Harvesting seeds from tomatoes

terrysimmonds06 · October 2020

Hi
this is all new to me, my question is i have grown some Buffalo tomatoes successfully this year and have just a couple that are’nt quite ripe, can i harvest seeds from these for next year? If so how, do i need to dry them ?

Dovefromabove · October 2020

Sorry ... the fruit needs to be properly ripe for the seed to be viable.

Fairygirl · October 2020

I did some recently - I followed the Gardener's World system.
Ripe tom [important] scoop out the seeds into a little glass of water, leave for about five days to acquire a mould which helps remove the gel round the seed, then wash in sieve to remove all of that, and dry on kitchen paper before storing.
I'm quite pleased with them, although I won't know how good they are till I sow them next year

terrysimmonds06 · October 2020

Thank you for your comments I do have one ripe tomatoe in the fridge I can use

Dovefromabove · October 2020

I would take it out of the fridge, place it on newspaper somewhere light and warm and let it get even riper/softer. My mother told me that my grandfather used to keep the chosen tomato on blotting paper on a shelf in the greenhouse until it had started decomposing before he took the seeds.

Fairygirl · October 2020

I kept it in the kitchen to warm up and ripen more, as @Dovefromabove says. It's a shop bought tom my daughter likes, so I thought I'd give it a go.
Good luck with it @terrysimmonds06 - it's worth having a go.

Plashing · October 2020

I have also saved seeds from tomatoes and peppers,I often find the germinate better than the seeds bought from seed companies.

Lyn · October 2020

I always buy a pepper from the SM in the Spring, those banana shaped ones, take the seeds straight out and on the compost.
same with tomatoes although they don’t always come true.

If you accidentally put a tomato in your compost bin, you’ll get more plants around the garden than you’ll need.

Plashing · October 2020

I couldn't agree more I have saved seeds from the banana shaped ones and the bell pepper ones I find that you get a better yield from the banana shaped ones than the bell pepper ones.

Blue Onion · October 2020

I just squeeze the overly ripe tomato over a paper towel and use my fingers to spread the seeds and goo around. I let it dry then cut up the towel into four or five seed pieces.. and save them like that. They germinate just fine and the towel doesn't seem to brother them. The one time I tried it the tomatoes didn't taste the same as the original, so I assume the shop one was an F1 or something.

My two favorites, Sun gold and Sun sugar, as both F1 as well.. so I stick with shop seeds for tomatoes.

I did save some watermelon seeds this summer from a friends ‘volunteer' watermelon.. my hope is that it will do better than any of the multiple varieties I've tried from seed or GC plants.

Fairygirl · October 2020

That sounds easier @Blue Onion. I might try that with the Sungolds, even if they aren't going to be 'true' as I only have a few of the bought seeds left.

Harvesting seeds from tomatoes

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