My Dad died two years ago and I came across some tomato seeds he had saved from a particularly tasty grocery store tomato. I've been growing them and it feels good. Planning on saving the rest of the seeds for my kids, since they loved their grandpa so much.
My grandmother had a continuous tomatoe garden in the same spot for decades. She never trimmed or staked the vines. They sprawled everywhere and grew some of the best tomatoes for fresh eating and canning. She would leave lots of ripe ones on the vines to self sow for the next growing season.
I tried fermenting seeds. It works. Too much trouble. I've done this for a loooong time and it works just fine. Find the tomato you want to save seeds from. When you slice the tomato for eating, smear a few of the seeds on a paper towel; no washing, no fermenting, just smear. Dry seeds and paper towel very dry. Put them in a zip lock bag. Store in a dark place or even freeze them til next year. When ready to plant, lay the paper towel or bits of the paper towel on the prepared dirt and cover lightly. Keep moist, until they sprout. They always sprout; every single seed.
I like fermenting seeds as it means they dry & separate & thus are easier to sow come springtime. Versus having them clump & stick to a papertowel...i dont want chunks of papertowel in my soil.
I ferment seeds because you can do a lot that way, and I've been saving extra seeds the last few years so I can give them away. People will need good seeds. ;-)
Same here. I understand doing this if you're selling your seeds or collecting many seeds. I get far more seeds than I need every season and have never really had a problem with germination using the paper towel method.
Really good info. Just like my grandparents taught me. Also people dont realize how long properly prepared seeds last. I have seeds 30+ years old, that still reliably sprout and grow into full producing plants
that's interesting, because all the seed packets i have have expiration dates maybe 6 months from when i bought them. seems like we are being lied to by seed companies also?
@@bobs5596 it's all about profits Last year i cut a two foot branch off my peavctree- it was less than a pencil in circumfrence.i stuck it in thr dirt that as in a pot. Watered it and ths season got about 12 delicious peachesfrom this first year cutting. The arent plant did better but she's got 4 years growtb on her new kid lol Ive done ths as well with plums- pomegranate and apples. Seems stones I got ab
30 year gardener in Zone 6. I've narrowed down my youtube info providers to two or three but James and Tuck are always my first stop. I'm still learning!
I have been seed saving for 40 years. I used to tie different coloured ribbons to the plants I wanted to save seed from. I selected the strongest, (red ribbon) the earliest fruiting, (green ribbon) the most prolific (yellow) and the best tasting (blue). I don't do the ribbon thing any more though. Several years of each selection cross pollinating has given perfect results. I have always spread seeds like tomato or capsicum (bell peppers for Americans) onto toilet paper, then left on the window sill inside the house to dry. (no fermentation) By the end of our Australian summer, the seeds are drier than an Arab's sand shoes. Come Spring, I merely rub the toilet-tissue-covered seeds in my hands then plant them. A little bit of toilet paper won't stop them from growing, and if I happen to plant several of them in a clump, I can transplant them later. Thanks for the great vid...
@Audrey O' Callaghan Water here in Australia is too precious, (We were even encouraged 40 years ago to turn the tap off while brushing our teeth) but I can relate. Cheers. (Aussie word for, 'thanks', 'well done', 'hello', 'good bye' and a drinking toast)
@@KovietUnionDefector G'day. Yeah, I used to check each plant while harvesting others, note (with ribbons) the ones that suited my purposes, and just leave those ones to seed or harvest and store...
I have a degree in horticulture and have worked in the business for over twenty years. It makes me so happy to see you giving good advice and explaining why doing things the right way helps. Keep up the good work!
I'm new to this channel and just subscribed. I'll be starting a family hobby farm within 2 years and need all of the solid advice I can get! I love this guy's passion on the topic. I'm in Ohio and plan on bringing back the Pawpaw tree to this area. I'm so excited to build and get started. I plan on listing my current home in the spring and then I'll break ground on 17 acres which I plan to retire on . I've been waiting almost 2 decades for this moment that's right around the corner. Thanks for validating what he's saying in the video!!
@@resourcefulgirl I actually run a "competing" RUclips channel. But when I see someone in this business that does it right I want to promote them. There are so many folks out there giving bad advice that it vitally important that every good channel is promoted and put out there to help folks. Good luck with your homestead and bringing back the pawpaw!
The problem with the internet is it is getting a reputation for bad advice but there is good advice out there and everybody makes mistakes in everything they do internet or not.
I despise the lies on the seed starting topic as well. I so appreciate your videos. (Admittedly the high energy gets to my nerves at the beginning- but your info seems legit and that is what is important.)
I never fail to learn something in your videos, James. The same goes for your fans. Thanks for the envelope seed keeping method. I’m 66 years old and I don’t believe that you can’t learn from the young. They may not have as much life experience but, I guarantee you, there’s a lot of really ingenious ideas from young people. I planted a garden a few weeks ago with the help of my nephew, his wife and their children. I just marveled at how much I learned that day from my 10 year old great niece and her family. My garden looks beautiful, by the way. I wasn’t blessed with a green thumb, so I’ll take all the help I can get!
@@horrorhabit8421 It probably doesn't reflect well on me but we usually buy our tomato plants from a garden center but this year they was closed and realised we didn't have any seeds either. We had some cherry tomatoes that was going bad (which could mean that they had already started fermenting?) So I scrapped the seeds out onto a tray and planted every single one of them... We ended up with 70 tomato seedlings, I selected the strongest 6 and then gave away the others to family friends and maybe 20-30 to a care home for the elderly that my partner works in, they have a garden plot for the residents to grow stuff in.
Lately i "grow" some tomatoes that sprout in the hens yard from scraps that the hens got. I dont know which variety started it but now they have around an inch in diameter fruits and healthy strong and kinda compact plants. They produce like crazy and the fruits ripen really fast. By the time my other tomatoes die off they just keep going literally to the frost. Nice bite sized juicy tomatoes. This year we had stink bugs ruining the garden. Its a new thing here. But the "wild" tomatoes are surviving well and since the fruits grow and ripen quick the bugs dont do much damage in them. These are now my favourite tomatoes since literally they grow themselves. We did not touch them at all until we started harvesting them. And they sprout again each year from the fallen fruits. Meanwhile the hens garden the place. Sweet deal! :)
I'd buy a packet of seeds from you. I'm surprised the seedlings survived the hens long enough to grow. If you holler at me private I can arrange to paypal you or something.
I used to buy my tomatoes as plants from the nursery. Now I'm starting my own inside in the spring. In the future I will save my own seeds and be completely self sufficient! Thanks James!
💖💖💖💖💖💖💖 Love Tuck! I just got finished watching another gardener who picked her ornamental/flint corn, it was the "bloody butcher" heirloom variety I believe, she showed all the pretty ears and then she showed the ears that were sparse and didn't fill out and she said "but these won't go to waste, because I will save them for seeds that I sell to all of you" I left her a comment and said, "I would not buy seed from you because every good gardener knows you only save the seeds from your very best vegetables and fruits. You never save seed from vegetables that came out deformed, or vegetables that are the smallest, sickly, or not your very best." You hit the nail on the head when you spoke about people misinforming others about saving seeds.
how dare she get rid of her deformed and poor quality seeds! ...better she should save them for later dna analysis to help her improve her tomatoe knowledge, but then not everybody even likes tomatoes, so shows to go ya, different strokes for different folks!
Bizzy Bee with corn missing kernels come from incomplete pollination not from any weakness in a plant so a seed from a sparse ear is equal to a seed from a full ear
Love seeing your dog. Ours dies 2 weeks ago and this soothed my soul watching him in your garden. Plus felt the endorphins as you were stroking him. Thanks for sharing him along with your wonderful seed tips!
If you put in tiny hand made paper envelope you can write on it and then tuck it in a dollar tree photo album the ones about 4 by 6 inches that hold a single photograph. Paper is better I think than plastic and you can tuck photo album or multi ones into a drawer even having one for tomatoes one for squash etc. It is great for people to share with can have multi small envelopes. There are patterns online to print and color and it is great for kids to color a sheet of them and then you cut them out and tape or glue them together. Then you can share these easily by mail or at seed swaps and share the beautiful work you pulled from the tasty fruit.
Thanks, eleanor k, I’ve been looking for solutions and you’ve covered more than one here. I was looking at page protectors to hold seeds in envelopes for something inexpensive, but the smaller photo albums sounds good and they can be organized and stored in decorative shoeboxes, and have been looking for customizing my own envelopes as well. No one makes what I want, I overlooked the envelope pattern solution.
@@misskim2058 one thing that I found was that if I used every page of it that it got fat or overstuffed but if you put the description one page and seed package next page then pretty good and so easy to turn pages and see exactly what you have. If you aren't using home made envelopes, the entire envelope can slide in just skip a page. at a dollar a photo book, you still get a lot in one dollar storage. I had not thought of the shoeboxes so it is my turn to thank you. I just moved to an off grid cabin and don't have all the drawers I had in the big house but a couple of shoeboxes would work. I am putting up my new greenhouse next year, but for now sitting in storage.
One time after using some tomatoes for cooking, I threw the seeds attached to the part of tomatoe where the stem meet, into a few of my plant pots as a top compost thing. All the seeds were sprouting after a few weeks. We weren't sure what was growing until the sprouts grew real leafs to realize they were tomatoes.
