Seed saving pics - add yours :)

[Kelly]

I'm curious about that ajax method, but to be perfectly frank, I find it a little off-putting. I know it's several steps away from the seeds actually being food, but putting a harsh chemical on something that will be food.... I don't know. It makes it seem kind of pointless for me to grow organic tomatoes, and then put cleaner on the seed. Maybe my logic is just flawed .

Plus I kind of like fermenting, does everything for you, and if you don't mind the smell (or have another room the seeds can ferment in with low traffic), and don't mind waiting a few days, well, it just seems easiest to me.

[Jim]

to each his/her own. I have little free time with 2 kids under 2yo and I find the cleaner method better suits my needs. I also do not grow organic. I think it would be quite a stretch to worry about what cleaner was used on the seeds. I'd be more concerned about the crap in your laundry soap or fabric softener that touches your skin directly or the chemicals leeching out of plastic food containers...just my 2 cents.

[mnjrutherford]

I did the fermenting this year as well. It wasn't the aroma that I found offensive but the hoardes of fruit flys. On the other hand, the chemical method seems.... I dunno, can't really think of a good word for it. Harsh maybe? I would think that it's possible that some important component to the seed could be degraded. On the other hand, that could just be the spirit of worry wart in me.

I have to say that I really like learning all the various methods. I intend to try the bleach method next year. Perhaps modify it slightly for my own mental state... maybe a small portion of bleach in the fermenting liquid? Has anyone tried that?

[ottawagardener]

Thanks Dan (nice picture by the way!): I've seen this before at WS but forgot about it.

Keep the info coming!

[Kelly]

Sept 26, 2009 11:54:34 GMT -5 mnjrutherford said:

I did the fermenting this year as well. It wasn't the aroma that I found offensive but the hoardes of fruit flys.

That's one thing I've always been lucky with - never gotten fruit flies from fermenting!

Speaking of which, I'm off to check on some mouldy looking containers .

[ottawagardener]

This is interesting as we have lots of fruit flies in the house thanks to our composting habit but none near the tomato seeds which are in a different part of the house but that doesn't usually fool them.

[Jim]

I hate the fruit flies...

[bunkie]

we have some fruit flies and i have several little traps set out for them ... ;D

i totally agree with you kelly on using the cleaner. if it is a faster way to do the seeds, then maybe some equivalent of a powdery substance could be used other than a chemical one, maybe? we have no chemical cleaners here...maybe baking soda? same texture...

[Kelly]

That's and interesting thought bunkie - I wonder if it's the texture or the actual chemical that's doing the job? Perhaps we need to call in the Mythbusters?

[ottawagardener]

It's for removing diseases from the tomato as well as cleaning up the seed right? I'm just talking without thinking much here but I wonder if vinegar and baking soda fizzing away would clean the seeds while killing off some organisms? Or would it be harmful or... anyone know?

[mnjrutherford]

So Jim, when you use Ajax, are you talking liquid bleach or cleanser powder? I can see bleach, but I imagine that the powder could damage the outer coat. However, would scaring the outer coat really be a bad thing?

This is really a fascinating train of consideration. I've always had the notion that you could take a whole fruit, toss it somewhere on the dirt, and it would eventually grow. I've "assumed" that the rotting flesh would prepare the seed in the best possible fashion, then in the appropriate time and season the seed would sprout and grow.

[silverseeds]

I personally wouldnt consider do any unatural methods. As a seed saver I would be concerned that I could change the way the seeds relate to being prepaed or cleaned. Fermentation evolved with the seeds, coupled with 3 days in a freezer does everything other methods do, and I KNOW I wont possibly block natural immunities, and responces of the seeds.

Im not positive cleaning them as a few of you do WOULd do anything over decades, bu I would be affraid to find out the hard way.

[ottawagardener]

MNJ: It does work this way as tomatoes volunteer year after year even if you don't intend it as it is hard (for me at least) to find every last rotted or dropped tomato. However, people complain that volunteers harbour disease and this far north, it does produce a disadvantage to the length of harvest. That's not to say that I haven't let some volunteers grow out with minimal to no disease (I have no serious tomato diseases in my garden) and early fruiting. The smaller fruits seem to work better this way.

I remember Alan telling us about his intentionally wild currant tomato patch. Perhaps he'd elaborate again especially when it comes to observations about disease.

[mnjrutherford]

Now see, didn't I say this was fascinating? Zac, I have to say that in my mind, freezing the poor seed is just as "unnatural" as bleach or scouring powder. Particularly when you consider that it's done to "mimic" nature.

Telsing, in Calfornia a good 20% of our tomatoes were volunteers and nary a problem with them. I never even knew they could harbor disease! YIKES. My poor tomatoes here have never once yielded a volunteer. However, this year there is a "surprise" tomato. It's growing just under my front porch and a good 300' from the tomato patch?!?! How the heck? I'm going to try cutting a few of the new healthy shoots that are coming out and stick them around the porch in pots. Maybe I'll get a few fall maters?

I never imagined in a million years that
a. I'd be saving seeds let alone enough to share
b. That I'd be so astounded at the volumes of knowledge that people have acquired regarding a subject I had imagined was so straight forward
or
c. That I would begin to crave more discussion on the matter as though I was starving for it.

Wow...

[silverseeds]

mjc I wouldnt call just as unatural, but I do see your point. Ive actually often thought about how I could create a reseeding garden. Now Im seeing the potential of perennials.