's the biggest problem with slow germination. Yes, that's a bunch of seeds, I have to figure out what to do with them all.

[Gardeneer]

The trick is to get rid of the gel covering the seeds. That is why IMO fermenting is a better way.
But you can keep washing until the seeds are clean and free of the gel. .
The next step is air drying.

Gardeneer

[dmforcier]

Better way? Look at his results! Looks good to me. (Assuming that they germinate.)

Rajun, I only hope I can get enough fruit to try your method. The one thing I might do different is to rely less on the desiccant and let them air-dry longer, though your climate might make that less effective. Let us know the result, please.

[Rajun Gardener]

They were dry when I pulled them off the linen. the A/C is set to 69 and it was stretched across a crawfish tray which is about 1.5 " deep and set on a desk under a ceiling fan for about 23 hours. They peeled off the linen in sheets and they mostly broke up easy. I checked the linen before I pulled them and it was dry. The thin linen really dries out fast and the tight fibers don't give the seeds anything to hang on to. I think this is the way to go.

I just took this pic of my rush germ test, I set these in a little water in a used grocery store mushroom container(those things are handy for starting seeds) and put them on top of the DVR that's always warm. I did this today about 9AM and it looks like they're starting to sprout and should have a tail by the morning. Maybe I'm wrong but we'll see tomorrow.

[loulac]

Originally Posted by Rajun Gardener

I hope you won't mind my going off line but your picture of Miracle grow reminds me that I always apparently burnt my seeds with no germination at all when I used it to awaken ageless varieties. Could you suggest a safe dosage for a solution of about 250cc (a quarter of a liter) in grams or cc, easier to measure ?
thanks
all the best

[ContainerTed]

The reason I use those extra flimsy, uncoated, cheapo paper plates is that they absorb the moisture away from the seeds and release that moisture into the air. In most cases, if the seeds are still less than dry, they will continue to adhere to the paper plate. If the seeds are dry, they no longer stick.

Depending on bleach concentration in the rinse, 15 minutes may be too long. I did some experiments with bleach concentrations and found that too much bleach time can reduce germinating numbers. One or two minutes is more than adequate to get the maximum benefit from the bleach. You can't help out the internal seed germplasm, but it does help by reducing pathogens carried on the outer seed coat.

One ounce of bleach in that much water shouldn't have an adverse effect on the seeds. But the benefits from bleach are achieved in the first few moments. I'd recommend that with all other things the same, the time in the bleach should be reduced to no more than 5 minutes.

Other than that, nicely done.

[Rajun Gardener]

I wanted to give an update on the germ test. I finally did a new germination test after the 1st one failed because I set them in the car and forgot about them. I had a used mushroom tray with a little water in it and then I set it in a ziplock to keep the moisture in. It got too hot, hot enough to melt the plastic container.

For the new test I wrapped them in a paper towel stuffed in a ziplock. It took 8 days to sprout outside in the shade. 6 of 7 sprouted and I'm sure the other will too.

[brengolio]

Rajun
It's called SSS

Speed seed saving

I've never heard of doing it that way
But I like the time saving

It will make my wife happier to not having seeds fermenting on the kitchen counter

Will this work with other seeds
Like cucumbers?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

[Rajun Gardener]

I don't know about cuks but it's worth a try, just remember to let the cuks turn yellow before saving them.

[Cole_Robbie]

I use Oxy Clean instead of bleach, but the method is similar. Here's the link to the method: http://settfest.feldoncentral.com/2009/01/saving-seeds/

[Gardeneer]

That is a real fast way.
By fermentation it takes me about 5 days. That is okay if you are dealing with small number of varieties but if trying to process TENS, it could be a real job.