“The path of least resistance leads to crooked rivers and crooked men.” ― Henry David Thoreau Fabulous! Love you, Tuck and James. I have learned so much from this channel!
thing is, crooked rivers are actually a good thing for everything but transportation/human exploitation.. so.. good quote, but shows how important context is
The good/straight path of life (to GOD) is full of difficulties and the best rewards. The crooked path of life is easy and distracting, ie., you'll get 'lost' , or fall off.
Ngl, It's weird to see my cousin's name in a comment on a video that youtube recommended. After doing Ancestry DNA, he's my 6th cousin. We share Richard Warren 1578 - 1628 as a grandfather. It's on my grandmother's line. Really cool to see, I had never even known who he really was until I came across this on Ancestry.
This is spot on. It is the same for all those that vote for terrible politicians that say "but they are better than the other guy" or "they are the lesser of two evils". You can't slack... 'eternal vigilance' is the mantra of a free people!
One last quip. Never underestimate the power of gifts from the compost pile. Some of the best plants i have ever grown came from compost surprise plants. Also seeds from hybrids can produce some amazing fruits. That flovorless tomato matter they sell in stores can provide some amazingly delicious fruits, they will probably be de-hybridized (not the same as the fruit they came from, see mendel and his peas) but thats where the magic lies.
I planted some seeds I kept from an organic butternut pumpkin I brought. The results was hybrid kent/butternut pumpkins. It was an unexpected but great result. as the tase was magnificent. So much so I am growing the next generation of seeds this season.
Last year I called the tomato sprouts in one of my raised beds Plain Old Round Tomatoes (PORT) and they were great. I also had some squash come up that were a beautiful gold color and were delicious and I save the seeds--question is if I will get the same fruit but that's the beauty of nature in my opinion.
This is exactly how I have been saving my tomato seeds. I am very interested in learning how to save the more difficult vegitables, like carrots, lettuce, etc.
Lettuce is easy. Let it bolt. Once the shoots/bolts have the seed pods cut them off and set them on a paper plate to get brown and crunchy. Once they are crunchy put them in a plastic bag and shake the bag. The seeds drop out of the lettuce pods. ( I discovered that accidentally after just storing the dried pods in baggies.) to my amazement all the little tiny seeds were at the bottom of the bag.
I'm an old timer and my grandparents and even my greats taught me when I visited them on the farm. So sound advice thanks for stepping up and being an encourager.
Great video demonstration. I've been doing this for years with heirlooms. You can also put the seeds directly on a paper towel and let them dry out without fermenting them. Yes they do stick to the paper towel, but, if you separate the seeds on the paper towel before you let them dry, you can just tear the paper towel around the seed and plant it. That works too.
I've watched many gardeners and their videos, since I'm starting my own garden, you are by far the best. Love the energy, positiveness, and passion for a garden. Keep it up 👍
Hi everyone! I must be the exception that makes the rule. Every year I buy my tomato plants at the garden center but this year I saw that video and went and bought a few different kinds of organic tomatoes at the grocery store and saved a slice of them from the salad preparation and put them in soil. Maybe beginner's luck, this season from those slices I planted 13 tomato plants of three different varieties. Beautiful, strong plants that have produced kilos and kilos of tomatoes. I said strong because they are still producing and I live in southern Ontario, we have a couple weekends with night temperatures on the 5°C and I thought that was it but they are still here. Again, maybe beginner's luck. Definitely I'm using these techniques to save seeds from these great plants for next year. Wish me luck. Happy gardening next year everyone!!!
I have been doing this for years but i like your clear explanation... Tuck is your buddy, body guard and quality controll. And when you love him it shows that you are s pretty cool dude! Thanks my brother!
Wow - Thanks so much for this. I did the slice in the ground once and got dozens of plants. Not one made it to fruit. Now fighting cancer im working toward a garden again. Thank you🙏
Yes, this is an efficient and accepted method for saving seeds. I've done similar for years. I've also just stomped on tomatoes where I want them to be growing next year, and they grew. Usually better than those that were nurtured from the sprouting of the saved seeds. Why? Likely because only the strongest survived. I have learned that survival rate without much effort is more important than germination rate. Why do you think a plant produces so many seeds? To criticize the method of just putting a piece of raw tomato in the ground as wrong is not prudent. It DOES work. As you gain more experience in gardening and learn more about cooperating with nature, you will find that mold is not an enemy.
Right he's sounding like a hypocrite discouraging the methods of other's for his own. I picked up heirloom tomatoes from Publix one plant has even been growing since Fall still eating and giving away lot's of beautiful heirloom Organic tomatoes. South Florida 9a-9b
Rather harsh, no? He wasn't being hypocritical, nor was he pushing "his method" over the slice method. He merely pointed out that the practical fact that it is better to enjoy both the tomato itself and use its seeds, while ensuring that you get a reproducible heirloom plant that meets or exceeds your expectations so as not to become discouraged or disappointed.
You are totally right, unless it's penicillin for me. I just fermented my first ever batch of true kosher sour pickles and they are so lovely. I can't really get enough. I start cabbage ferments today. I know it seems late but I'm in Maine on a mountainside and things usually are really late up here and I had everything in by the end of June.
I have been gardening for 30+ years and get the same germination rates regardless of method. Fermenting in a jar, drying on a paper towel, burying the slice or removing the jell with napkin/paper towel and drying. All worked for me with consistent results. The slice method just clumps them too close together making separating more difficult. As far as planting 2nd generation hybrid seeds I have experimented and you can isolate the plants after every generation. But you need to plant a lot of them to ensure you have a decent amount of plants to save the seed from the plant with the characteristics you desire. Too time consuming unless you really want to experiment with genetics. Having said that, saving hybrid seeds always resulted in a good tasting tomato and similar plants. Good info on your fermenting method for other people wanting to try it.
I love seeing Tuck! He is adorable very sweet guy! I never tried saving tomato seeds but I will definitely give it a try after watching you. I repurpose RX bottles for seed saving, the amber color blocks bright light. I peel off the medication label and replace with my own hand written one , Dollar Tree sells them 15 or more in a package. Love your channel James!
Thank you James!!! Although I am by no means a new gardener, and I FO have a green thumb that goes ALL THE WAY TO MY ARM PIT, I have never saved seeds, except for marigolds. I am trying to save some seeds this year, and had only seen the info about slicing the tomato and burying it. I am thankful I stumbled across your instructions!! And yes, I enjoy watching Tuck!!! He is ADORABLE and, I think adds a lot to the show!!
I put mine all on paper towels and yes you are right, The do stick, BUT remove because the towel really helps when planting out the seeds, you leave them on the towels, originally set the seed at the right distances, plant in pots the following year and lightly cover with soil, the paper helps keep moisture to the seed when sprouting, I have had a lot of success planting seeds this way.
I remember growing grape tomatoes one time many years ago. I grew it from one of those upsidedown hanging planter bags on our back porch. My mom likes eating tomatoes and she'd usually grab a couple each day to snack on while she drove to work.
Thank you for this excellent demonstration! I came on to it just last year, and followed your instructions pretty closely, although I only let them soak about 2 days, or 2 overnights. I saved loads of my Cherokee Purple tomato seeds (my absolute favorite tomato!). Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get my tomato seeds into the ground this year due to the weather, but I may try some now that the weather is finally warming up, and, hopefully, it won’t be too late. But, I sent a bunch of the seeds to my brother in another state and he’s told me he has had a 100% germination rate, which is unheard of, even from reputable seed-sellers! He has been sending me regular photos, and all the plants are growing vigorously and are starting to set. So, thanks to you, many of us will be feasting on lucious, juicy tomatoes in the near future.
Apart from the most incredibly useful advice, I love listening to you Mr Prigioni for your oomph and enthusiasm - impossible not to go out there immediately to put that advice into practice! Strange, my other gardening guru is Huw Richards - a softly spoken, laid-back chap. What a great combination for.inspiration! Thanks Mr Prigioni!!
I love Tuck and you are great! I've been growing my food for all my adult life and feel like a novice every year. There's always something new to learn Love your techniques and your enthusiasm.
A tomato seed is one of the few near indestructible seeds. They will grow after passing through the human digestive system and through the sewage works. They will also grow if you just squish a tomato slice onto the ground. Buying them in little packets also works.
Yeah I mean you should see how many tomatoes we get that grow back as weeds The next year, just from all the fruits that fall into the path and get mixed into the soil
I worked on a farm that also had a brewery and the outhouse for the guests had a sewage backflow that was coming out of this pipe outside, so we had to close down the bathrooms. Roma tomatoes were growing in the spot where the human crap was overflowing.
@@jtrose6995 I work on a lil farm We grow 3 hundred feet of just cherry tomatoes in three 100 foot rows And they produce alot, and so many of the cherries just fall to the ground and get squsihed into the soil And next year so many of them sprout, it's obnoxious really Spend more time weeding out those sprouting tomatoes than I'd like
You are so right when you speak of 'hacky' methods that are unproven and just plain wrong. It can be discouraging. I like to get online info from gardeners who shoe their gardens, show their successes and failures, and show their methods in stages. Bonus is gardeners who will respond to your online questions. Thanks for this post - a year later!
James I couldnt find the survey you asked us to fill out. But I was thinking to myself when your channel popped up. Now is someone who I trust. I've been watching you for a long time. I think your course would be the best. So I say go for it if you can I understand it's not as easy as before. God bless. You make my day. I love learning I always learn something from you.
