How to Save Tomato Seeds Without Fermenting

Tips on how to easily save tomato seeds on a paper towel and growing new plants from them the next year. This method is the best way to save tomato seeds without fermenting and takes just a few minutes. Also includes information on which types of tomatoes are best for saving seeds.

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Saving tomato seeds is extremely easy and a great way to save money and regrow your favorite varieties. However, some make out that saving tomato seeds is more complicated than it needs to be. That you need to ferment them and go through a days-long process of filtering, drying, and storing. You really don’t need to do this at all, though. Saving tomato seeds on paper towels is really the way to go for the home grower and will save you much time and effort.

Use these tips to save seeds from your favorite open-pollinated tomato varieties. It will take you all of a few minutes, plus drying time, and the seeds can be viable for up to fifteen years stored this way. You can also plant the tomato seeds still on the paper when it comes to growing tomatoes in spring!

Open-Pollinated Varieties vs Hybrids.

Firstly, a word of caution on saving vegetable seeds of any kind. If they’re not open-pollinated then the plants that grow from the seeds will probably not grow true to the parent plant. Many of the seeds available to the home grower are F1 hybrids which can be more vigorous but will not grow true from saved seeds. These are perfectly fine to grow and eat and not in any way genetically modified (in the modern sense), but you should avoid trying to save seeds from them.

Tips on how to easily save tomato seeds on a paper towel and growing new plants from them the next year. This method is the best way to save tomato seeds without fermenting and takes just a few minutes. Also includes information on which types of tomatoes are best for saving seeds from. #gardeningtips #vegetablegarden #growtomatoes

F1 hybrid seeds are the result of breeding two different varieties that produce consistent offspring with good yields. That offspring is the F1 hybrid plant growing in your garden! If you save seeds from the fruit of that plant, they probably won’t grow plants that produce the same kind of fruit. If you do try to grow seeds collected from hybrid vegetables, the crops you’ll get can look and taste completely different from what you expect.

Seeds saved from open-pollinated varieties can grow true, though, as long as they haven’t cross-pollinated with another plant. More on that is below. So if you’re looking to save tomato seeds, avoid saving seeds from tomatoes that are F1 hybrids and stick with heirloom varieties that are open-pollinated.

Open-pollinated heirloom tomatoes are the best for saving seeds.
Save seed from open-pollinated tomato varieties. These are often marketed as ‘Heirlooms’

Cross-Pollination of Tomatoes

Cross-pollination can be a big headache for the home seed saver. What happens is that wind and bees and other insects spread pollen from one flower to another. When this happens it shares genetic material from one plant to another and can stimulate a flower to become a fruit. Usually, when this happens, the cross-pollinated crop doesn’t look any different from a crop that isn’t cross-pollinated. It’s the seeds inside the fruit that carry the genetic cross though.

Don’t Miss These Other Tomato Ideas

Heirloom tomatoes of different colors and sizes sitting on the kitchen counter and in a wooden trug.
Most open-pollinated tomato varieties are easy to save seeds from

For example, if squash is growing next to a zucchini, bees can spread the pollen from one to the other. You wouldn’t know it from the crops that season though because the zucchini looks and tastes just like zucchini and the squash looks and tastes just like the squash variety you planted. But if you save the seeds from either, and grow them the next year, your plants will be a cross of both squash and zucchini!

Fortunately, tomatoes do not cross-pollinate with one another that easily. They’re self-fertile and usually pollinate themselves due to how their flowers are formed. That means that saving tomato seeds is much safer than other types of vegetables that cross-pollinate more readily.

A letter from a seed swap through the mail along with tomato seeds saved on a paper towel.
Saving tomato seeds on a paper towel makes them easy to share among friends

Saving Tomato Seeds by Fermenting

The most common method of saving tomato seeds that you’ll see recommended involves fermenting them. You scrape tomato innards into a jar, add water, and let the whole thing start fermenting and even molding over. Then you strain, rinse, and dry the seeds.

This is the way that seed companies clean and save tomato seeds and it’s a good method. It removes the gelatinous covering around the seed and makes the seeds easy to sort into little sachets to sell. It takes several days though and you need to clean and dry the seeds at the end. In my opinion, saving tomato seeds on paper towels is the best way to save tomato seeds for the home grower.

Begin by scraping the seeds out of a tomato and onto a paper towel

Save Tomato Seeds on a Paper Towel

For me, the easiest way to save tomato seeds is to scrape them out of the fruit and on a paper towel. Afterward, I spread the seeds and squish the pulp as best as I can. This creates space for the eventual seedlings to grow and helps speed up the drying time. Then I let the seeds dry completely then fold the paper up and store it in an envelope or ziplock bag. I also write the tomato variety and year directly on the paper towel.

When you first spread the tomato seeds on a paper towel, it will be soaking wet. I recommend that you put a second paper towel behind it to absorb excess moisture. Then set them together on a surface that won’t be damaged by water. It takes a day or two for the towel to completely dry. Even the pulp dries out really well.

Saving tomato seeds in this way also makes them easy to share among friends. The seeds stick to the paper and are held there, completely viable, for up to fifteen years. I learned this technique from a friend who sent me some of his ‘Late Plum’ variety.

