Saving tomato/chilli seeds

[Hyacinth]

I've never saved seeds of tomato or chilli, so what's the best way to harvest them that will guarantee germination next season, please?

My chillies are Apache, which I harvest while they're still green. Will the seeds be mature enough to save, I wonder?

Thanks all, Lishka

[Hyacinth]

[Hyacinth]

Thanks ever such a lot, Mega - I'll go with the 1st method and do them tomorrow.  :) Lishka

[tim]

just to clarify - how ripe do they have to be?


And could you do one that has been in the freezer? - Tim

[gavin]

Hi there - it'd be interesting to hear how you get on.

"Off" topic I know, but years ago one of the lads on our site got a bit lost on a walk, and ended up down by Knostrop sewage works - it takes all Leeds sewage.

Apparently, far from having an unsavoury smell, there was something VERY recognisable - the smell of tomatoes; banks upon banks of them, all around the filtration ponds.  It seems they pass through all the various passages, bodily and council, get picked up by birds, and dropped around the sewage ponds ------- and grow!

No - he did NOT bring back any produce to back up his story, and I haven't chosen to go down and check it out!

But it suggests they may be fairly resilient?

All best - Gavin

[john_miller]

Tim:- Given that my field crops generally produce progeny the following year in their spot then I would give you an almost cast iron guarantee that seeds from a frozen tomato will germinate. As I mentioned a back in winter we can temperatures as low as -25c here for prolonged periods.
Alishka:-The way I save tomato seeds is to use the 'put in water' method. seperate them from as much of  the pulp as you can  first though. You will only have to wait 1-2 hours and certainly don't leave them 2-3 days as germination will take place in that time. The advantage of this method is that viable seeds sink while dead ones float so that you can readily see if you have used ripe enough tomatoes.

[tim]

thanks, John.  And I like the floater bit! - Tim

[Hyacinth]

Me too! Now what about chillies, I wonder? Easy to save from green fruits? - Lishka

[Mrs Ava]

In case any of you are interested, I am saving 'chocolate cherry' chilli seeds.  Fab chillis, dark brown/burgandy in colour, and anywhere from cherry size up to golf ball size.  Not blow you head off hot, but they have a certain punch that makes you go .... :Pphew :o[!  I am overwintering my plants this year for the first time, I usually grow them as annuals.  I am told that this will provide me with an earlier crop in early summer. ;D Let me know if you want some seeds.