I love seeing Tuck! I love him digging his holes, and eating his carrots and cucumbers! So adorable!. He def brightens my day! I love all the advice you give too, thanks so much, I am learning a ton, This is my first year gardening, My hubby has gardened a lot, but he learned as he went so there are some things he don't know, i tell him what i learned and he tells me stuff he knows, we make a great team!
Very happy I found you. I have been gardening for over 10 years too and learned by myself that many things you hear are not true. Now I moved to Michigan and am learning about northern fruit trees. I saw your video about planting apples from seeds! I learned a lot. Thanks. I like to. Know more about northern fruit trees. I have in my small backyard over 30 fruit trees!!
i have got two 'red delicious' variety of apple sprouted from seed and a bunch of 'honey crisp' apple seeds on my germinating shelf right now! and i got one spouted 'naval orange' seed into a pot of soil yesterday...it was from my own orange tree!
Great vid…. I’ve also had a very good success by cutting a tomato in half and laying it face down on kitchen, paper towel and switching it send it to feed come out and spread across the kitchen towel and then leave it to dry which desiccates the outer inhibitor coating, leaving only the seed. You can then cut the kitchen towel decisions, which makes it very easy to select the individual seeds to plant. Can you come to see you along with its attached piece of kitchen towel. This also helps retain some water and moisture around the field encouraging it to sprout to really easy method when you get to keep the rest of the tomato to eat.
I saved seeds last year for the first time. This year, everything did great except my peppers. I've had hell with peppers this year, even store bought seeds. The tomato variety is a beefsteak. I bought the seeds year before last. That first year, the tomatoes that had end rot or worms, I just tossed them in the container they were in. Last year, one of the tomatoes germinated. I transplanted them. I had 2 gardens last year, one at my house and one at my grandpa's house. The one at my grandpa's house, I had problems with. Water well went down a few times, and someone turned off the water for about a week. About a week before the 1st freeze, I had 1 green tomato growing. Everything was slowing down on producing, so I turned off the water. I went back out about a week after the freeze to clean everything up. That one tomato survived and ripened. I definitely saved the seeds from it. I germinated them this year and they are flowering already. Gave some away so other people can have that line of tomatoes. From what I've heard, it should have a higher frost resistance, I'm hoping it does. But I'll be saving seeds from it this year as well
I never knew about how to save seeds. I'm in my 50's from an aggie family and wind up buying my tomato plants every year and have done lousy with seeds. Now at least I know what to do with harvested seeds. Thanks! I already knew about hybrids and GMO's.
i'm new to gardening. I squashed and squirted out some seeds (Golden grape tomato) onto some potting mix in a small ex-strawberry packaging. Kept it in semi shade, kept it relatively moist. 2-3 weeks later all sprouted. Spring starts tomorrow I've potted some of them now.
Often times I get tomato plants growing from my compost pile. I just transplant them where I want them to grow. The type of tomato is a surprise but no matter. It adds to the joy and fun of gardening
I made the mistake of putting tomatoes in my worm bin, I now have lots of bonus tomatoes that sprout every where in my garden. I just leave them be and what I get out of them is a bonus :)
Thank you for sharing your insight. It's a blessing to give knowledge and to receive it. Please keep up the great work. You have inspired my husband and I in our gardening adventures. Big hearts to Tuck and you ♡♡♡
Tuck is always my sunshine! I get pure joy watching him enjoy the fruits of your labor🌻🥒🥕He will always be super healthy living the way God intended 🐾🙏
5 лет назад+58
I just put the seed on a piece of paper and let it dry. No special treatment and next year I plant them and they grow. I have some cherry tomatoes in my garden that selfseed for couple years now. Its basically a weed that keeps growing abundantly.
4 года назад+2
@Michael Fresh I take seeds only from ripe tomatoes.
4 года назад+2
@Michael Fresh I leave it there to compost. Whatever tomato plants grow from the seeds on the ground is doing well so I assume only the good ones sprout.
4 года назад+1
@Michael Fresh yes. It is usually so many tomatoes that it is easier just to leave it there. The plant (wild tomatoes) keeps producing until late autumn and there are many still green fruits.
Tomatoes are but one nuisance volunteer garden vegetables. This year I had over 50 squash volunteers!..spaghetti, zucchini, and butternut squash. I also had pear, cherry and steak tomatoes volunteer. I wonder if I even need to plant anything next year, lol!
Thank you for clearing that up. I saw that slice the tomato, lay it on the top of the dirt in the pot and stash it in the dark video... I admit I was intrigued to try it but I was also very sceptical about that technique. I'm not a new gardener, but I am trying to build soil for a new garden in a completely different land than I have been used to in the past. It's been a completely different and difficult experience for me in this area but I'm never going to quit and I'm almost there! I'm so exited to be so close to finally having a fully functioning and productive garden again. I can't wait until next year. You and Tuck have become my favorite gardening teachers the past several years and I enjoy your fun loving attitude as you teach. Your really both wonderful. ❤️🌱🐶🥰 God bless you both and your garden. My name is Kimberly, I'm using my boyfriend's phone at the moment. Thank you for caring enough to make these videos.
With hybrid plants, a way to continually grow them is to save the suckers from the old plant before frost and pot them in a greenhouse or inside for the winter. Then you can continue to perpetuate the same plants.
The most important thing is that the plant is mature. You can use hybrids but you won't get what you expect. I have been gardening for forty years. I learned from my mom, grandparents ( who were born in the 1800s) . My family just washes the seeds and they always come up and do well.
I have been gardening ever since I was a child. I got my green thumb from my grandfather. I will agree, if you are saving seeds, this is absolutely the best way to do it for the best results. However, I also have to kind of disagree with not burying the tomato. Every fall, I let a few tomatoes remain in the ground and every spring, I have strong healthy plants from those tomatoes. You can always tell where the tomato was buried because there will be a dozen sprouts in one area. I just pinch off the smallest ones and let the largest grow. The biggest issue with doing this is when there is an early warm up in the spring and then another freeze spell. That will kill the sprouts, if you don't protect them. It's always best to start your tomato plants indoors and transplant them when the weather stays warm. I've never planted a slice of tomato in the spring. I would think the tomato needs the winter to naturally remove the sprout inhibitor. I am in now way a specialist, this is just my input. I do enjoy the information you put in your videos. But I have to say, they can be a struggle to watch. The editing from clip to clip is just so jumpy. I personally would like a smoother transition between takes. (Just a little constructive criticism. I'm not trying to insult) Keep up the good work.
Paper plate instead of paper towel ... Little things like that is why I thoroughly enjoy hearing what you have to say... ....wanted to ask you if Lil Tuck pees on anything and if that is a problem... I have a French Mastiff and will probably try to block his urination by making 2.5 ft raised beds and small bamboo fencing but also we put a real fence in the front yard so I can restrict his bac yard time where the veggies n herbs will be
JP Maxey Guess what the racoons and other critters do on the farm..... you just don't see it. Gets washed off anyway and watered down with the rain.... good source of nitrogen by the way.... lol. Yeah I think those raised beds are a very good idea, also easier on your back.
I ferment my tomato seeds all the time. Yes it stiiiinnnnkkksssss, BUT the end result is FANTASTIC! The seeds are so much easier to clean up and dry. 2019 pink brandywine crop fermented gave me a sandwich size ziploc bag full of seeds. The germination rate was off the charts too!
@@travisk5589 Yes, they are in denial but its been going on for WAY more than 20 yrs! Well, the good news is that NOW/soon people will be "forced" to wake up as the Solar Flash is around the corner!
I was watching someone the other day harvesting tomatoes, and he mentioned he was going to save some seeds to ferment, so that gave me an important clue. Thanks for doing a video on how to do this!
Oddly enough I had a small tomato sit on my kitchen sill for what seamed like forever. I finally opened it to dry out the seeds and to my surprise the seeds inside were growing. So I planted them. I got two nice plants that bore really nice fruit… it was so neat!
Excellent video! This past season, the best tomatoes I grew were from volunteers that sprouted up in my planting spot. Imallowed them to establish themselves for a couple of weeks then dug them and organized them. They produced great tomatoes. They were planted in woodchip compost and I only watered them twice when very young. The rain was timed perfect.
James, I can attest that this method yields seed that remain viable for much longer if properly stored. I'm glad you are doing these more sensationalist titles, but actually giving good advice instead of the typical click bait.
I planted 6 year old seeds this year that were stored in the fridge: black krim. You can see how big they are in my latest video (2020 spring garden tour).
I usually ferment seeds from 6-8 tomatoes of the same variety in one jar to save time. I did an experiment covering 3 slices of an overripe Roma tomato in a pot and got about 50 plants! Lol. In my experience, the volunteers (survivors) are always the strongest and healthiest, but the fermented seeds are the most reliable and easy to store.
I am thinking that it depends on the soil where the seeds fall. I heard a guy in the islands say that mango trees grow wherever they throw the husks. They didn't even have to take out the seed.
I've been blown away by the celery that self-seeded! I planted the leftover bottom of a celery, it grew into a prolific flower (not really any stalks) and then the following year (this year) I have some beautiful new celery plants and have been cutting stalks of one at a time. I've learned celery is a biennial, so every other year the plant will make flowers (celery seeds!) and the following year it will make the yummy stalky veggie.
Hi James and Tuck. Great vid as always. Love seeing your garden and the hard work you have put into it. You have actualy inspired me to start my first small 20x30 foot garden in my back yard. Just got my chips down for the winter. Looking forward to starting it up in the spring. And more vids from you..
