Growing tomatoes from seed is always a fun activity. Before you start your seeds, you need seed packets that are ready to plant! Gardening stores are a good option for purchasing seeds. However, consider saving seeds from your existing plants!

Saving seeds is an easy and rewarding way to keep your gardening budget on track. There's no need to go out and buy a new packet of tomato seeds if you can harvest your own. Learn six tips for saving tomato seeds to grow a luscious garden for years to come!

Grow Open-Pollinated Tomatoes

San Marzano Tomatoes

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Before you can save seeds from your tomatoes, you need to grow the plant first! Not every variety is a great option for seed saving, so it's important to pick the right ones. Open-pollinated types such as 'San Marzano' and 'Brandywine' are excellent choices. You might also see their labels say heirloom or heritage instead of open-pollinated.

Open-pollinated, heritage, or heirloom are the only tomato plants you can cultivate that will breed true from their seeds. This means that when you grow open-pollinated tomato plants, save their seeds, and sow them, you will grow the same type of tomatoes as your original plant.

Avoid Hybrid Varieties

Early Girl Tomatoes That are Ripe

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While open-pollinated cultivars are an excellent choice for saving seeds, you should avoid hybrid varieties. Hybrid seeds mix the genetic traits of two or more types of tomato plants to optimize the plant for better fruit or disease resistance.

While you can cultivate hybrids tomatoes like 'Early Girl' and 'Big Boy' from a store-bought seed packet, if you save the plant's seeds, they won't breed true. When you save and grow the seeds, they are unlikely to produce the same fruits as your hybrid plant. You are more likely to cultivate a low-quality tomato plant. So when it comes to seed saving, it's best to skip hybrid tomatoes.

Clean the Gel Off

Tomatoes cut in half to show tomato seeds

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When you harvest tomatoes, you have a wonderful opportunity to harvest tomato seeds too! However, you must clean up the seeds a bit before you can safely store them.

To clean them and remove the gel that coats the seeds, start by scooping the seeds and pulp from your tomato and putting it in a jar or container. Add an amount of water equal to the pulp. Then, let your jar sit somewhere around 80 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit for one to five days to ferment and break down the gel coating.

Your good tomato seeds, which you can plant next year, will sink. The dead seeds will float at the top of the container, making them easy to discard. Wait until you see a little scum or mold on the top layer, then remove the floating seeds and pulp. This can be as easy as pouring it out of the jar. To wrap up your cleaning project, grab a strainer and run tap water over the good seeds to rinse them off.

Pro Tip: Tomato seeds are ready to harvest when your tomatoes are ripe enough to eat. While the color of a ripe tomato depends on its cultivar, ripe tomatoes are tender and firm, not hard like green tomatoes.

Patiently Dry Seeds

Dry tomato seeds with a handwritten tag

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Drying seeds thoroughly is essential to preserving them. They can rot if they aren't dry enough, destroying the seed. So, after washing off your tomato seeds, you need to lay them flat on a surface to which they won't stick. A coffee filter or even a plate are great choices. This tip is a test of patience: Drying tomato seeds can take seven days to three weeks!

Pro Tip: To check if your seeds are dry enough to store, take out a hammer. If you hit it with a hammer and the seed shatters into little pieces, it is dry! However, if it feels like a soft sponge, it will need more drying before storing it.

Plant for Up to 10 Years

Gardener planting tomato seeds

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After tomato seeds are thoroughly dry you can pop them in a paper envelope. When you save and store seeds correctly, you can continue planting your seeds for up to 10 years! To help preserve your seeds, keep them in a dry area between 32 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

Generally, the humidity and temperature should not equal more than 100. For instance, the humidity must be under 60 percent if the temperature is 40 degrees Fahrenheit. If it's getting too humid or damp, use a dehumidifier to remove excess moisture from the air.

Make It a Family Activity

Family gardening

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Open-pollinated seeds are called heirlooms for a reason! Growing tomatoes and saving their seeds is fun for the whole family. Invite your family to garden with you and pass on the knowledge of how easy it is to save seeds from your garden vegetables. You could inspire a passion for gardening that will last for generations!

Seed Saving Solutions

Once you master the basics of saving tomato seeds, it becomes surprisingly easy! Remember to plant open-pollinated varieties, wait until fruits are ripe, scoop out seeds to ferment away the gel casing, then wash, dry, and plant next year!

Have you ever saved tomato seeds? Share your tips and experience in the comments below to help other gardeners save their prize seeds!