Overdoing It

Search the Web for instructions for saving tomato seeds and you will find some really yucky photos of a mixture of tomato seeds and water covered with mold. The instructions declare that tomato seeds will not germinate unless they have been fermented to remove the jelly-like substance that encases them, using a process involves several days, numerous steps, and bad odor.

It isn't true. For many years I've saved tomato seeds by scooping seeds out onto a piece of paper towel and allowing them to dry. Here are some I started drying yesterday afternoon...

When they are completely dry they are stuck to the paper. Then I write the name of the tomato variety and the year on the paper, wrap it in waxed paper or put it in a plastic bag, and store it in the basement. The seeds I started yesterday were completely dry this morning...

When I'm ready to start new tomato plants I pick the seeds off the paper and put them in little pots of seed starting medium. Give them some water and a few days later they pop up. That's it. No fermentation, no rinsing, none of the steps that Web experts consider necessary.