I always save some the normal way just in case but honestly I have so far had just as many plants com up on their own from letting a few rot on the ground where they grew.
When I plant tomatoes, I cut a slice from a tomato I like (usually one from my friend’s garden), I lay the tomato directly on top of the soil, and I water the slices. And I get beautiful tomato plants.
Excellent video. Last year I saved Black russian tomato seeds using this method, they all germinated. A far higher success rate than my shop bought seeds.
I love saving seeds! That way I can have plenty, because, being real here, stuff happens sometimes. Good to know there's more seed if something goes wrong.
James, you and Tuck are pure MAGIC! I'm obsessed with your videos. I live in an apartment and have to deal with container plants on my patio (I have a lot!). I'm dreaming of ground earth....I wonder if I could be arrested for planting a food forest on the median in front of my building?
I have dine this for years and no one else I knew did so , your seed looks so clean The only difference is I changed my water not to get mold and put the seed on paper / thin cloth towels to dry Essentially the same principal Thanks!
So we used to have gray water coming from the sink to the side yard. Every year my husband would dig up the tiny stout seedlings from all over our 5-acre property and transplant them. One year we had 300 plants! There were so many tomatoes, we had a hard time tending to them, lol. We would also get "volunteer" of various fruit tees and other veggies, from throwing the seeds outside and composting all winter. There's just nothing like biting into a wonderful peach you've grown from a seed which would have been otherwise discarded. I found out though, that this does not work with peppers.
Perfect timing! I’ve fallen in love with ground cherries this summer and want to save the seeds to grow next year. Also just got back from the Carolinas with a bunch of perennial flower seeds that I foraged. Wondering if I can just plant some of the seeds now to see if they can get a head start on next year or if they have to go through a resting or chilling period...hmmm...
do a little bit now and a lil bit later.... maybe you will succeed in helping those types travel to new environment, that is our relationship with plants!
I’m fascinated by seeds as well. The abundance of this earth is represented in a seed. And when they are sown in fertile soil the potential is endless. I believe they are a metaphor for all life.
I like your method glad I watched a tip for you is when trying to plant tiny tiny seeds use a whit paper plate . Dump seeds on plate have your seed starters ready . I like the ones for this that you add water to and they swell up . Use tiny hole or holes in them , then use a small pointy knife any kind as long as it’s pointy . Dampen point of knife and touch it to a few seeds and they will stick to point of knife . Hold it over your hole and push off with anything dry a card of any kind works well as long as it’s dry . It works great and you don’t wast hundreds of tiny seeds and tedious thinning after germination
Dave Hendricks. The paper towel is less mess, less process and you can write on the towel date/ variety. I swear by it 👍❤️ I have tried the fermentation method and it hasn't worked for me. 🤷
@@mariap.894 I don't understand this paper towel method. Do you throw the whole tomato in a paper towel or what's the process? and how do you remove the sprout inhibitor?
This totally works! I do this every other year if It's a good harvest. But it's crazy how we put so much effort into starting seeds indoors when for instance I was gathering up all my containers to compost the soil and left it for a week or so, it rained a lot....when I went to compost, 20 tomato seedlings popped up from a cherry tomato that must have fallen on the surface. It's way to late here to grow warm crops so it got composted.. they looked so healthy. The reason we ferment seeds is so we can have them when we want.. but the ones that I have whitenesses that grow naturally seem to be healthier.
Ive followed this guy from close to the beginning when his yard was well a yard and now look at it! Great gardner, great information on gardening, and great energy caring, and thoughtfulness for the beginning gardner well done Tuck and James P. Tuck is the mastermind behind it all and definately makes me smile. Wanna learn to feed your family the correct way this is a great place for it, as James has already done the trial and error which is obvious looking at the Forest he has been blessed to create!! Great Job!
Perfect timing for this as I'm flirting with the time of our first hard frost and I've got a tomato I love the flavor of. I completed your survey as well. Thanks for sharing your knowledge
Only if they are freshly charged. They have a limited moisture capacity just like batteries have a limited capacity. Recharge silica gel beads at 130c or 260f in the oven for several hours. Be careful that they are not in plastic packets that will melt, paper is easiest Tyvek packets can be recharged but reduce heat to 120c or 230f and it will take about 8+ hours Loose beads can be recharged much faster at higher temperatures of 160c/320f. They can practically hold about 20-30% of their dry weight in moisture at normal room temps. (Ideally they can hold 40% at 25c/77f but this is with high humidity and little useful drying power)
@@mytech6779 Thank you so much for sharing this information!!! I save so many seeds I use old spaghetti vlass jars, and the packets are perfect for saving me from mold growth. I should have realized that they would go bad eventually, but I am so grateful for finding your information! Thanks again!!!
@@Irishjay-gu5pb I would also like to add if you ever run low on the silica desiccant you can purchase it in bulk cheaply at most grocery markets or pet supply stores used as another form of Kitty litter. There is no clay or anything else mixed with it and should be mostly clear beads/pellets with some blue colored ones sprinkled in.
Who in the hell ever told you to bury a slice of tomato? I've been gardening for 40 years and never heard of that until now. I bought heirloom beefsteak seeds like15 years ago and have never needed to buy another tomato seed or plant. They self sow in my raised beds, along with dill and thyme. And I'm in northern PA.
i thought those 'put the tomatoe slice in the ground' video was for a teaching tool for the teachers(who are always asking for more) to teach the lil youngins what not to do!
@@melodyjordan6052 There is a group of people that make some of those videos with hacks that draw lots of views. They are monitized and slickly produced. Between the ads and the clicks, millions are made.
The best cherry tomatoes I ever grew came from a snack tray at the supermarket. Red, orange and yellow, I still keep the seeds and have grown them over and over. Also, the snacking peppers same thing, been saving and growing for a couple years now...
Dont know if you look back at old video comments but i have been watching over a year however, i have watched out of order but i do love your videos. And your relationship with your pup inspired me to feed my pug carrots😁. She loves carrots! So now i plant carrots hoping to see my own pup dig up carrots😆. I cant wait to start using my own fresh carrots in my recipes
My Dad died two years ago and I came across some tomato seeds he had saved from a particularly tasty grocery store tomato. I've been growing them and it feels good. Planning on saving the rest of the seeds for my kids, since they loved their grandpa so much.
So cool that you can connect with your dad again in the garden. God bless.
Aaaaaaw! How lovely! This is the kind of thing that touches my heart. So meaningful. 🤗
@@autumnleaves8553 ❤️
@@umiluv ❤️ thank you.
My mom always saved the seeds from the tastiest tomatoes. Always. She would simply dry them on a paper towel and plant them.
My grandmother had a continuous tomatoe garden in the same spot for decades. She never trimmed or staked the vines. They sprawled everywhere and grew some of the best tomatoes for fresh eating and canning. She would leave lots of ripe ones on the vines to self sow for the next growing season.
I tried fermenting seeds. It works. Too much trouble. I've done this for a loooong time and it works just fine. Find the tomato you want to save seeds from. When you slice the tomato for eating, smear a few of the seeds on a paper towel; no washing, no fermenting, just smear. Dry seeds and paper towel very dry. Put them in a zip lock bag. Store in a dark place or even freeze them til next year. When ready to plant, lay the paper towel or bits of the paper towel on the prepared dirt and cover lightly. Keep moist, until they sprout. They always sprout; every single seed.
I like fermenting seeds as it means they dry & separate & thus are easier to sow come springtime. Versus having them clump & stick to a papertowel...i dont want chunks of papertowel in my soil.
Masha Kalinkina It actually becomes worm food.
I mainly do this too. 33 yrs gardening.
I ferment seeds because you can do a lot that way, and I've been saving extra seeds the last few years so I can give them away. People will need good seeds. ;-)
Same here. I understand doing this if you're selling your seeds or collecting many seeds. I get far more seeds than I need every season and have never really had a problem with germination using the paper towel method.
I love this guy, so positive, always walking through what seems like an endless garden of perfection
he really is infectiously positive. love those tomato steaks.
Really good info. Just like my grandparents taught me. Also people dont realize how long properly prepared seeds last. I have seeds 30+ years old, that still reliably sprout and grow into full producing plants
gr8 vid James, can't believe it was from 2 years ago.... sigh, back when things were better ? lol. Love you, love Tuck, God bless our gardens......
that's interesting, because all the seed packets i have have expiration dates maybe 6 months from when i bought them. seems like we are being lied to by seed companies also?
@@bobs5596 it's all about profits
Last year i cut a two foot branch off my peavctree- it was less than a pencil in circumfrence.i stuck it in thr dirt that as in a pot.
Watered it and ths season got about 12 delicious peachesfrom this first year cutting.
The arent plant did better but she's got 4 years growtb on her new kid lol
Ive done ths as well with plums- pomegranate and apples.
Seems stones
I got ab
@@jett888 wow, now i gotta find somebody with a peach tree!
@@bobs5596 They found seeds in King Tuts tomb, and other mummies, they planted them and most sprouted and grew.
45 years of gardening, and I see 90% nonsense on the internet.
keep up the good work!
Gardening where, what zone? I am in 9a.
Make a series or a book mate
30 year gardener in Zone 6. I've narrowed down my youtube info providers to two or three but James and Tuck are always my first stop. I'm still learning!
I have been seed saving for 40 years. I used to tie different coloured ribbons to the plants I wanted to save seed from. I selected the strongest, (red ribbon) the earliest fruiting, (green ribbon) the most prolific (yellow) and the best tasting (blue). I don't do the ribbon thing any more though. Several years of each selection cross pollinating has given perfect results.
