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Location

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Centennial Colorado

Hi all,
I am about a day away from harvesting my largest tomato and have no idea how to harvest seeds. I would appreciate the help.

8/3/2020 11:03:46 AM

Lebanon, Oregon

There are many ways. Let it age until it’s almost rotting. I cut mine into thick slices and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Sometimes it may take a while depending on how many and how they are arranged. The seeds and their gel coatings soak in an Oxyclean/warm water mix in a large bowl to dissolve the gel coating. After several hours rinse well using a colander. I’ll press and scrape seeds and tomato parts in the colander using a rubber spatula pressing out as much tomato parts that I can. I gather them up with the spatula in a big ball and press with paper towels to get much of the moisture out. Then spread out on a plate to dry.

8/3/2020 1:11:51 PM

Aurora, Il

I second the OxyClean. I just use cool water soaking 1 hour, clean them pressing with a rubber spatula against my fine mesh strainer under running water to remove that slippery membrane, lay on paper towels 1 hour and transfer to an old cooling racks lined with parchment paper moving them off the damp paper towels. I have forgotten and left them for several weeks, but maybe it is better to have the extra time to dry.

8/3/2020 2:27:41 PM

Omaha, Nebraska

I've done the fermenting thing, which works: scoop all the seeds and gel out, put it in a covered container, and let it all ferment for a week until it stinks, then pick out and wash and dry the seeds. A friend said he just picks the seeds out, no effort to remove the gel, sticks them to a paper towel, and lets them dry. So I tried that last year and I've seen no difference in germination results -- I wonder if all the extra work really matters. (Sorry to hijack the thread.)

8/3/2020 3:41:55 PM

Eastern Shore of VA

I concur with Rebel.
I’ve been using Oxyclean on all my seeds for several years now.
Pumpkins and melons too.

8/3/2020 8:18:57 PM

Eastern Shore of VA

And Biddy goat.

8/3/2020 8:19:29 PM

Aurora, Il

I take seeds off the paper towels because the first go around made the dried seeds stick together. The paper was a pain to pull off. The parchment did not stick. I had a big roll and thought of it as a way to use some of it up.

8/3/2020 9:30:06 PM