Store the seeds in a cool, dark, dry place. Refrigerating them is not necessary but that will ensure these conditions to enable your seeds to last the longest (that's if you need them to last beyond a year or two). Do NOT store seeds in the crisper drawers in the fridge.
Refrigerated seeds will germinate like all other seeds, but given their storage temperature, they can be left at room temperature for several hours and allowed to warm before planting. Seeds with hard shells will germinate faster if softened in lukewarm water for 8-12 hours.
Storing Tomato Seeds
Gently scrape the seeds into labeled paper envelopes. Store them in a dry place at a cool, steady temperature. You could store envelopes in a tin or other sealed container, together with silica gel crystals to keep the air dry. Seeds can store for up to five years.
To keep the seeds cool (ideally, below 50 degrees), some people store them in a jar in their refrigerator or freezer. Seeds in good condition and stored properly will last at least one year and, depending on the plant, may last two to five years.
Keep seeds out of direct sunlight in a cool spot that maintains a fairly consistent temperature. Consider a cold closet, a basement, or a room on the north side of your home that remains cool year round. Freezing isn't necessary for short-term storage, but you can refrigerate seeds, provided they are sufficiently dry.
If not planting your seeds right away, we recommend you store your seed packets under cool conditions by placing them in a refrigerated plastic container. This will not cold stratify the seeds if they are kept dry, but simply stores them well.
Seed germination requires a suitable warm temperature. Both very low and very high temperatures are unsuitable for germination. The temperature inside a refrigerator varies between 5∘C to 20∘C and this is certainly very low temperature. Therefore the seeds kept in refrigerator do not germinate.
Tomato seeds kept at warm room temperature and sprayed with water twice daily should sprout within a week. As soon as the seedlings break the surface, move them to bright light. A full-spectrum grow-light is ideal, but a sunny window will do provided the seedlings are watched closely to make sure they don't dry out.
You don't need to soak your tomato seeds before planting, but it won't hurt them. It may be a way to speed up the germination rate.
Fermentation is not the only way to control seed-borne diseases. Washing seeds in plain water, in salt water, in hot water (around 122°F – boiling water is 212°F – so this is just hot water) for 15 minutes are all methods for controlling seed-borne diseases.
Once they have dried, you won't be able to tell them apart — and you always want to make sure to keep your varieties straight. Store the jar in a cool, dark place — around 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Celsius) — for three to four days.
dry, store them in an airtight container. If you keep them dry, tomato seeds should last at least five years. If they are dry and cool (in airtight jars in the basement, garage, etc), they can keep for 10 to 12 years.
The viable seeds will sink to the bottom while the pulp and unviable seeds will float. Carefully pour off the unviable seed and floating pulp. Then, add more water and repeat this step until only heavy, viable seeds remain. This process is known as water winnowing.
Seeds don't need light to germinate, although after germination, you should ideally give the seedlings 14 or more hours of light a day. If you're growing indoors on a windowsill, be sure to place pots in a warm, sunny spot that gets a good amount of natural light.
Refrigerate seeds before planting to improve germination. It's not always so simple as just sticking seeds in the ground. There are a number of techniques and treatments that encourage seeds to germinate.
Most seeds will germinate over quite a wide range of soil temperatures but the speed of germination will vary. Too cold and they'll be very slow to sprout and too hot will also reduce the speed of germination. Far too cold or hot and they'll just fail.
The seed coat is a part of the seed's natural defenses against the harsh forces found in nature. It prevents the seed from sprouting when conditions are not at their finest. By seed soaking, you're telling the seed that it's the right time to germinate and begin becoming a plant.
Water newly planted tomatoes well to make sure soil is moist and ideal for growing. Early in the growing season, watering plants daily in the morning. As temperatures increase, you might need to water tomato plants twice a day. Garden tomatoes typically require 1-2 inches of water a week.
Start tomatoes indoors in seed-starting trays or recyclable pots, six to eight weeks before the last frost date in your area. In U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 8 and 9, start seeds as early as mid-January; in USDA zones 3 or 4, wait to start seeds until mid- to late March and early April.
Tomato fruits are laden with tiny seeds that will readily sprout if they reach the soil. But rather than waiting for accidental volunteers, it's quite easy to save seeds from tomato fruits so you can plant them exactly when and where you want.
To make up for any that may not germinate, plan to sow two to three seeds per cell. Place one seed on the surface of the soil, and repeat with the others, spacing them out an equal distance from each other.
Sprinkle seeds into punnets of seed raising mix, and keep moist in a warm position until they germinate (about one week). Prick out seedlings and plant into small individual pots (50-100mm wide) filled with potting mix mixed with homemade compost. Keep them in a bright warm spot until their roots have filled the pot.
Recalcitrant. Seeds which cannot survive drying below a relatively high moisture content (often in the range 20–50% wet basis) and which cannot be successfully stored for long periods.
The time you need to keep your seeds in the refrigerator depends on the variety, but 4-5 weeks should be a sufficient amount of time for most seed varieties. Once there's no more chance of frost in your area, take your seeds out of the fridge and spread seed on bare soil as normal.
Store seeds in tightly sealed glass containers. You can store different kinds of seeds, each in individual paper packets, together in a large container. Keep seeds dry and cool. A temperature between 32° and 41°F is ideal, so your refrigerator can be a good place to store seeds.