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Post by blueadzuki on Aug 14, 2018 21:45:45 GMT -5
For my own use on small lots of seeds, I love extracting tomato seeds with a blender. It's quick and easy. My blender tends to damage about 40% of the seeds so I can't do it for seeds that I sell, but for my own use and for gifted seeds it works well. I never had that happen. Different blender I guess. Different speed. Different blade sharpness. Might be good for people trying a blender for the first time to try on expendable seeds first.
The tape on the blades idea sounds good if your blender does eat seeds.
If the tomato is soft and squishy, you can sometimes get around the seed loss by using the "beater" blade a lot of blenders/food processors have (the plastic one you use for mixing as opposed to chopping). One thing though the beater wont dice up the skin, so you have to be careful to check it for stuck seed if you want to get all of them (or peel/scald off the skin before you start) I usually give tomatoes about a week in fermentation before trying to rinse them, as opposed to the month some people here are suggesting but then again I am usually only putting one tomato per contained. If you are doing a mass save maybe you need a month to get through that much. |
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Aug 14, 2018 22:16:44 GMT -5
I usually give tomatoes about a week in fermentation before trying to rinse them, as opposed to the month some people here are suggesting They might ferment a month at my place, because I put them in an out of the way place so that I don't have to smell them. Then, since they are of of the way, and I am not smelling them, they just sit there, until one day I think, "Rats! I forgot all about the tomato seeds. I guess that I'd better do something with them." And even then, while going to the out-of-the-way-place, there are so many things to distract me from actually arriving at my destination, that they might sit there and ferment for another few days or weeks. I haven't noticed degradation in germination with long fermentation, so I don't worry about handling them in a timely manner. If I were really on the ball, I'd aim for a week. |
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Post by richardw on Aug 15, 2018 0:47:05 GMT -5
When you think that tomato seeds can travel all the way through a city sewer system, end up in the solids at the treatment plants and still germinate when the solids are dumped, so no surprise it can be fermented for a long period.
I normally do about three-four days till it has a black mound layer on top.
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Post by walt on Aug 15, 2018 13:47:14 GMT -5
When you think that tomato seeds can travel all the way through a city sewer system, end up in the solids at the treatment plants and still germinate when the solids are dumped, so no surprise it can be fermented for a long period. I normally do about three-four days till it has a black mound layer on top. And before going through the city sewer, I think they have gone through a human gut. Tomato seeds are tough. Some species of tomato are spread by being eaten by turtles. The seeds come out of the turtle with the seed coat softened and a bit of fertilizer. I got that information from Dr. Rick, who recommended soaking tomato seeds in 50% Chlorox, or the cheaper generic brands of laundry bleach. He recommended it especially for wild species, but said that old domestic tomato seeds with poor germination, germinated better if their seed coats were softened with the Clorox treatment. |
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Post by steev on Aug 15, 2018 21:15:04 GMT -5
Guess if I get a turtle, I'll name it "Clorox".
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Post by paquebot on Aug 24, 2018 0:37:08 GMT -5
Skip the blender, not needed. If it damages just one seed, that's one more than simple squeezing or spooning will do. Also nixes any further use of the tomato. Squeeze, ferment, rinse, and dry.
Fermenting isn't just to break down the gel, it's a mild disinfectant. There are other processes which skip it but employ bleach or similar to destroy pathogens. I do a lot of trading and want to make certain that my seeds are not a potential problem. I have, however, received sun-dried seeds from foreign sources but so far they haven't been a problem.
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Post by jocelyn on Aug 25, 2018 6:25:28 GMT -5
Well, for someone who has been saving tomatoe seeds for my own use for years, here's my 2 cents worth.
I should add that I save about 12 seeds, grin. Squeeze a tomatoe that was cut crosswise. Save the gunk on a peanut butter jar lid.
Wait till planting time, and flick each seed loose with a pocket knife. Germination, about 100 percent.
This actually means they are easy to grow, grin, and grown inspite of us, not because of us........
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