An experienced gardener knows how to properly collect tomato seeds for seedlings. It depends on it, whether he will get many ripe and juicy fruits from his garden or not. Of course, you can buy ready-made material. But then it will not be selective, it can affect a variety of types of the disease. The most trivial reason why dacha dwellers harvest seeds is the fact that the seeds may not be available for sale.
What time is it to collect the tomato seeds?
To collect the seeds of tomatoes correctly, it is important to realize when the time is right and how it is done. The time of harvesting plays an important role. If you hurry, then the seedling will be frail. If you collect late, then the seedlings will be unsuitable for anything. It is not necessary to harvest seeds, nor at the time when the fruits are only ripe, nor at the end before their direct collection. The most suitable time for harvesting is in the middle. In addition, much depends on the type of variety. For example, for early ripening varieties, a favorable time is the end of July - the beginning of August.
How to collect the seeds of a tomato?
Collecting material for sowing is not a difficult task. The main thing is to know the algorithm of actions and to choose the right vegetable:
- Fruits are harvested as soon as the right time comes.
- Tomato is cut across to make it easier to remove the material.
- The extracted seeds are placed in a glass jar for fermentation for three days at ordinary temperature. The mold that forms on the surface during this period is removed.
- All this time the contents of the can is mixed. The surplus seeds are removed, because they are empty, therefore, a good harvest of them will come out. The remaining seeds are washed in clean water.
- Seeds are laid out on the gauze to dry.
- Seeds are placed in a bag of loose fabric for final drying.
Many beginners summer residents, not knowing how to collect seeds from a tomato on seedlings, cut the fruit, extract the seed pulp and dry it. This approach is fraught with the fact that the harvest will not be important.
Every self-respecting gardener harvests seeds only from high-quality tomatoes. The material from the mixed plants will not give the desired yield.
Knowing how to properly harvest tomato seeds for seedlings is not enough to get a good harvest next year. It is important to properly prepare the harvesting in the beginning of autumn. Before the seeds are sown, they are provided with favorable storage conditions. First of all, they take it out of the bag and put it in a paper bag. Closing and writing on it a year of harvesting, varieties of vegetable culture, the envelope is placed in a dry, cool place. Harvested material can be sown in the next year or in the next four years.