I have always spread seeds like tomato or capsicum (bell peppers for Americans) onto toilet paper, then left on the window sill inside the house to dry. (no fermentation)
By the end of our Australian summer, the seeds are drier than an Arab's sand shoes. Come Spring, I merely rub the toilet-tissue-covered seeds in my hands then plant them. A little bit of toilet paper won't stop them from growing, and if I happen to plant several of them in a clump, I can transplant them later.
Thanks for the great vid...
Militum Xpisti Love your process. Thanks
i do the same thing with any paper, including pieces of cardboard, wrapping paper, etc.
@Audrey O' Callaghan Water here in Australia is too precious, (We were even encouraged 40 years ago to turn the tap off while brushing our teeth) but I can relate.
Cheers. (Aussie word for, 'thanks', 'well done', 'hello', 'good bye' and a drinking toast)
Great idea with the ribbons ...I never thought about that...it's Genius...G'day by the way :))
@@KovietUnionDefector G'day. Yeah, I used to check each plant while harvesting others, note (with ribbons) the ones that suited my purposes, and just leave those ones to seed or harvest and store...
I have a degree in horticulture and have worked in the business for over twenty years. It makes me so happy to see you giving good advice and explaining why doing things the right way helps.
Keep up the good work!
I'm new to this channel and just subscribed. I'll be starting a family hobby farm within 2 years and need all of the solid advice I can get! I love this guy's passion on the topic. I'm in Ohio and plan on bringing back the Pawpaw tree to this area. I'm so excited to build and get started. I plan on listing my current home in the spring and then I'll break ground on 17 acres which I plan to retire on . I've been waiting almost 2 decades for this moment that's right around the corner. Thanks for validating what he's saying in the video!!
@@resourcefulgirl I actually run a "competing" RUclips channel. But when I see someone in this business that does it right I want to promote them. There are so many folks out there giving bad advice that it vitally important that every good channel is promoted and put out there to help folks.
Good luck with your homestead and bringing back the pawpaw!
@MrCanman75, if I mentioned it that often I would bore myself! It is much funner talking about and taking care of the plants....
The problem with the internet is it is getting a reputation for bad advice but there is good advice out there and everybody makes mistakes in everything they do internet or not.
If you actually have a degree in horticulture you should know that seeds don't have sprout inhibitors inside the fruit.
I just did this for the first time yesterday! I am in absolute LOVE with gardening :)
I despise the lies on the seed starting topic as well. I so appreciate your videos. (Admittedly the high energy gets to my nerves at the beginning- but your info seems legit and that is what is important.)
I never fail to learn something in your videos, James. The same goes for your fans. Thanks for the envelope seed keeping method. I’m 66 years old and I don’t believe that you can’t learn from the young. They may not have as much life experience but, I guarantee you, there’s a lot of really ingenious ideas from young people. I planted a garden a few weeks ago with the help of my nephew, his wife and their children. I just marveled at how much I learned that day from my 10 year old great niece and her family. My garden looks beautiful, by the way. I wasn’t blessed with a green thumb, so I’ll take all the help I can get!
yeah, he reminds me of my son, who's a better food gardener than me
I removed the seeds and sun-dried them in the greenhouse for a few days and then planted them and we've had our best harvest ever this year
Yep. This is what I do too. I never really saw the need for fermenting seeds. The part about the sprout inhibitor was enlightening for me though.
@@horrorhabit8421 It probably doesn't reflect well on me but we usually buy our tomato plants from a garden center but this year they was closed and realised we didn't have any seeds either. We had some cherry tomatoes that was going bad (which could mean that they had already started fermenting?) So I scrapped the seeds out onto a tray and planted every single one of them... We ended up with 70 tomato seedlings, I selected the strongest 6 and then gave away the others to family friends and maybe 20-30 to a care home for the elderly that my partner works in, they have a garden plot for the residents to grow stuff in.
Lately i "grow" some tomatoes that sprout in the hens yard from
scraps that the hens got. I dont know which variety started it but now
they have around an inch in diameter fruits and healthy strong and
kinda compact plants. They produce like crazy and the fruits ripen really
fast. By the time my other tomatoes die off they just keep going
literally to the frost. Nice bite sized juicy tomatoes.
This year we had stink bugs ruining the garden. Its a new thing here. But the "wild"
tomatoes are surviving well and since the fruits grow and ripen quick
the bugs dont do much damage in them. These are now my favourite
tomatoes since literally they grow themselves. We did not touch them at
all until we started harvesting them. And they sprout again each year
from the fallen fruits. Meanwhile the hens garden the place. Sweet deal!
:)
So, you have a tomato with true seed, not a hybrid. Guard it with you're life. Better yet, multiply them and sell the seeds.
I'd buy a packet of seeds from you. I'm surprised the seedlings survived the hens long enough to grow. If you holler at me private I can arrange to paypal you or something.
Are you willing to sell any?
Landrace varieties are always great
kistuszek I would like to buy some seeds too please can you email me? Asumusa27@gmail.com
Seeing little Tuck and the love you have for him -- heals my broken heart. Like gardening does.
I used to buy my tomatoes as plants from the nursery. Now I'm starting my own inside in the spring. In the future I will save my own seeds and be completely self sufficient! Thanks James!
💖💖💖💖💖💖💖 Love Tuck! I just got finished watching another gardener who picked her ornamental/flint corn, it was the "bloody butcher" heirloom variety I believe, she showed all the pretty ears and then she showed the ears that were sparse and didn't fill out and she said "but these won't go to waste, because I will save them for seeds that I sell to all of you" I left her a comment and said, "I would not buy seed from you because every good gardener knows you only save the seeds from your very best vegetables and fruits. You never save seed from vegetables that came out deformed, or vegetables that are the smallest, sickly, or not your very best." You hit the nail on the head when you spoke about people misinforming others about saving seeds.
who was it?
Thank you! So many people making poor seed saving videos it's so annoying
how dare she get rid of her deformed and poor quality seeds! ...better she should save them for later dna analysis to help her improve her tomatoe knowledge, but then not everybody even likes tomatoes, so shows to go ya, different strokes for different folks!
Best not to save weak, struggling plants as well. Be wise, not cheap.
Bizzy Bee with corn missing kernels come from incomplete pollination not from any weakness in a plant so a seed from a sparse ear is equal to a seed from a full ear
Love seeing your dog. Ours dies 2 weeks ago and this soothed my soul watching him in your garden. Plus felt the endorphins as you were stroking him. Thanks for sharing him along with your wonderful seed tips!
Sorry for your loss. hope you found a new little friend.
I'm sorry you lost your fur baby.
I have always put my dry seeds in a paper envelope. Plastic bags can rot the seeds if there is any moisture.
Thanks fo the heads up on this Appreciate it etc
If you put in tiny hand made paper envelope you can write on it and then tuck it in a dollar tree photo album the ones about 4 by 6 inches that hold a single photograph. Paper is better I think than plastic and you can tuck photo album or multi ones into a drawer even having one for tomatoes one for squash etc. It is great for people to share with can have multi small envelopes. There are patterns online to print and color and it is great for kids to color a sheet of them and then you cut them out and tape or glue them together. Then you can share these easily by mail or at seed swaps and share the beautiful work you pulled from the tasty fruit.
thanks, good info
Thanks, eleanor k, I’ve been looking for solutions and you’ve covered more than one here. I was looking at page protectors to hold seeds in envelopes for something inexpensive, but the smaller photo albums sounds good and they can be organized and stored in decorative shoeboxes, and have been looking for customizing my own envelopes as well. No one makes what I want, I overlooked the envelope pattern solution.
@@misskim2058 one thing that I found was that if I used every page of it that it got fat or overstuffed but if you put the description one page and seed package next page then pretty good and so easy to turn pages and see exactly what you have. If you aren't using home made envelopes, the entire envelope can slide in just skip a page. at a dollar a photo book, you still get a lot in one dollar storage. I had not thought of the shoeboxes so it is my turn to thank you. I just moved to an off grid cabin and don't have all the drawers I had in the big house but a couple of shoeboxes would work. I am putting up my new greenhouse next year, but for now sitting in storage.
I did this in the fall of 2020. I directly planted the seeds this spring. They are huge!! This technique really worked.
One time after using some tomatoes for cooking, I threw the seeds attached to the part of tomatoe where the stem meet, into a few of my plant pots as a top compost thing. All the seeds were sprouting after a few weeks. We weren't sure what was growing until the sprouts grew real leafs to realize they were tomatoes.
I'll bet you were thrilled
“The path of least resistance leads to crooked rivers and crooked men.”
― Henry David Thoreau
Fabulous! Love you, Tuck and James. I have learned so much from this channel!
thing is, crooked rivers are actually a good thing for everything but transportation/human exploitation..
so.. good quote, but shows how important context is
The good/straight path of life (to GOD) is full of difficulties and the best rewards.
The crooked path of life is easy and distracting, ie., you'll get 'lost' , or fall off.
Ngl, It's weird to see my cousin's name in a comment on a video that youtube recommended.
After doing Ancestry DNA, he's my 6th cousin. We share Richard Warren 1578 - 1628 as a grandfather. It's on my grandmother's line. Really cool to see, I had never even known who he really was until I came across this on Ancestry.
Love Thoreau.
