Cherry tomato seeds

[winter_unfazed]

I have noticed that sometimes tomatoes, ripened off-the-vine from green, have seeds that are still dark-green or near-black. Can these seeds be saved for planting next year?

[Gary]

Jeff, Some Tomato Growers save seed from green mature tomatoes. They wash and treat them rather than fermenting them like you do with ripe tomatoes. I understand that the shelf life of saved seed which came from green fruits have less germination after several years storage. I have not tried this process.
Your cherry tomatoes, if they are ripe, should ferment without difficulty. The gell serves as an inhibitor keeping the tomato from germinating if it falls to the ground.
Gary

[bhpigeon2]

I have noticed that sometimes tomatoes, ripened off-the-vine from green, have seeds that are still dark-green or near-black. Can these seeds be saved for planting next year?
Black seeds may be saved for planting as long as they have not begun to sprout. When tomato seeds blacken during fermentation, it's usually from allowing them to ferment too long. At that point, the "fuzz" on the seed coat will have been eaten up by bacterial action, the next step after fermentation. In the off-the-vine ripening, and black seeds, I suspect that the same is happening. The gel surrounding the seeds will have broken down and bacterial activity is taking place. It is the same thing as when seeds sprout inside a tomato, a condition which happens frequently when tomatoes are stored for a long time.

bhp2

[winter_unfazed]

I've had that happen before; they start to sprout inside the fruit.

It also happens with maxima pumpkins.