A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum The Tomato Forum Seeds Fermenting ?

Hi all, I'm new to your board I have spent the past few days reading and I love it here and your all really nice folks. I'm saving the heirloom Beefsteak seeds for the first time and my question is this. I live in a small apartment and I worry about gnats and the smell after a while, any advice for me????
Thanks for any advice
Christine

hi Christine...I woiuld love to know the answer to that nat question too...good luck

I'm kinda new to seeds, but don't you only have to leave them out a day or two to dry then pack away?

Cricket, thats what I thought too, but fermenting them is the best way to go I've been told. We'll see what others have to say.
Christine

fermenting is a new one to me. I thought maybe you just used the wrong word? I'll have to keep my eye on this thread. Now, I'm curious!

you mean to take off the "mother" that surrounds the seeds right? Well it only takes about a day or two. If you go longer than that the seeds will sprout. Ask me now I know lol. Yep I did off season tomatoes one year because I left the seeds in the vinegar and water solution to long.

I've actually found that drying them and then storing them in paper seed packets works just fine. But they so stick together so I have to pull them apart by hand if I dry them. For me that's no problem because I have lots and lots of time. But, most people are busier than I am.

Good luck with your seeds.

I posted my method above this thread in one called saving tomato seeds. I won't re post. The oxiclean method I use along with one using TSP are both popular next to fermenting which can be messy and smelly. The oxiclean will take the gel off in 20-30 minutes and if you feel you might have soil borne diseases the bleach rinse will take care of that. And you can do the bleach rinse just before you plant the seeds. I'm using it this year for the first time. Trading so many seeds the last few years I've noticed more soil borne disease problems and just want to eliminate what I can. But doing both only takes about 30 minutes and not messy or smelly. I can also send some links to threads about it on other forums if you desire. Something I have studied the last few years. JD

//www.agardenersforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/228612/gonew/1#UNREAD

Thank you all for your advice
Christine