Tips on how to easily save tomato seeds on a paper towel and growing new plants from them the next year. This method is the best way to save tomato seeds without fermenting and takes just a few minutes. Also includes information on which types of tomatoes are best for saving seeds from. #gardeningtips #vegetablegarden #growtomatoes
Once completely dry, the tomato seeds are easy to save, grow, and share

Growing Tomato Seeds Saved on Paper Towels

When the time comes to grow the tomato seeds, use a pair of scissors and cut a square off the paper towel. Save some of the seeds for another spring. Then plant the whole piece of paper in compost, covering it just lightly. The seedlings will grow just fine, paper and all. It will eventually degrade into the soil but even if there’s some left when it comes time to transplant, it will tear away easily. You’ll want to transplant your seedlings into individual modules when two true leaves have appeared.

Easy tomato growing tip: save tomato seeds on a paper towel and how to plant them the next year. You can plant them paper and all #lovelygreens #growtomatoes #howtogrowtomatoes #savingseeds #savetomatoseeds #gardeningtip #kitchengarden #vegetablegarden
Plant the seeds, paper and all

Sow Tomato Seeds in Late Winter to Spring

Growing tomato plants from seed isn’t difficult but it’s best to start them early if your springs are cold. On the Isle of Man (Coastal zone 8), it’s practically impossible to grow them outdoors early in the year. If you’re in a similar climate, nurturing them in a greenhouse, polytunnel, or warm windows is the best way to go forward.  Use tips for starting seeds indoors to get a head start on spring.

For me, growing tomatoes begins in mid-February when I sow the seeds for my greenhouse and polytunnel-grown plants. If you’re in the same climate as me but will be planting into unheated greenhouses, wait a couple of months later.

Easy tomato growing tip: save tomato seeds on a paper towel and how to plant them the next year. You can plant them paper and all #lovelygreens #growtomatoes #howtogrowtomatoes #savingseeds #savetomatoseeds #gardeningtip #kitchengarden #vegetablegarden
The seedlings will grow thickly but you can thin them out after

Grow Tomato Seeds on Paper Towels

To start your seeds this early you’ll need to do it in a warm place with plenty of light. Bottom heat is preferable and if you don’t have a propagator then setting the tray of seeds near a radiator works well too — just make sure it isn’t too hot and that the compost stays moist. Popping the tray into a clear plastic bag also helps in both retaining heat and moisture.

Use multipurpose or seed-starting compost and the rule of thumb in sowing is to cover the seeds with soil twice the depth of the seed itself. So if the seed is 3mm in length (the size of a tomato seed) then cover it with 6mm of soil.

Sprinkling a light layer of horticultural grit on top helps the compost retain moisture and won’t bother the seedlings at all. Tomato seeds germinate best at around 70-80°F and at this temperature you can expect to see green shoots within 6-8 days. When the sprouts have developed two true leaves it’s time to prick out tomato seedlings.

Easy tomato growing tip: save tomato seeds on a paper towel and how to plant them the next year. You can plant them paper and all #lovelygreens #growtomatoes #howtogrowtomatoes #savingseeds #savetomatoseeds #gardeningtip #kitchengarden #vegetablegarden
From seed to plant to fruit and completing the cycle

Propagating tomato plants from cuttings

If you’re growing a tomato plant, heirloom, or even an F1 hybrid there IS another way to keep the plant going year after year. This way is a little more involved but the plants you create will be far ahead of any that you grow from seed. If you’re intrigued, here’s how to propagate tomato plants from cuttings.

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17 Comments

  1. Lesley Wise says:

    Great articles on this site. I have a question about a possible nutrient deficiency problem I’m having this year with my toms – do you know of a good site with images that could help me?

  2. seminte de rosii says:

    Here it is my advice: If you have a favourite open pollinated tomato do yourself a favour and save some seeds. Then you’ll be able to enjoy them every year!

  3. Bren Haas says:

    Thank you for sharing this … I love growing tomatoes in my home garden. Growing from seed is super easy and fun to do for all ages. I love how you include a seed saving link at the end of the post. See you in the garden!

  4. Beth Billstrom says:

    No summer is complete without tomatoes! Thank you for the tips! I grow in a cooler climate and am considering a heated growing venue of some type. Greenhouse? Conservatory? Love the idea of tending my tomatoes in that type of environment.

    1. You can’t go wrong with growing tomatoes someplace warm! I WISH I could grow them outdoors here on the island but it really just isn’t possible. Greenhouses and conservatories all the way :)

  5. I have lots of varieties to sow this year but my favourites from last year were Black cherry and Cuor de Bue , I use a polytunnel for 10 plants but this year have been gifted sub arctic plenty and first in the field to try outdoors. great tip about the kitchen roll :)

  6. There was a time when i did this Tanya, but the wind blew all the glass out of our greenhouse in a storm and we have never replaced it. We are too far North to grow them outside, so we don't grow them any more – but I have yet to find a tasty shop bought one.

    1. Store-bought are very sad indeed…I wonder if a local Farmers Market might have some tomatoes for you in the summer?

  7. You all right save our own seeds is much cheaper and more interesting. Thanks for the tips.

  8. The Singing Gardener says:

    I am DETERMINED to have more success with tomatoes this year. I was going to experiment with a few different ways. Some will stay contiunally in the greenhouse in grow bags. Some will come outside in pots and some will be outside straight in the ground and I will see which do best.

  9. Some great tips Tanya, thank you. It's almost time to start sowing! Seed saving is something I'm hoping to do this year, provided I get some good tomatoes.

  10. Hey I recognize those seeds! I hope you get them to produce this year, I will be starting mine much later than you and some actually come up in the garden by themselves. We have mud here now so it will be a long wait until plowing again.