Why do tomatoes sprout inside?

On September 30, Elena Petrovna Fedotova, a resident of Odintsov, brought tomatoes with seeds sprouted inside to the editorial office of New Frontiers. “I bought it at our city market. I asked for brown, strong ones. And what did they sell? What would that mean? What if it's dangerous? What if they begin to sprout inside a person?” - the pensioner said excitedly...

Agronomist Svetlana Lychagina explains:

Seed germination inside a tomato fruit is not at all uncommon. Sometimes, with an abundance of heat and light, seeds manage to germinate even in a tomato plant hanging in the garden! Maybe these tomatoes were stored in the refrigerator, which turned out to be something like “winter” for the seeds. And then they were taken out of the refrigerator and laid out on the counter. Autumn is warm, the sun is hot... So the seeds perceived everything that happened to them as a normal natural “winter-spring” cycle and began to grow. You should not be afraid of this, treatments and chemicals, genetics and mutations have nothing to do with it, and this is not a transgenic variety. The product, of course, is substandard - must be returned to the seller. If you throw away the sprouted seeds and cut the walls of the fruit into a salad, you won’t get poisoned, don’t be afraid.

In general, tomato seeds, as they say, “know how to live” - there are cases when even the seeds of... salted tomatoes germinate! And even under the snow they manage to spend the winter. And the germination of the seeds of these representatives of the nightshade family lasts for four to five years. American cosmonauts also took them into orbit, although they were of a special variety – dwarf. In zero gravity... they also grow.

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What happened to the tomatoes? They sprout from the inside.

Seed germination inside a tomato fruit is not at all uncommon. Sometimes, with an abundance of heat and light, seeds manage to germinate even in a tomato plant hanging in the garden!

For you, this is most likely due to the increased humidity of the air and soil in the greenhouse. It was cold and rainy. And now autumn is warm, the sun is hot... So the seeds perceived everything that happened to them as a normal natural winter-spring cycle and began to grow.

Typically, seed germination inside the fruit occurs in the fall in a number of varieties. This can happen if you water the plant too much and do not remove the fruit for a long time. Therefore, do not wait for the fruit to ripen on the plant, but pick it in its brown form. Fortunately, not all varieties are susceptible to seed germination inside the fruit.

In general, the seeds of some varieties of tomatoes are surprisingly tenacious; there are cases where even the seeds of salted tomatoes germinate! Seeds lying under the snow can also survive. Well, properly prepared seeds remain viable for 4-5 years. And when stored in a hermetically sealed container (in a metallized bag) - more than 15 years.

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What we urgently do and what we don’t do with tomatoes after germination:
Tomato germination is a very important moment and if you don’t take urgent action with them, the seedlings will definitely drag on. To prevent the seedlings from being pulled out, follow the advice!

The simplest option for sowing tomato seeds: place them on the soil and cover them with a layer of soil a centimeter high. It is recommended to lay film or glass on top; this will provide a constant microclimate with a humidity of 80 to 90 percent for the seedlings. For seeds to begin to germinate, the ambient temperature must be between 25 and 30°C. Therefore, install the seedling boxes closer to heating radiators or another heat source.

Tomato seedlings should appear in 3 - 4 days if the surface air temperature is 25 - 28°C, after 5 days at a temperature of 20 - 25°C, and in 12 - 15 days or more if the temperature is in the region of 10 - 12° C.

Monitor the soil moisture daily and, if necessary, spray it with a spray bottle. If there is excess moisture, remove the film or glass to allow the soil to dry. High humidity often stimulates the formation of mold. In this case, you need to carefully remove the infected top layer and spill the soil with a solution of potassium permanganate or an antifungal drug (Fitosporin, Fundazol).

CARE OF TOMATO SEEDLINGS

Lighting

It is almost impossible to grow seedlings without good lighting! So immediately after the emergence of seedlings, place the container with seedlings on the lightest windowsill. True, in February and at the very beginning of March there will still not be enough light, so, if possible, organize additional lighting using fluorescent lamps.

Watering

Young seedlings require high, almost extreme humidity; it is dangerous to allow them to dry out. Therefore, do not rush to remove the film or glass over the seedlings. Every day, open the seedlings a little so that they adapt to fresh air, while remaining in the “greenhouse”. After a few weeks, the cover is removed completely. Tomato seedlings growing at home under film may not be watered for a long time. You need to carefully monitor the condition of the soil: you should not create a swamp, but you should not allow the top layer to dry out - the roots of the sprouts are still small and located in the top layer of soil. That is, drying it will lead to drying out of the root system. Water the seedlings very carefully, only under the stem. To avoid touching the sprouts, use a syringe without a needle or a large pipette.

