Saving Seeds Bulletin No. 2: Tomatoes and Peppers

SOLANACEAE-SOLANS

The Solanaceae family is a large family of plants that include the genus’ Lycopersicon (tomatoes), Solanum (eggplant and potato), Physalis (tomatillo and ground cherry) and Capiscum (peppers). This family of plants has perfect flowers, and are self-pollinating- because they have both a functioning male and female part that are capable of reproducing at the same time.

Although some pollinators don’t care for the flowers of this species, significant amounts of crossing can occur and varieties within the same species should be isolated for purity. (For isolation instructions, see Saving Seeds bulletin No. 9.) Newer varieties of Tomatoes require ten feet without mechanical isolation, eggplant fifty, and peppers 500 (many older heirlooms have a flower structure that encourages crossing).

To ensure the saved seeds are the most vigorous, seeds from as many healthy plants as possible should be harvested. The minimum number of plants recommended for seed saving is ten for eggplant, pepper and tomato. For the home gardener, this may not be possible, so swapping seeds of the same variety with other seed savers is necessary to maintain strength over time. However it should be noted that because Solanaceae is an inbreeder, seed can be harvested from fewer than ten plants without risk of inbreeding depression.
 
In the Pacific Northwest, eggplants may not have enough time to mature past eating stage unless grown in a greenhouse. For viable seeds, the eggplant must be dull in color, and hard. Ripe seeds are then harvested from the bottom portion of the fruit.

Peppers are ready to harvest when the fruit is completely mature. The seeds can simply be scraped off the inner core. Caution should be used when harvesting from hot peppers. Gloves are recommended, as hand washing doesn’t always remove all of the hot oil. Seeds should be dried out of the sun.

Tomatoes should be allowed to become over-ripe on the vine before being selected for seed. A tomato that exhibits the best qualities from a healthy plant is the right candidate.

When saving seeds from tomatoes, the seeds need to be allowed to ferment in order to remove the growth inhibitors present in the gel sack that surrounds the seeds. To do this, scrape the seeds out of very ripe tomatoes, then place in a glass jar with a little water. Stir the seeds vigorously, cover with a cheesecloth, and allow to ferment. Fermentation has occurred when bubbles start to rise from the mixture. Do not leave the seeds in the water mixture past this point or they may begin to germinate. To clean, scrape off any seeds, plant matter, or mold that has formed on the top of the jar, and then pour off remaining water. Next, rinse the seeds by adding more water, stirring vigorously, and pouring off any seeds that rise to the surface again. The viable seeds will sink to the bottom of the jar. The leftover seeds in the bottom are then poured into a very small mesh strainer, and dumped onto a plate to dry out of the sun. Seeds should be stirred daily to prevent mold and to encourage drying.