Dwarf Tomato Project - Saving the seeds

#dwarftomatoproject #dwarftomatoes #savingseeds

The Dwarf Tomato Project began in 2006 as a volunteer group project led by Craig LeHoullier in the USA and Patrina Nuske-Small in Australia.

All varieties of tomatoes in the project are released as Open Source under the Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI).

Read more about the OSSI : https://osseeds.org/

For where to purchase seeds visit
https://www.dwarftomatoproject.net/bu...

Important note: Fermentations during summer should only take around 3 days for the gel around seeds to break down. During cooler weather it might take a bit longer but the danger of leaving them fermenting past day 3 is that they may start to germinate. Any pre-germination will mean zero germination after drying, even if you can’t visibly see any sprouts!

Here are some time stamps to help you find any sections you want to jump to or replay without going through the whole video...

0:0 Intro about the Dwarf Tomato Project.

1:32 Cutting the tomatoes into wedges exposes the curved cavities of seeds and gel, Maralinga.

4:48 A small green-when-ripe variety, Dwarf Jade Beauty.

6:20 How to know when a green-when-ripe variety is ripe.

7:27 Getting into hidden seed cavities.

7:53 Don’t add any water if possible so that the fermentation is stronger. Choose a glass that is just a little bigger than the amount of seeds and gel. Don’t forget to label.

9:33 Why fermentation in see-through containers is an advantage and deciding if it’s time to rinse the seeds.

10:55 The rinsing process. Remember to label the paper plate.

14:40 Drying the seeds on paper plates.

15:07 The seeds stick to the paper plates. I show an easy way to remove them.

I gather all the paper packets of processed seeds at the end of each season and put them into a plastic ziplock bag in the fridge. They will remain viable for up to 8 years, occasionally more.