Seed Saving Question.

PaulTandberg · August 16, 2019

Tasmanian Chocolate has made such an impression on me I am thinking about saving seed from one of my plants.

(both plants are good, but one has more and larger fruit than the other. I strongly suspect this is because the "nicer" one was grown in the dirt rather than in a large (five-gallon) container. But, I am thinking of saving seed just for the fun of it from the "nicer" one)

My question: Do tomatoes cross pollinate readily? Or do they self-pollinate?

The Tasmanian I am thinking of saving seed from was not grown in isolation. Next to it are a Big Beef, a Jersey Boy, and a Chef's Orange. (and in the yard, several other varieties).

I suppose the plan will be:

1) plant some saved seed just to see what happens

2) order fresh Taz Chocolate seed from a reliable source to be sure I get what I want.

I'm just curious about the ins and outs of seed saving.

And if isolation is needed, how much? (quarter mile? more? bees do fly).

How is this seed saving business (by non-pros) done?

Thanks

rxkeith · August 16, 2019

paul,

save seeds.

tomatoes tend to self pollinate 90 to 95 percent of the time. some varieties like currant
tomatoes are more prone to cross pollination due to the stigma protruding past the anthers. you can bag a truss if you like. people have made little draw string bags using tule i think its called or bridal veil.

i have been saving seeds for several years now with very few cross pollination issues,
noted exception being my anna russian that gave me a cherry tomato that i am growing
out, and seeing what develops. i have also had medovaya kaplya give me regular leaf
plants instead of potato leaf. other than that ,most of the time, self saved seeds give me
the same tomato the next year. my neighbor down the road has bee hives. its the bumble bees i tend to see on tomato blossoms.

keith

TC_Manhattan · August 16, 2019

You don't have to separate the plants by distance.

You can bag the blossoms before they fully open.

Seed Savers Exchange sells these expressly for the purpose you outline:

https://www.seedsavers.org/blossom-bags

I believe others here know of alternates you can purchase from craft shops or Walmart that would function similarly.

Here is a tutorial on how to use them:

https://showmeoz.files.wordpress.com...ossom-bags.pdf

Easy, peasy!

**Lee** · August 16, 2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaulTandberg

Tasmanian Chocolate has made such an impression on me I am thinking about saving seed from one of my plants.

My question: Do tomatoes cross pollinate readily? Or do they self-pollinate?

Tomatoes self-pollinate. Pollinators will visit tomato flowers, and could transfer pollen from one variety to another, but the probability of that is correlated to the amount of pollinators you have and the variety's flower shape.

More simply put, if you have observed no pollinators in your tomato garden, crossing % will be 0.

Quote:

I'm just curious about the ins and outs of seed saving.

And if isolation is needed, how much? (quarter mile? more? bees do fly).

How is this seed saving business (by non-pros) done?

Thanks

No pollinators = no isolation needed.
IF you have pollinators, try to save seed from fruit that developed when they were less active. (For me, this is early in the season.)

For your specific case, save all the seed you want from either plant. Tasmanian Chocolate is a dwarf and that trait is recessive.
If you do end up having a cross, you can cull those seeds within a couple of weeks of germination as the difference in dwarf vs non-dwarf is obvious early on.

Good luck!

Lee

ContainerTed · August 16, 2019

There's a document I put together with detailed pictures on fermentation for saving tomato seeds. Take a look at Tatianna's Tomatobase "A Beginners Guide To Saving Tomato Seeds Using Fermentation"

Here's a link to that document. I think it will answer a lot of your questions, but I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Cole_Robbie · August 16, 2019

Lee beat me to it, but to repeat what he said it is super easy to tell if the seeds crossed by sprouting some of them. Dwarf seedlings look very obviously like dwarfs.

PaulTandberg · August 16, 2019

Thank you, all of you!

August 16, 2019	#1
PaulTandberg Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2018 Location: North Dakota Posts: 77	Seed Saving Question. Tasmanian Chocolate has made such an impression on me I am thinking about saving seed from one of my plants. (both plants are good, but one has more and larger fruit than the other. I strongly suspect this is because the "nicer" one was grown in the dirt rather than in a large (five-gallon) container. But, I am thinking of saving seed just for the fun of it from the "nicer" one) My question: Do tomatoes cross pollinate readily? Or do they self-pollinate? The Tasmanian I am thinking of saving seed from was not grown in isolation. Next to it are a Big Beef, a Jersey Boy, and a Chef's Orange. (and in the yard, several other varieties). I suppose the plan will be: 1) plant some saved seed just to see what happens 2) order fresh Taz Chocolate seed from a reliable source to be sure I get what I want. I'm just curious about the ins and outs of seed saving. And if isolation is needed, how much? (quarter mile? more? bees do fly). How is this seed saving business (by non-pros) done? Thanks

August 16, 2019	#2
rxkeith Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Back in da U.P. Posts: 1,848	paul, save seeds. tomatoes tend to self pollinate 90 to 95 percent of the time. some varieties like currant tomatoes are more prone to cross pollination due to the stigma protruding past the anthers. you can bag a truss if you like. people have made little draw string bags using tule i think its called or bridal veil. i have been saving seeds for several years now with very few cross pollination issues, noted exception being my anna russian that gave me a cherry tomato that i am growing out, and seeing what develops. i have also had medovaya kaplya give me regular leaf plants instead of potato leaf. other than that ,most of the time, self saved seeds give me the same tomato the next year. my neighbor down the road has bee hives. its the bumble bees i tend to see on tomato blossoms. keith __________________ don't abort. we'll adopt.

August 16, 2019	#5
ContainerTed Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: 6a - NE Tennessee Posts: 4,538	There's a document I put together with detailed pictures on fermentation for saving tomato seeds. Take a look at Tatianna's Tomatobase "A Beginners Guide To Saving Tomato Seeds Using Fermentation" Here's a link to that document. I think it will answer a lot of your questions, but I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have. __________________ Ted ________________________ Owner & Sole Operator Of The Muddy Bucket Farm and Tomato Ranch

August 16, 2019	#3
TC_Manhattan Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Ohio Posts: 457	You don't have to separate the plants by distance. You can bag the blossoms before they fully open. Seed Savers Exchange sells these expressly for the purpose you outline: https://www.seedsavers.org/blossom-bags I believe others here know of alternates you can purchase from craft shops or Walmart that would function similarly. Here is a tutorial on how to use them: https://showmeoz.files.wordpress.com...ossom-bags.pdf Easy, peasy!

August 16, 2019	#6
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	Lee beat me to it, but to repeat what he said it is super easy to tell if the seeds crossed by sprouting some of them. Dwarf seedlings look very obviously like dwarfs.