This is spot on. It is the same for all those that vote for terrible politicians that say "but they are better than the other guy" or "they are the lesser of two evils". You can't slack... 'eternal vigilance' is the mantra of a free people!
One last quip. Never underestimate the power of gifts from the compost pile. Some of the best plants i have ever grown came from compost surprise plants. Also seeds from hybrids can produce some amazing fruits. That flovorless tomato matter they sell in stores can provide some amazingly delicious fruits, they will probably be de-hybridized (not the same as the fruit they came from, see mendel and his peas) but thats where the magic lies.
I love it my mom keeps her potatoes that sprout out of the compost pile growing all spring and summer then harvest them when she turns the pile.
Last year my compost heap gave me pumpkins, 5 types of cherry tomatoes and potatoes this year I am already seeing potatoes
I planted some seeds I kept from an organic butternut pumpkin I brought. The results was hybrid kent/butternut pumpkins. It was an unexpected but great result. as the tase was magnificent. So much so I am growing the next generation of seeds this season.
Last year I called the tomato sprouts in one of my raised beds Plain Old Round Tomatoes (PORT) and they were great. I also had some squash come up that were a beautiful gold color and were delicious and I save the seeds--question is if I will get the same fruit but that's the beauty of nature in my opinion.
This is exactly how I have been saving my tomato seeds. I am very interested in learning how to save the more difficult vegitables, like carrots, lettuce, etc.
Lettuce is easy. Let it bolt. Once the shoots/bolts have the seed pods cut them off and set them on a paper plate to get brown and crunchy. Once they are crunchy put them in a plastic bag and shake the bag. The seeds drop out of the lettuce pods. ( I discovered that accidentally after just storing the dried pods in baggies.) to my amazement all the little tiny seeds were at the bottom of the bag.
I'm an old timer and my grandparents and even my greats taught me when I visited them on the farm. So sound advice thanks for stepping up and being an encourager.
Great video demonstration. I've been doing this for years with heirlooms. You can also put the seeds directly on a paper towel and let them dry out without fermenting them. Yes they do stick to the paper towel, but, if you separate the seeds on the paper towel before you let them dry, you can just tear the paper towel around the seed and plant it. That works too.
Tuck is the cutest, what a peaceful soul, i am happy for you both to have eachother and the love of being in the garden
I've watched many gardeners and their videos, since I'm starting my own garden, you are by far the best. Love the energy, positiveness, and passion for a garden. Keep it up 👍
Hi everyone! I must be the exception that makes the rule. Every year I buy my tomato plants at the garden center but this year I saw that video and went and bought a few different kinds of organic tomatoes at the grocery store and saved a slice of them from the salad preparation and put them in soil. Maybe beginner's luck, this season from those slices I planted 13 tomato plants of three different varieties. Beautiful, strong plants that have produced kilos and kilos of tomatoes. I said strong because they are still producing and I live in southern Ontario, we have a couple weekends with night temperatures on the 5°C and I thought that was it but they are still here. Again, maybe beginner's luck.
Definitely I'm using these techniques to save seeds from these great plants for next year. Wish me luck. Happy gardening next year everyone!!!
instaBlaster...
Living proof, it works! Definitely with Heirloom!
I have been doing this for years but i like your clear explanation... Tuck is your buddy, body guard and quality controll. And when you love him it shows that you are s pretty cool dude! Thanks my brother!
Wow - Thanks so much for this. I did the slice in the ground once and got dozens of plants. Not one made it to fruit.
Now fighting cancer im working toward a garden again.
Thank you🙏
Yes, this is an efficient and accepted method for saving seeds. I've done similar for years. I've also just stomped on tomatoes where I want them to be growing next year, and they grew. Usually better than those that were nurtured from the sprouting of the saved seeds. Why? Likely because only the strongest survived. I have learned that survival rate without much effort is more important than germination rate. Why do you think a plant produces so many seeds? To criticize the method of just putting a piece of raw tomato in the ground as wrong is not prudent. It DOES work. As you gain more experience in gardening and learn more about cooperating with nature, you will find that mold is not an enemy.
Right he's sounding like a hypocrite discouraging the methods of other's for his own. I picked up heirloom tomatoes from Publix one plant has even been growing since Fall still eating and giving away lot's of beautiful heirloom Organic tomatoes.
South Florida 9a-9b
Rather harsh, no? He wasn't being hypocritical, nor was he pushing "his method" over the slice method. He merely pointed out that the practical fact that it is better to enjoy both the tomato itself and use its seeds, while ensuring that you get a reproducible heirloom plant that meets or exceeds your expectations so as not to become discouraged or disappointed.
You are totally right, unless it's penicillin for me. I just fermented my first ever batch of true kosher sour pickles and they are so lovely. I can't really get enough. I start cabbage ferments today. I know it seems late but I'm in Maine on a mountainside and things usually are really late up here and I had everything in by the end of June.
Seeds sink, seeds sank, seeds have sunk. Basic elementary school English. Other than that, thanks for the info.
I have saved seeds like this for 50 years. Is my grandma had the greatest green thumb.
I have been gardening for 30+ years and get the same germination rates regardless of method. Fermenting in a jar, drying on a paper towel, burying the slice or removing the jell with napkin/paper towel and drying. All worked for me with consistent results. The slice method just clumps them too close together making separating more difficult. As far as planting 2nd generation hybrid seeds I have experimented and you can isolate the plants after every generation. But you need to plant a lot of them to ensure you have a decent amount of plants to save the seed from the plant with the characteristics you desire. Too time consuming unless you really want to experiment with genetics. Having said that, saving hybrid seeds always resulted in a good tasting tomato and similar plants. Good info on your fermenting method for other people wanting to try it.
I love seeing Tuck! He is adorable very sweet guy! I never tried saving tomato seeds but I will definitely give it a try after watching you. I repurpose RX bottles for seed saving, the amber color blocks bright light. I peel off the medication label and replace with my own hand written one , Dollar Tree sells them 15 or more in a package. Love your channel James!
Thank you James!!!
Although I am by no means a new gardener, and I FO have a green thumb that goes ALL THE WAY TO MY ARM PIT, I have never saved seeds, except for marigolds. I am trying to save some seeds this year, and had only seen the info about slicing the tomato and burying it. I am thankful I stumbled across your instructions!!
And yes, I enjoy watching Tuck!!! He is ADORABLE and, I think adds a lot to the show!!
I put mine all on paper towels and yes you are right, The do stick, BUT remove because the towel really helps when planting out the seeds, you leave them on the towels, originally set the seed at the right distances, plant in pots the following year and lightly cover with soil, the paper helps keep moisture to the seed when sprouting, I have had a lot of success planting seeds this way.
I remember growing grape tomatoes one time many years ago. I grew it from one of those upsidedown hanging planter bags on our back porch. My mom likes eating tomatoes and she'd usually grab a couple each day to snack on while she drove to work.
Tuck isn't fooled by 'gardening hacks'. Tuck learns from the best. Be like Tuck.
cringe
Kayla Kristine That would be a funny shirt, but you’d need a pic of Tuck to pull it off.
Tuck is the bestest good boy
@@dawnesmith-sliming7004 If you've seen one Yorkie, you've seen them all.
I bet we can learn alot from Tuck, dude is more down to earth than 80% of humanity ^.^
James and Tuck influenced me to start my food forest. I hope Tuck stays healthy and strong
Thank you for this excellent demonstration! I came on to it just last year, and followed your instructions pretty closely, although I only let them soak about 2 days, or 2 overnights. I saved loads of my Cherokee Purple tomato seeds (my absolute favorite tomato!). Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get my tomato seeds into the ground this year due to the weather, but I may try some now that the weather is finally warming up, and, hopefully, it won’t be too late. But, I sent a bunch of the seeds to my brother in another state and he’s told me he has had a 100% germination rate, which is unheard of, even from reputable seed-sellers! He has been sending me regular photos, and all the plants are growing vigorously and are starting to set. So, thanks to you, many of us will be feasting on lucious, juicy tomatoes in the near future.
Apart from the most incredibly useful advice, I love listening to you Mr Prigioni for your oomph and enthusiasm - impossible not to go out there immediately to put that advice into practice!
Strange, my other gardening guru is Huw Richards - a softly spoken, laid-back chap. What a great combination for.inspiration!
Thanks Mr Prigioni!!
Tuck is so cute and I love how he eats the veggies right out of the garden. He is an awesome little guy.
I love Tuck and you are great! I've been growing my food for all my adult life and feel like a novice every year. There's always something new to learn Love your techniques and your enthusiasm.
A tomato seed is one of the few near indestructible seeds. They will grow after passing through the human digestive system and through the sewage works. They will also grow if you just squish a tomato slice onto the ground. Buying them in little packets also works.
Yeah I mean you should see how many tomatoes we get that grow back as weeds
The next year, just from all the fruits that fall into the path and get mixed into the soil
Most seeds will pass through a mammals digestive system unharmed.
It's all about whether or not the outer shrek of the seed was mechanically breached.
I worked on a farm that also had a brewery and the outhouse for the guests had a sewage backflow that was coming out of this pipe outside, so we had to close down the bathrooms. Roma tomatoes were growing in the spot where the human crap was overflowing.
david birch our toms grew from slices thrown on compost pile!
