Seeds from shop bought toms

[21again]

Can anyone tell me how long they leave their seeds from shop bought tomatoes to dry out before germinating them please?

I know some say not to grow from shop bought fruit and veg but Lidl have some baby plum toms on offer at the minute which are quite nice.

[Flummery]

I dry mine in the autumn and plant in the spring but if I wanted to do it straight away I would make sure they were dried out well. In fact, I'd probably put them in some water and leave for 3 or 4 days so they ferment and go a bit off. This destroys the gooey layer around the seed which inhibits germination. Then dry on a plate so they are easy to remove and separate. Let them dry for a couple more days and then try germinating them. If the baby plum is an F1 hybrid (sometimes you can google the name if they give it on the pack) then you won't get the same from your seeds. If it's not, then you will. Not that I've ever let an F1 hybrid stop me!

[21again]

I dry mine in the autumn and plant in the spring but if I wanted to do it straight away I would make sure they were dried out well. In fact, I'd probably put them in some water and leave for 3 or 4 days so they ferment and go a bit off. This destroys the gooey layer around the seed which inhibits germination. Then dry on a plate so they are easy to remove and separate. Let them dry for a couple more days and then try germinating them. If the baby plum is an F1 hybrid (sometimes you can google the name if they give it on the pack) then you won't get the same from your seeds. If it's not, then you will. Not that I've ever let an F1 hybrid stop me!

Thanks Flummery.
I have just found some details on the pack, it looks like they originate in Morocco and were imported from Spain. It says Baby Plum Tomatoes, 'Tomate Cerise' on the pack.

I have some seeds for Cerise cherry toms but these plum ones are a bit of an odd shape, very rectangular looking,

[Flummery]

Well, you've nowt to lose! I'd go for it!

[blackkitty]

I don't bother to dry them out, just squash the tomato and spread it around a bit and cover with compost. I've always had a good number of plants doing it this way. I haven't tried Lidl tomatoes though, mainly the sainsbury's organic plum which are really nice. I have noticed though that the home grown ones are always a lot bigger than the lovely little ones you buy, I don't know if its an F1 hybrid thing or just a growing method.

[mrdinkle]

I just spread some seeds on kitchen roll and let them dry out for about a week. I put 4 in a pot to test and all 4 came up.

I've previously tried supermarket peppers and melons this way and they came out ok!

[Digger Don]

In previous years I've dried out tom seeds on tissue and then carefully prised them off to store - tedious!
This year I spaced them out on tissue and when they were dried folded the tissue complete with seeds and put them away in an envelope.
At planting time I just cut the tissue to fit the seed tray, laid the tissue on compost , covered with some more compost and Hey Presto they almost all germinated and the tissue had just rotted away and disappeared by the time of transplanting.

[21again]

Well, I found a method used by SarzWix which I found on another thread and it is brilliant.

I squeezed the seeds onto a piece of kitchen roll, and dragged the seed along the paper with the tip of my finger, this dragged the seed away from the jelly like coating.

I put the piece of paper under the central heating boiler and they were ready to put in the seed envelope after a couple of hours.

Thanks SarzWix.

[21again]

Two out of three of the seeds from the golden baby plum shop bought toms have germinated.

I just hope that the red baby plums germinate as they were beautiful.

[magz.mccarthy]

On the real seeds website there are great instructions on saving seeds. This is the method that Flummery was talking about:

How To Save Seed

To collect the seed, allow your tomatoes to ripen fully. Then collect a few of each variety that you want to save seed from. Slice them in half across the middle of the fruit, and squeeze the seeds and juice into a jar. You then need to ferment this mixture for a few days - this removes the jelly-like coating on each seed, and also kills off many diseases that can be carried on the seeds. To do this put the jar of seeds and juice in a reasonably warm place for 3 days, stirring the mixture twice a day. It should develop a coating of mould, and start to smell really nasty!

After 3 days, add plenty of water to the jar, and stir well. The good seeds should sink to the bottom of the jar. Gently pour off the top layer of mould and any seeds that float. Then empty the good seeds into a sieve and wash them thoroughly under running water. Shake off as much water as possible, and tip the sieve out onto a china or glass plate (the seeds tend to stick to anything else). Dry somewhere warm but not too hot, and out of direct sunlight. Once they are completely dry, rub them off the plate and store in a cool dry place, where they should keep well for at least 4 years.

I did this with cherry tomatoes last year and out of 1 cherry tomato I have around 40 seedlings this year!

Margaret

[Suky]

I had a very squishy pomodorino (posh for baby plum) tomato from sainsburys. scraped seed into sieve, rinsed & sowed. Every bliddy one has germinated and I have about 40 an inch high.

[Kath]

I took some seeds from an Asda tomato last week and dried it on kitchen roll. I have torn a piece off with 4 seeds on and planted them .We shall see what happens. I daren't try any more as I already have more plants than I can keep!

[Tierce]

I always have to weed out loads of tomato seedlings that have grown from the compost I dig into the beds.....

[Florence Fennel]

I always have to weed out loads of tomato seedlings that have grown from the compost I dig into the beds.....

I filled the bean trench with my own compost last year and had to weed out the tomato seeds (hundreds of them). I left a few in to grow on and they all fruited!

[Flummery]

I got my F2 sungolds from the greenhouse border last year. I'd only grown sungold on that side so I knew what they were!