Saving Green Grape Tomato Seeds - Are They Really Small?

I tried to save seeds from my Green Grape tomatoes this morning, from two plants. The seeds were all too small to be viable. I found a couple seeds that were a little larger in the ripest tomatoes--only a couple--and they were pretty small still. Does anyone know if Green Grape seed is smaller than normal? And/or do you have to wait until the tomato, of this variety in particular, is overripe or nearly rotting to get good sized seeds? I've saved many tomato seeds over the years, but this variety has me stumped.

I'm guessing you're picking them too green -- hard to tell with this variety! In general, there's no need to choose over-ripe tomatoes for seed saving, but you do need to have ones that are fully ripe. Grape tomato plants usually produce abundantly, so letting a few little tomatoes get over-ripe would probably do the trick.

The seeds on grape tomatoes are generally smaller, I think, but they should still have some substance to them, as if there's something inside their covering... hard to describe, but it sounds like you've figured out how to distinguish viable seeds.

Good luck!

Thanks for your suggestions!

The tomatoes weren't too green when I picked them--I am one who prefers to eat very ripe tomatoes, so I do let them get a little soft--but I will try letting them get very overripe and see what happens. It's really strange.

Did you put the seeds in water to make sure they sink? How do you know they are not Viable. My guess is if the T is ripe it's seeds are ok small or not.

I've saved seeds from currant tomatoes and they were really tiny. I've always been amazed at how the seed size can vary from variety to variety. I don't know how reliable the sink or swim method is. Tomatoes seeds aren't flat and if a little air gets under one they will float.

With fresh seeds, I think "sink or swim" works pretty well... just stir them up a few times. Or go ahead and ferment a batch of them... if they sink during fermentation, they should be good to grow.

Agreed, you can't just dump them in. Which I have seen done. I assumed they were fermented.

Hmmm... well, they looked immature, actually. Extremely tiny. I'll see what leaving them on the vine longer does.

Thanks for your feedback!