@@jtrose6995 I work on a lil farm
We grow 3 hundred feet of just cherry tomatoes in three 100 foot rows
And they produce alot, and so many of the cherries just fall to the ground and get squsihed into the soil
And next year so many of them sprout, it's obnoxious really
Spend more time weeding out those sprouting tomatoes than I'd like
You are so right when you speak of 'hacky' methods that are unproven and just plain wrong. It can be discouraging. I like to get online info from gardeners who shoe their gardens, show their successes and failures, and show their methods in stages. Bonus is gardeners who will respond to your online questions. Thanks for this post - a year later!
James I couldnt find the survey you asked us to fill out. But I was thinking to myself when your channel popped up. Now is someone who I trust. I've been watching you for a long time. I think your course would be the best. So I say go for it if you can I understand it's not as easy as before. God bless. You make my day. I love learning I always learn something from you.
I love seeing Tuck! I love him digging his holes, and eating his carrots and cucumbers! So adorable!. He def brightens my day! I love all the advice you give too, thanks so much, I am learning a ton, This is my first year gardening, My hubby has gardened a lot, but he learned as he went so there are some things he don't know, i tell him what i learned and he tells me stuff he knows, we make a great team!
Very happy I found you. I have been gardening for over 10 years too and learned by myself that many things you hear are not true. Now I moved to Michigan and am learning about northern fruit trees. I saw your video about planting apples from seeds! I learned a lot. Thanks. I like to. Know more about northern fruit trees. I have in my small backyard over 30 fruit trees!!
i have got two 'red delicious' variety of apple sprouted from seed and a bunch of 'honey crisp' apple seeds on my germinating shelf right now! and i got one spouted 'naval orange' seed into a pot of soil yesterday...it was from my own orange tree!
Tuck needs to be in EVERY video! Thank you for the tips. Appreciate this video!
Great vid…. I’ve also had a very good success by cutting a tomato in half and laying it face down on kitchen, paper towel and switching it send it to feed come out and spread across the kitchen towel and then leave it to dry which desiccates the outer inhibitor coating, leaving only the seed. You can then cut the kitchen towel decisions, which makes it very easy to select the individual seeds to plant. Can you come to see you along with its attached piece of kitchen towel. This also helps retain some water and moisture around the field encouraging it to sprout to really easy method when you get to keep the rest of the tomato to eat.
Thank you for the genuine and useful information, not spreading misinformation with useless “ hacks” 💕 💐
I saved seeds last year for the first time. This year, everything did great except my peppers. I've had hell with peppers this year, even store bought seeds. The tomato variety is a beefsteak. I bought the seeds year before last. That first year, the tomatoes that had end rot or worms, I just tossed them in the container they were in. Last year, one of the tomatoes germinated. I transplanted them. I had 2 gardens last year, one at my house and one at my grandpa's house. The one at my grandpa's house, I had problems with. Water well went down a few times, and someone turned off the water for about a week. About a week before the 1st freeze, I had 1 green tomato growing. Everything was slowing down on producing, so I turned off the water. I went back out about a week after the freeze to clean everything up. That one tomato survived and ripened. I definitely saved the seeds from it. I germinated them this year and they are flowering already. Gave some away so other people can have that line of tomatoes. From what I've heard, it should have a higher frost resistance, I'm hoping it does. But I'll be saving seeds from it this year as well
I never knew about how to save seeds. I'm in my 50's from an aggie family and wind up buying my tomato plants every year and have done lousy with seeds. Now at least I know what to do with harvested seeds. Thanks! I already knew about hybrids and GMO's.
❤️ your precious dog I have a shadow dog myself. Harley is always with me in the garden he’s my protector.
i'm new to gardening. I squashed and squirted out some seeds (Golden grape tomato) onto some potting mix in a small ex-strawberry packaging. Kept it in semi shade, kept it relatively moist. 2-3 weeks later all sprouted. Spring starts tomorrow I've potted some of them now.
Often times I get tomato plants growing from my compost pile. I just transplant them where I want them to grow. The type of tomato is a surprise but no matter. It adds to the joy and fun of gardening
I made the mistake of putting tomatoes in my worm bin, I now have lots of bonus tomatoes that sprout every where in my garden. I just leave them be and what I get out of them is a bonus :)
Thank you for sharing your insight. It's a blessing to give knowledge and to receive it. Please keep up the great work. You have inspired my husband and I in our gardening adventures. Big hearts to Tuck and you ♡♡♡
Tuck is always my sunshine! I get pure joy watching him enjoy the fruits of your labor🌻🥒🥕He will always be super healthy living the way God intended 🐾🙏
I just put the seed on a piece of paper and let it dry. No special treatment and next year I plant them and they grow. I have some cherry tomatoes in my garden that selfseed for couple years now. Its basically a weed that keeps growing abundantly.
@Michael Fresh I take seeds only from ripe tomatoes.
@Michael Fresh I leave it there to compost. Whatever tomato plants grow from the seeds on the ground is doing well so I assume only the good ones sprout.
@Michael Fresh yes. It is usually so many tomatoes that it is easier just to leave it there. The plant (wild tomatoes) keeps producing until late autumn and there are many still green fruits.
@Michael Fresh that doesn't even make sense... all using immature seed will do is decrease viability.
Tomatoes are but one nuisance volunteer garden vegetables. This year I had over 50 squash volunteers!..spaghetti, zucchini, and butternut squash. I also had pear, cherry and steak tomatoes volunteer. I wonder if I even need to plant anything next year, lol!
Thank you for clearing that up. I saw that slice the tomato, lay it on the top of the dirt in the pot and stash it in the dark video... I admit I was intrigued to try it but I was also very sceptical about that technique. I'm not a new gardener, but I am trying to build soil for a new garden in a completely different land than I have been used to in the past. It's been a completely different and difficult experience for me in this area but I'm never going to quit and I'm almost there! I'm so exited to be so close to finally having a fully functioning and productive garden again. I can't wait until next year. You and Tuck have become my favorite gardening teachers the past several years and I enjoy your fun loving attitude as you teach. Your really both wonderful. ❤️🌱🐶🥰 God bless you both and your garden. My name is Kimberly, I'm using my boyfriend's phone at the moment. Thank you for caring enough to make these videos.
With hybrid plants, a way to continually grow them is to save the suckers from the old plant before frost and pot them in a greenhouse or inside for the winter. Then you can continue to perpetuate the same plants.
The most important thing is that the plant is mature. You can use hybrids but you won't get what you expect. I have been gardening for forty years. I learned from my mom, grandparents ( who were born in the 1800s) . My family just washes the seeds and they always come up and do well.
I have been gardening ever since I was a child. I got my green thumb from my grandfather. I will agree, if you are saving seeds, this is absolutely the best way to do it for the best results. However, I also have to kind of disagree with not burying the tomato. Every fall, I let a few tomatoes remain in the ground and every spring, I have strong healthy plants from those tomatoes. You can always tell where the tomato was buried because there will be a dozen sprouts in one area. I just pinch off the smallest ones and let the largest grow. The biggest issue with doing this is when there is an early warm up in the spring and then another freeze spell. That will kill the sprouts, if you don't protect them.
It's always best to start your tomato plants indoors and transplant them when the weather stays warm. I've never planted a slice of tomato in the spring. I would think the tomato needs the winter to naturally remove the sprout inhibitor. I am in now way a specialist, this is just my input.
I do enjoy the information you put in your videos. But I have to say, they can be a struggle to watch. The editing from clip to clip is just so jumpy. I personally would like a smoother transition between takes. (Just a little constructive criticism. I'm not trying to insult) Keep up the good work.
Paper plate instead of paper towel ...
Little things like that is why I thoroughly enjoy hearing what you have to say...
....wanted to ask you if Lil Tuck pees on anything and if that is a problem... I have a French Mastiff and will probably try to block his urination by making 2.5 ft raised beds and small bamboo fencing but also we put a real fence in the front yard so I can restrict his bac yard time where the veggies n herbs will be
JP Maxey
Guess what the racoons and other critters do on the farm..... you just don't see it. Gets washed off anyway and watered down with the rain.... good source of nitrogen by the way.... lol.
Yeah I think those raised beds are a very good idea, also easier on your back.
I have 13 dogs and they are my best companions and your little spark of life Tuck is a huge gift to your show.
I ferment my tomato seeds all the time. Yes it stiiiinnnnkkksssss, BUT the end result is FANTASTIC! The seeds are so much easier to clean up and dry. 2019 pink brandywine crop fermented gave me a sandwich size ziploc bag full of seeds. The germination rate was off the charts too!
It's 2020 and people realize that we are being lied to by every big business.
Travis k history, science... all of it, the deeper you go the more you realize how gullible we are. Its not our faults though.
AND we are being lied to by mainstream news as well!
@@tarapath5099 But that's been going on for the past 20 years. People have been in denial about that though.
@@travisk5589 Yes, they are in denial but its been going on for WAY more than 20 yrs! Well, the good news is that NOW/soon people will be "forced" to wake up as the Solar Flash is around the corner!
@@tarapath5099 What's the solar flash? I am willing to bet it doesn't happen.
How could anyone day NOT be brightened by seeing MrTuck??
Thank you so much on how to save seeds the correct way 😊
Put a dried pea or a few pieces of dried rice in with your seeds to keep them dry.
An excellent video👍😆👍
Thanks for the Great Tip on this also
Great idea
I was watching someone the other day harvesting tomatoes, and he mentioned he was going to save some seeds to ferment, so that gave me an important clue. Thanks for doing a video on how to do this!
Oddly enough I had a small tomato sit on my kitchen sill for what seamed like forever. I finally opened it to dry out the seeds and to my surprise the seeds inside were growing. So I planted them. I got two nice plants that bore really nice fruit… it was so neat!
