Seed dry time before starting next generation?

[HL2601]

I have had my first 88x from this winter which was sown 11/1. Tremendous flavor and I am really excited about this one.The seeds were fermented and have dried for 2 days. Any ideas how long I need to wait before starting these seeds? Anxious to get to the next generation!

[Diane Whitehead]

I suspect you don't even need to dry them. I have had seeds germinate inside a tomato - not at all pleasant when one had planned to eat it. They had grown so much the tomato skin was bumpy.

[dfollett]

Diane is correct. You can plant them anytime. The drying is only necessary to save them unplanted.

Glad to hear of good flavor. Did they taste like 'real' tomatoes or cherry tomatoes?

[HL2601]

Yes Dan! First tomatoes I have ever had off season that tasted "real". Plus they have extended shelf life.

[dfollett]

That's great news. I've noticed that some seem to last a really long time, but never monitored it specifically. I'll have to start watching for that. Diane has a thread here somewhere about extended shelf life. I have seed of some of the Spanish varieties that have the really extended shelf life genes if you want to play with some crosses (I'll get you to make some crosses eventually) ;-)

[Diane Whitehead]

Today I have newly germinated seedlings from really dry seeds.

About five years ago I used my electric Magic Aire to dry lots of sliced tomatoes, then kept them in the freezer. As I was using some last week I realized they still had all their seeds, so sowed them.

I won't grow them on, but my curiosity has been satisfied.

[dfollett]

Did most germinate?

[Diane Whitehead]

Most are up today and there will probably be a few more.

The next experiment should be to try some of those commercial sun-dried tomatoes bottled with oil (?). I've never had any, so I'm not sure whether they have seeds. Of course, it is possible that the bottles get boiled which would kill any seeds. I'm not going to buy any, but if someone has some already, they could try.

[dfollett]

I don't. We do have some frozen tomatoes that were just run through a blender then bagged and frozen. Given your experiment, they would probably grow. They would be good tomatoes, but I'd nave no idea which ones since they are a blend of whatever we harvested when my wife froze them.