Tomato seeds - your tips for drying them please

[Paulines7]

I am going to save tomato seeds this year but am not sure how best to dry them out etc. 

As a trial, I put some on kitchen roll but they seem to stick to it and are difficult to get off.

How do you all dry yours please?  Would I be better to use saucers to dry them on?

Your help on this matter is much appreciated. 

[Paulines7]

[Duke Ellington]

Hi Pauline

I was reading an old gardening magazine where they suggest drying the seeds on kitchen roll~then storing it on the kitchen roll in an air tight container.
When you sow the seeds you cut the seed away from the others on the kitchen roll and sow the seed with the paper still attached.

I hope this makes sense. I will try to scan the article for you later. I must add that I haven't tried this method yet!!

Duke :)

[Stevens706]

There are 2 ways of drying tomato seeds one is to ferment them in water (just search on the site for details) then dry them on kitchen roll, they won't stick now.
The other way is as you have done but don't worry about them sticking to the paper all you do is cut them out and sow with the paper and all.

[shirlton]

We ferment ours and have never failed. We then put them on kitchen roll and they just flick off when dry

[Paulines7]

Thanks for all your advice. 

I did a search for tomato seeds prior to adding this new post but nothing seemed to refer to drying seeds.  However, I have now searched under fermenting tomato seeds and see that there is a very recent post on this subject that is very helpful too.  I don't know how I missed it originally but then August was a particularly busy month for me.  This is probably the one that Stevens706 is referring to.
http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,62298.0.html

So here goes then.  I will give the fermentation method a go and see how I get on.  I will leave the Tiny Tim on their kitchen roll and sow them on that next year.

Thanks again everyone.   ;)

[cleo]

Another ferment/kitchen paper saver here.   You do not need to put them in an airtight container once dry,I use those bags for change you get from a bank and they store just fine

[Toadspawn]

I dried the seed on kitchen roll and then stored the whole lot because the seeds were stuck to it. In the spring I put the kitchen roll with attached seeds on the surface of a pot of compost, covered lightly with vermiculite, watered and put in a frame inside the GH. Very good germination and I could prick out the seedlings I wanted because the kitchen roll had decomposed.

[Jayb]

Another ferment addict here, but I dry mine on squares of printer type paper before storing in zippy bags.

[Deb P]

I'm also a 'three day fermenter', but I also spend a bit more time washing the seeds really well in a fine metal sieve before putting on the kitchen paper to dry. I have found if you do this and rub the seeds gently against the sieve under running water it removes almost all of the jelly like gel off and then they do not stick to the kitchen paper and are easy to get off. ;D Mine are then put in little plastic double sealed bags and stored with silica gel packets in my little filing cabinet...... ;D ;D

[Paulines7]

Thanks again everyone.

[SueK]

Does anyone go to the trouble of drying them further once they have dried out on the kitchen paper (or not)?  The Realseed web site mentions this http://www.realseeds.co.uk/Drying.html. I did this with mine last year with no ill effects, but I have the nagging feeling that it's not *really* necessary for tiddlers like tomato seeds.

What do we think?

Best regards,
Sue

[slyfox-mal]

this is the way i dry mine no three day  fermenting here just some oxyclene or similar product  one hour soak and dry on a plate over night look at this link and  follow it through works great
http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Diary/DiaryViewOne.asp?eid=142533