Excellent video!
This past season, the best tomatoes I grew were from volunteers that sprouted up in my planting spot. Imallowed them to establish themselves for a couple of weeks then dug them and organized them. They produced great tomatoes. They were planted in woodchip compost and I only watered them twice when very young. The rain was timed perfect.
James, I can attest that this method yields seed that remain viable for much longer if properly stored. I'm glad you are doing these more sensationalist titles, but actually giving good advice instead of the typical click bait.
I planted 6 year old seeds this year that were stored in the fridge: black krim. You can see how big they are in my latest video (2020 spring garden tour).
I usually ferment seeds from 6-8 tomatoes of the same variety in one jar to save time. I did an experiment covering 3 slices of an overripe Roma tomato in a pot and got about 50 plants! Lol. In my experience, the volunteers (survivors) are always the strongest and healthiest, but the fermented seeds are the most reliable and easy to store.
I am thinking that it depends on the soil where the seeds fall. I heard a guy in the islands say that mango trees grow wherever they throw the husks. They didn't even have to take out the seed.
I've been blown away by the celery that self-seeded! I planted the leftover bottom of a celery, it grew into a prolific flower (not really any stalks) and then the following year (this year) I have some beautiful new celery plants and have been cutting stalks of one at a time. I've learned celery is a biennial, so every other year the plant will make flowers (celery seeds!) and the following year it will make the yummy stalky veggie.
I can count on you to have basic, fact based, and experienced information. And I love your garden.
Hi James and Tuck. Great vid as always. Love seeing your garden and the hard work you have put into it. You have actualy inspired me to start my first small 20x30 foot garden in my back yard. Just got my chips down for the winter. Looking forward to starting it up in the spring. And more vids from you..
May God bless your garden :)
Let's Goooo! Good stuff my friend, I love to hear you're already prepping for next year
Does anyone know whether or not jet star tomato seeds can or should be treated? I guess they can be saved like any others.
I always save some the normal way just in case but honestly I have so far had just as many plants com up on their own from letting a few rot on the ground where they grew.
Tuck is the coolest love watching him pluck carrots out of the ground and eat them. I enjoy watching all your videos bro
yes, natures tooth brush... or is that an apple a day keeps somethin somethin
When I plant tomatoes, I cut a slice from a tomato I like (usually one from my friend’s garden), I lay the tomato directly on top of the soil, and I water the slices. And I get beautiful tomato plants.
Excellent video. Last year I saved Black russian tomato seeds using this method, they all germinated. A far higher success rate than my shop bought seeds.
I agree. I never watch videos that dont include peoples product. Great info. Thanks for sharing
I love saving seeds! That way I can have plenty, because, being real here, stuff happens sometimes. Good to know there's more seed if something goes wrong.
James, you and Tuck are pure MAGIC! I'm obsessed with your videos. I live in an apartment and have to deal with container plants on my patio (I have a lot!). I'm dreaming of ground earth....I wonder if I could be arrested for planting a food forest on the median in front of my building?
The Matrix got you.
I have dine this for years and no one else I knew did so , your seed looks so clean
The only difference is I changed my water not to get mold and put the seed on paper / thin cloth towels to dry Essentially the same principal
Thanks!
So we used to have gray water coming from the sink to the side yard. Every year my husband would dig up the tiny stout seedlings from all over our 5-acre property and transplant them. One year we had 300 plants! There were so many tomatoes, we had a hard time tending to them, lol. We would also get "volunteer" of various fruit tees and other veggies, from throwing the seeds outside and composting all winter. There's just nothing like biting into a wonderful peach you've grown from a seed which would have been otherwise discarded. I found out though, that this does not work with peppers.
I love your videos man, keep them coming. And Tuck is awesome. Thanks for your hard work.
Tuck is a damn star. Just adore him ❤
Perfect timing! I’ve fallen in love with ground cherries this summer and want to save the seeds to grow next year.
Also just got back from the Carolinas with a bunch of perennial flower seeds that I foraged. Wondering if I can just plant some of the seeds now to see if they can get a head start on next year or if they have to go through a resting or chilling period...hmmm...
do a little bit now and a lil bit later.... maybe you will succeed in helping those types travel to new environment, that is our relationship with plants!
I’m fascinated by seeds as well. The abundance of this earth is represented in a seed. And when they are sown in fertile soil the potential is endless. I believe they are a metaphor for all life.
I like your method glad I watched a tip for you is when trying to plant tiny tiny seeds use a whit paper plate . Dump seeds on plate have your seed starters ready . I like the ones for this that you add water to and they swell up . Use tiny hole or holes in them , then use a small pointy knife any kind as long as it’s pointy . Dampen point of knife and touch it to a few seeds and they will stick to point of knife . Hold it over your hole and push off with anything dry a card of any kind works well as long as it’s dry . It works great and you don’t wast hundreds of tiny seeds and tedious thinning after germination
Thank you for the true behind-the-scene of saving seeds. I've never been successful with it before. I sure gonna try it again! :D
Thank you so much!!! I love your heart, and Tuck of course ♥
I prefer to stick them to paper towel. Put a small piece in the soil and it sprouts. Easier to see and handle.
That’s a great idea...
Dave Hendricks. The paper towel is less mess, less process and you can write on the towel date/ variety. I swear by it 👍❤️
I have tried the fermentation method and it hasn't worked for me. 🤷
I germinate them first and then put the sprouts and their paper towel into the ground as to not damage the roots
Dave Hendricks Great idea. And so simple.
@@mariap.894 I don't understand this paper towel method. Do you throw the whole tomato in a paper towel or what's the process? and how do you remove the sprout inhibitor?
This totally works! I do this every other year if It's a good harvest. But it's crazy how we put so much effort into starting seeds indoors when for instance I was gathering up all my containers to compost the soil and left it for a week or so, it rained a lot....when I went to compost, 20 tomato seedlings popped up from a cherry tomato that must have fallen on the surface. It's way to late here to grow warm crops so it got composted.. they looked so healthy. The reason we ferment seeds is so we can have them when we want.. but the ones that I have whitenesses that grow naturally seem to be healthier.
Ive followed this guy from close to the beginning when his yard was well a yard and now look at it! Great gardner, great information on gardening, and great energy caring, and thoughtfulness for the beginning gardner well done Tuck and James P. Tuck is the mastermind behind it all and definately makes me smile. Wanna learn to feed your family the correct way this is a great place for it, as James has already done the trial and error which is obvious looking at the Forest he has been blessed to create!! Great Job!
Perfect timing for this as I'm flirting with the time of our first hard frost and I've got a tomato I love the flavor of. I completed your survey as well. Thanks for sharing your knowledge
Silica packets are good for preserving seeds too, keeps the moisture out when storing seeds or herbs.
Only if they are freshly charged. They have a limited moisture capacity just like batteries have a limited capacity. Recharge silica gel beads at 130c or 260f in the oven for several hours. Be careful that they are not in plastic packets that will melt, paper is easiest
Tyvek packets can be recharged but reduce heat to 120c or 230f and it will take about 8+ hours
Loose beads can be recharged much faster at higher temperatures of 160c/320f.
They can practically hold about 20-30% of their dry weight in moisture at normal room temps. (Ideally they can hold 40% at 25c/77f but this is with high humidity and little useful drying power)
@@mytech6779 Thank you so much for sharing this information!!! I save so many seeds I use old spaghetti vlass jars, and the packets are perfect for saving me from mold growth. I should have realized that they would go bad eventually, but I am so grateful for finding your information! Thanks again!!!
@@Irishjay-gu5pb If they are allowed to sit in the open air, silica packets will saturate in only about 6-8 hours depending some on conditions.
@@mytech6779 that's great!! Many thanks for sharing your knowledge!! :)
@@Irishjay-gu5pb I would also like to add if you ever run low on the silica desiccant you can purchase it in bulk cheaply at most grocery markets or pet supply stores used as another form of Kitty litter. There is no clay or anything else mixed with it and should be mostly clear beads/pellets with some blue colored ones sprinkled in.
Who in the hell ever told you to bury a slice of tomato? I've been gardening for 40 years and never heard of that until now. I bought heirloom beefsteak seeds like15 years ago and have never needed to buy another tomato seed or plant. They self sow in my raised beds, along with dill and thyme. And I'm in northern PA.
i've seen that"advice" on you tube dozens of times i know it's nonsense but lots of people don't this guy's doing a good job best wishes
Lol I heard a famous RUclipsr named Doug say that in a comment section
i thought those 'put the tomatoe slice in the ground' video was for a teaching tool for the teachers(who are always asking for more) to teach the lil youngins what not to do!
I saw planted sliced tomatoes on a video. Thank you so much for letting me know it was bogus.
@@melodyjordan6052 There is a group of people that make some of those videos with hacks that draw lots of views. They are monitized and slickly produced. Between the ads and the clicks, millions are made.
The best cherry tomatoes I ever grew came from a snack tray at the supermarket. Red, orange and yellow, I still keep the seeds and have grown them over and over. Also, the snacking peppers same thing, been saving and growing for a couple years now...
Dont know if you look back at old video comments but i have been watching over a year however, i have watched out of order but i do love your videos. And your relationship with your pup inspired me to feed my pug carrots😁. She loves carrots! So now i plant carrots hoping to see my own pup dig up carrots😆. I cant wait to start using my own fresh carrots in my recipes