Vegetable Gardens » Seed Saving

Tomato Seed Saving

Lesley — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:30:56 +0000

Saving tomato seeds is a fairly simple process. Every tomato seed is covered in a gelatinous sack which contains chemicals that inhibit seed germination. This prevents the seeds from sprouting whilst inside the tomato fruit. In nature the fruit drops from the plant and slowly rots away on the ground. This is the natural fermentation process and it is during this that the gelatinous sacks are destroyed. To save tomato seeds yourself you need to duplicate the fermentation process. This will not only remove the gelatinous sack but also kills any seed borne tomato diseases.

Firstly cut the tomato fruits across the middle and then squeeze the tomato seeds and the gel into a container, making sure that you label the container with the tomato variety. The container of tomato seeds then needs to be put to one side to ferment for about three days. During this time the container of seeds will smell horrible and will go mouldy. When the mould has covered the top of the container add water and stir the mixture. The good seeds will sink to the bottom of the container and the mould and hollow seeds can then be poured off. Add more water and continue the progress until only clean seeds remain. You can also put the mould and seeds into a sieve and wash under running water until just the clean seeds remain.

Next spread out the seeds on a glass or ceramic plate to dry, which can take about 12 days, making sure that you label the plate with the tomato variety. The dried seeds can then be put into a labelled envelope. Saved seeds should store for 5 – 10 years if kept in the right conditions.

Asparagus Seed Saving

Lesley — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:37:25 +0000

The asparagus plant is dioecious meaning that it produces both male and female flowers on separate plants. Each flower has two sets of sexual organs with one set aborting as the flower matures. This leaves either all male or all female flowers on a plant. Asparagus relies on insects for pollination.

If you are going to save asparagus seeds you will need two miles separating different varieties as they easily cross pollinate. Day caging is a method for growing outbreeding varieties that normally cross pollinate when grown close together. This works for different varieties grown in the same garden or on the same allotment site. When the asparagus starts flowering place a cage over each variety. In the mornings remove one cage to allow insect pollination, replacing the cage at night. Repeat this process in rotation between all the cages and the varieties until the flowering ends.

When growing asparagus for seeds choose the best looking female plants with at least one male plant close by. The male flowers are bell shaped and greenish with the female flowers much smaller. The female flowers produce reddish berries which contain six seeds. You will need to protect the berries from the birds who find them tasty.

The ripe berries need to be collected from the plants before they fall to the ground. The berries then need to be rubbed over a screen to release the six seeds, which then need to be washed in several changes of water. Leave the seeds to dry completely for several days and store the dry seeds in a marked envelope for up to five years.