We had a very nice tomato from which I kept all the seeds.

After much rinsing I placed them between sheets of paper towelling. When
they were dry I tried to remove them but some (quite a few) have bits of
the paper stuck on.

I wonder if there are any chemicals on the paper that would affect them -
if so is there a better way?

(There were so many I easily can afford to throw away the papery ones but
it would be good to know.)

Judith in England wrote:

I wonder if there are any chemicals on the paper that would affect them -
if so is there a better way?

Here's how I do it:

Mix the tomato pulp 50-50 with water and put in a jar for a few (3 is
enough; more and some may sprout, depending on variety) days. Leave the
lit loose as they should ferment a bit. Tighten the lid and give a shake
whenever you think of it. Then, mix a bunch of water, shake, let settle,
decant the crud, repeat. When you've got clean seeds, pour into a fine
mesh sieve, put in a breezy place (I stand the sieve in one of those
plastic mesh milk crates and direct a small fan at it). They'll be dry in
a couple of days, and if you just rub the seeds between your hands to break
them apart, you'll have clean seed just like you buy. Takes more time to
describe than to do.


I've seen the machine they use commercially: German-made; think one of
those crank food mills on steroids. But they still ferment and wash.


--
Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/4 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

"Judith in England" wrote...

We had a very nice tomato from which I kept all the seeds.

After much rinsing I placed them between sheets of paper towelling. When
they were dry I tried to remove them but some (quite a few) have bits of
the paper stuck on.

I wonder if there are any chemicals on the paper that would affect them -
if so is there a better way?

(There were so many I easily can afford to throw away the papery ones but
it would be good to know.)


I've never had a problem using the paper towels to dry seeds, be they
Tomatoes or Epiphyllums.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

On 08/02/2015 21:11, Judith in England wrote:

We had a very nice tomato from which I kept all the seeds.

After much rinsing I placed them between sheets of paper towelling. When
they were dry I tried to remove them but some (quite a few) have bits of
the paper stuck on.

Wouldn't worry about it. Minor snag is that if your nice tomato was an
F1 hybrid they do not come true from seed.

I wonder if there are any chemicals on the paper that would affect them -
if so is there a better way?

(There were so many I easily can afford to throw away the papery ones but
it would be good to know.)

Won't make a blind bit of difference - the soggy paper might make them a
little more inclined to rot OTOH the antifungals in the paper might
help. Many seeds are packed with a fungal inhibitor and in the old days
some of them with very nasty mercury based ones that meant you really
had to handle the seeds with care when unpacking. The plant seeds were
fine with the heavy metal antifungal poison but humans are not.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On Sun, 8 Feb 2015 21:11:58 +0000 (UTC), Judith in England
wrote:

We had a very nice tomato from which I kept all the seeds.

After much rinsing I placed them between sheets of paper towelling. When
they were dry I tried to remove them but some (quite a few) have bits of
the paper stuck on.

I wonder if there are any chemicals on the paper that would affect them -
if so is there a better way?

(There were so many I easily can afford to throw away the papery ones but
it would be good to know.)

I always save tomato seed by spreading them directly onto kitchen
paper straight from the fruit. I spread them out, leave to dry, then
when ready to sow I cut or tear the paper towel around the seed and
plant the whole thing. I've never had a problem.

On 21/02/2015 09:24, Pam Moore wrote:
On Sun, 8 Feb 2015 21:11:58 +0000 (UTC), Judith in England
wrote:

We had a very nice tomato from which I kept all the seeds.

After much rinsing I placed them between sheets of paper towelling. When
they were dry I tried to remove them but some (quite a few) have bits of
the paper stuck on.

I wonder if there are any chemicals on the paper that would affect them -
if so is there a better way?

(There were so many I easily can afford to throw away the papery ones but
it would be good to know.)

I always save tomato seed by spreading them directly onto kitchen
paper straight from the fruit. I spread them out, leave to dry, then
when ready to sow I cut or tear the paper towel around the seed and
plant the whole thing. I've never had a problem.


and the kitchen towel holds a lot of water right where it's needed. I
often germinate seeds between two sheets, with some bubble wrap over the
top. I can then transfer the whole thing to a seed tray or whatever. IME
seedlings don't take kindly to being separated from the paper though

I use an old glass mug with tepid water and 1/4 teaspoon washing soda. Leave for about 3 days stirring occasionally. l tip into a small sieve and rinse thoroughly. Leave to dry. They separate easily between the fingers. Store them as you wish.

"Bob Hobden" wrote in message ...

"Judith in England" wrote...

We had a very nice tomato from which I kept all the seeds.

After much rinsing I placed them between sheets of paper towelling. When
they were dry I tried to remove them but some (quite a few) have bits of
the paper stuck on.

I wonder if there are any chemicals on the paper that would affect them -
if so is there a better way?

(There were so many I easily can afford to throw away the papery ones but
it would be good to know.)


I've never had a problem using the paper towels to dry seeds, be they
Tomatoes or Epiphyllums.

I saved some chilli seeds over from 2014 but they failed to germinate.

Perhaps I should have waited for the chillies to dry, before removing seed?

I've grown chilli and sweet peppers from supermarket bought peppers. l just cut open the fruit and planted the seeds. both types have germinated within a few days. Had reasonable crops from both.. Thinking about it, l have never had any fail. l must admit though, that l am not a great pepper fan

"Bigal" wrote in message ...

Bertie Doe;1012466 Wrote:

I saved some chilli seeds over from 2014 but they failed to germinate.

Perhaps I should have waited for the chillies to dry, before removing
seed?

I've grown chilli and sweet peppers from supermarket bought peppers. l
just cut open the fruit and planted the seeds. both types have
germinated within a few days. Had reasonable crops from both..
Thinking about it, l have never had any fail. l must admit though, that
l am not a great pepper fan

Thanks Bigal