Tomato seed saving methods

I've only saved tomato seeds using the fermentation method, but I just finished watching this guy on youtube, who just squeezes the seeds out onto a paper towel and lets them dry. It seems a lot less messy and stinky than the fermentation method, but I wonder if the seeds end up being just as viable. Anyone out there use the paper towel method? I'd love to hear about it if you do. Here's the paper towel guy in case you'd like to take a look.

It most def looks like it's worth a try.  What he said about the paper towel staying moist around the seed makes perfect sense too.  I guess I'm going to have to get some indeterminate heirloom plants in march so I can save the seeds. 
I have determinate "heatwave" and "celebrity" plants now.  Not trying to highjack your thread or anything, but there isn't any sense in me saving those seeds are there?  I was told they won't produce well if at all.  Is that true?

HG, I just squeeze the tomato seeds in a shallow glass dish or on parchment paper. I've never tried the fermentation method.

Brian, Correct, you don't need to save seeds as both of those varieties are hybrids and won't throw seeds true to the mother plant.

sanderson wrote:HG,  I just squeeze the tomato seeds in a shallow glass dish or on parchment paper.  I've never tried the fermentation method.

Brian, Correct, you don't need to save seeds as both of those varieties are hybrids and won't throw seeds true to the mother plant.  

Gee, this is news to me! I always thought the purpose of the fermentation process was to remove the coating around the seeds that prevents them from germinating. Just allowing them to dry out is so much easier. Does this method result in as many viable seeds as the other method? I'm wondering why anyone bothers with the fermentation method, when this is so simple.

Brian, I see Sanderson has already delivered the bad news about hybrids. You need to get yourself some heirlooms...the gift that keeps on giving!

Out of curiosity, why won't the hybrids seeds grow?

brianj555 wrote:Out of curiosity, why won't the hybrids seeds grow?

That's a very big question, Brian.  Short answer is that they WILL grow but may not produce the same plant as the one the seeds came from.

For instance, I saved  Sungold cherry tomato seeds one year from an amazingly prolific plant.  The plants that grew from those seeds produced Sungold but the fruits were few and far between.  Saved seeds from those and the resulting p!ants only gave me only a handful of fruit all the next year.  So less and less each year.

Same thing happened with some Supersonic seeds I saved except the third year the fruits were shaped differently, too...elongated like a Roma.  Probably reverting back to one of the 2 original parents that made up the original hybrid.

I'm sure some one will come along that can explain it better. But meanwhile there's lots of info out there on the web if you want to Google it.

CC

Brian,  It's just genetics.  Real basic:  Each male and each female have a pair (2) of each genes.  If Mom is a Pink (PK) flower, she has 2 PK genes (PK-PK).  Dad is a Blue (BL) flower with 2 BL genes (BL-BL).  They mate.  Mom can only contribute Pink genes and Dad can only contribute Blue genes.  All of their kids are PK-BL and a Purple color.  They are hybrids.  Now, the hybrids mate.  Both purple Hybrid-Mom and purple Hydbrid Dad can contribute either a PK or a BL gene.  So their first kid gets PK from H-Mom and PK from H-Dad and is Pink (PK-PK).  Second kid gets a BL from H-Mom and BL from H-Dad and is Blue (BL-BL).  Kid 3 gets a Pink from H-Mom and a Blue from H-Dad and is Purple (PK-BL).  Kid 4 gets a Blue from H-Mom and a Pink from H-Dad and is Purple (BL-PK).  Statistically, 25% will be like grandpa (BL-BL), 25% will be like Grandma (PK-PK) and 50% will be purple (PK-BL), which is the trait you are going for.  If you were commercially growing hybrid purples, only 50% of the plants will be purple.

Now, this is primitive genetics.  There are a lot of other genetic influences but that's second semester.

sanderson wrote:Brian,  It's just genetics.  Real basic:  Each male and each female have a pair (2) of each genes.  If Mom is a Pink (PK) flower, she has 2 PK genes (PK-PK).  Dad is a Blue (BL) flower with 2 BL genes (BL-BL).  They mate.  Mom can only contribute Pink genes and Dad can only contribute Blue genes.  All of their kids are PK-BL and a Purple color.  They are hybrids.  Now, the hybrids mate.  Both purple Hybrid-Mom and purple Hydbrid Dad can contribute either a PK or a BL gene.  So their first kid gets PK from H-Mom and PK from H-Dad and is Pink (PK-PK).  Second kid gets a BL from H-Mom and BL from H-Dad and is Blue (BL-BL).  Kid 3 gets a Pink from H-Mom and a Blue from H-Dad and is Purple (PK-BL).  Kid 4 gets a Blue from H-Mom and a Pink from H-Dad and is Purple (BL-PK).  Statistically, 25% will be like grandpa (BL-BL), 25% will be like Grandma (PK-PK) and 50% will be purple (PK-BL), which is the trait you are going for.  If you were commercially growing hybrid purples, only 50% of the plants will be purple.

Now, this is primitive genetics.  There are a lot of other genetic influences but that's second semester.

 +  = 

sanderson wrote:Brian,  It's just genetics.  Real basic:  Each male and each female have a pair (2) of each genes.  If Mom is a Pink (PK) flower, she has 2 PK genes (PK-PK).  Dad is a Blue (BL) flower with 2 BL genes (BL-BL).  They mate.  Mom can only contribute Pink genes and Dad can only contribute Blue genes.  All of their kids are PK-BL and a Purple color.  They are hybrids.  Now, the hybrids mate.  Both purple Hybrid-Mom and purple Hydbrid Dad can contribute either a PK or a BL gene.  So their first kid gets PK from H-Mom and PK from H-Dad and is Pink (PK-PK).  Second kid gets a BL from H-Mom and BL from H-Dad and is Blue (BL-BL).  Kid 3 gets a Pink from H-Mom and a Blue from H-Dad and is Purple (PK-BL).  Kid 4 gets a Blue from H-Mom and a Pink from H-Dad and is Purple (BL-PK).  Statistically, 25% will be like grandpa (BL-BL), 25% will be like Grandma (PK-PK) and 50% will be purple (PK-BL), which is the trait you are going for.  If you were commercially growing hybrid purples, only 50% of the plants will be purple.

Now, this is primitive genetics.  There are a lot of other genetic influences but that's second semester.

That is a little difficult to understand, but it does make sense and I appreciate the explanation. Now I just need to figure out what indeterminate heirloom seeds to order for zone 9. I did some google searches on it, but would also like to know what you guy's recommend. I will start a new thread, so I don't continue to high jack and pull focus away from this topic. :-) Sorry hammock gal

No problem Brian! It's all tomato related, that makes it all good! As far as recommendations on what tomatoes to grow, here's my two cents. If I were you, I'd go to farmers markets in my area and try out all the heirlooms I could find to see which ones tasted best to me. My idea of a delicious tomato may not be the same as yours. You know, vanilla vs chocolate. So see what you like best, and if you're buying local, then they grow in your area. Then I'd google them to get all the info I could. Like for me, I liked Cherokee Purple, but there was so much catfacing on them, that I had to disect them before I could eat them, and I ended up losing a lot of tomato in the process, so I probably wouldn't grow that one again. My two faves from this summer were Paul Robeson and Carmello. So I'll grow those two again next year, but also experiment with some new ones to see how they work out for me. I think that will keep it exciting...to always be trying out some new varieties. Best of luck to you! Be sure to post results.