Can I Put Cherry Tomatoes in the Fridge Till Spring for Seeds?
1 way to begin new tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum) in old plants is to let the fruits drop and hope volunteer plants pop up next spring. So refrigerating this year’s cherry tomato fruits until spring may look like a good idea, but you will probably end up with a container of smelly mold. A few added steps before refrigerating the tomato seeds must help ensure success.
Use the Right Tomatoes
Tomato plants are self-pollinating. So odds are great that your cherry tomato crops will set viable seeds unless butterflies and mammals in the patch of tomato crops that produce larger fruits have visited. Defend your tomato crops’ genetic purity by bagging several sets of their blossoms in plastic until they form fruits. Avoid using hybrid tomato crops, which don’t copy correctly. Hybrid types are a cross between two different plants and the seeds are not feasible or will not produce the same plant as the parent. Choose an heirloom variety such as “Black Cherry,” “Cherry Roma” or “Currant Sweet Pea.” An heirloom that grows well in your lawn must reproduce accurately through its seeds. Select cherry tomatoes in a healthy plant and allow the tomato to fully ripen before removing the seeds.
Dry the Seeds
Preparing seeds properly creates the best results. Squeeze seeds out of cherry tomato fruits into a glass of water, and let the mixture sit three to five days. Pour film off the mixture’s surface, refill the glass and shake the mixture. Viable seeds sink, and empty seed cases stick to tomato innards on the surface. Eliminate the innards, and drain feasible seeds on paper towel. Place the seeds on a paper plate to dry overnight. Put dry seeds in a sealed container or plastic bag with a silica gel packet, and refrigerate them until spring. Cherry tomato seeds remain viable for approximately a few years if stored properly.