Saving Heirloom Tomato Seeds
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Transcript of Saving Heirloom Tomato Seeds
SAVING HEIRLOOM TOMATO SEEDS
Want to have a continuous supply of heirloom tomatoes at home? Well, you can
do so simply by saving heirloom tomato seeds from your
harvests!
Learn how to preserve and store your heirloom tomato seeds now by following the
instructions in this presentation.
GUIDELINES FOR SELECTINGTHE RIGHT TOMATOES
Before you can start saving your heirloom tomato seeds, you need to pick the right tomatoes first. When selecting your tomatoes, choose:
1. Open-Pollinated Tomatoes They're natural and pesticide-free.
2. Fully Ripe Tomatoes They contain more seeds.
3. Your Freshest & Best-Tasting Tomatoes This way, the seeds you save will also grow like them.
After selecting your tomatoes, you can now proceed to saving heirloom tomato seeds for
long-term storage.Here are the 10 Easy Steps:
STEP 1. PREPARE THE TOMATOES
Prepare open-pollinated, ripe and great-tasting tomatoes as previously mentioned. They are perfect for saving heirloom tomato seeds.
STEP 2. SLICE THE TOMATOESACROSS THE EQUATOR
Always slice in this method so that the seeds will easily show.
STEP 3. SCRAPE THE TOMATO SEEDS INTO A GLASS JAR
Take out the seeds and the gel and put them into a glass jar. Don’t worry about separating them yet.
Label the jars so you won’t confuse the different varieties you have.
STEP 4. IMMERSE THE SEEDSAND GEL IN WATER
Now submerge them in water that's about one inch deep. This encourages mold growth that will separate the seeds from the gel.
STEP 5. WAIT FOR MOLD GROWTH
This usually happens within 3-5 days. White mold will appear on the surface of the tomato solution and it helps get rid of the gel layer on the heirloom seeds.
STEP 6. DRAIN THE WATERAND THE FLOATING SEEDS
Once the mold appears, go ahead and drain the water and the floating seeds. Just be careful not to include the sunken seeds because they’re the good ones.
STEP 7. CLEAN THE SEEDS
Put the remaining seeds in a mesh strainer and rinse them under running water to remove the gel. They don’t have to be perfectly clean, so no need to press hard on them.
STEP 8. DRY THE SEEDS
Spread the seeds on a paper plate and wait for them to dry.
Once they’re dry enough, they will easily come off the plate and then you can finally store them.
STEP 9. STORE THE SEEDSIN GLASS JARS
The most recommended storage method is putting the seeds in ziplock bags and then keeping them inside tightly-sealed glass jars. This prevents moisture from affecting the seeds.
Sunlight and heat are also very bad for the seeds, so the best area to keep them is in the fridge.
STEP 10. ORGANIZE YOUR HEIRLOOM SEED COLLECTION
Lastly, organize your seeds by labeling them properly. Write down the seed variety, storage date and other pertinent information.
It's also good to store together the seeds that were harvested during the same season since they’ll most likely have the same shelf life.
So those are the 10 easy steps to saving heirloom tomato seeds properly. Just
follow the directions and you’ll have a valuable tomato seed collection in no time!