The bays are also dangerous. Usually, both flooded and overdried tomato seedlings look the same: the leaves are flaccid, the stems have lost turgor. If you notice these symptoms, check the soil. If there is enough moisture in it, you cannot water it - the seedlings will die. Place the container with seedlings in a place protected from direct sunlight and do not water until the soil dries out. In the future, reduce the amount of watering.

Feeding

Tomato seedlings, two to three weeks after sprouting, begin to be fertilized weekly. It is preferable to use organic natural fertilizers, such as manure or grass. You can search the retail chain for special guano-based fertilizers, vermicompost or humic fertilizers. To feed seedlings, you need to use half the dose indicated on the label.

PICKING TOMATO SEEDLINGS

Tomato seedlings produce real leaves in 7–10 days. During this period, if the crops are too crowded, you can pick the seedlings into cups. It is believed that tomatoes can easily tolerate transplantation, but you still need to do this operation carefully - replant the sprouts along with a lump of earth at the root. Many gardeners recommend pinching the central root when picking. However, in our opinion, there is no need to do this - after all, the roots are still damaged, even with the most careful transplantation. That is, there is no point in further injuring the sprout. In addition, pinching a third of the root will delay the development of the plant by about a week. For the first transplant, small 200 ml cups are used.

After two to three weeks, if desired, you can plant a second seedling - this time in larger pots. If the seeds were initially sown in separate containers (cassettes, cups), then the transplant will be the first. It is recommended to take pots with a volume of over 0.5 - 1 liter. By the way, professional gardeners use even larger containers of 3 and even 5 liters for each plant. True, not every window sill, for example, in a city apartment, can withstand such a seedling “plantation”. Perhaps this is not necessary: for one plant, a volume of soil of one liter is quite enough.

PREPARATION FOR LANDING

At the age of one and a half months, the first flower clusters appear on tomato seedlings at home. Record this fact, since in one and a half to two weeks the seedlings will need to be planted in a greenhouse, on a balcony or in beds. You cannot delay replanting - this will reduce the yield. If you are going to keep the seedlings on the windowsill for more than 45 days, then there should be at least 1 liter of soil per plant.

Overexposure of tomatoes in small containers even for 10 days beyond the norm and the appearance of flowers leads to the cessation of vegetative growth, that is, the plants will remain “undergrown” forever. Even when transplanted into garden beds, they will no longer become full-fledged plants. Naturally, the harvest will be minimal! This problem is partly solved by removing the first flower brush, since the next brush appears only a week later. That is, planting seedlings can thus be delayed for a week.

Visually, tomato seedlings suitable for planting should have thick stems, large leaves, a strong root system and developed buds.

Source: homester.com.ua/dacha-sad

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Seeds sprouted inside a tomato

September 28, 2011 12:11

– Why did the seeds sprouted inside a ripe tomato picked from the bush?

Galina. Vitebsk.

– This is due to increased humidity in the air and soil. Typically, seed germination inside the fruit occurs in the fall in a number of varieties. This can happen if you water the plant too much and do not remove the fruit for a long time. Therefore, do not wait for the fruit to ripen on the plant, but pick it in its brown form. Fortunately, not all varieties are susceptible to seed germination inside the fruit. Mainly the so-called varieties of folk selection suffer from this.

Useful tips

To achieve good results in germinating seedlings with seedlings, you should use some tricks:

Before planting, seed material must be sorted out and unsuitable seeds must be discarded. Seeds that have the following deviations are not suitable for planting: small size, damage, dried out specimens.
To simplify the work, it is recommended to prepare a saline solution (1 teaspoon of table salt per 250 grams of water. Dip the seed material into the solution for half an hour. Those seeds that sink to the bottom can be planted, and those that float up should be thrown away. Seeds that have been in salt are Be sure to rinse with clean water.
Manganese solution is needed to disinfect seeds; it is also recommended to use “heteroauxin”; it strengthens the immune system of plants and makes them stronger.
A number of crops are grown with preliminary germination of seed material; you don’t have to do this with tomatoes. If everything is done correctly when planting, the seedlings appear simultaneously and in a very short time.
Pelleted seed material does not need to be pre-prepared. Under the shell there are disinfectants, as well as nutritional components, thanks to which the plants will grow well and remain healthy.
After disinfecting the soil that will go into the seeding container, it is recommended to place it in a room at room temperature for 14 days. This period is enough for the proliferation of beneficial microorganisms living in the soil.
If, before the seedlings hatch, the soil becomes waterlogged and mold appears on it, then the top layer must be removed and “phytosporin” or potassium permanganate in the form of a solution used to disinfect the soil.
Seedlings need to be kept in a place with sufficient sunlight; in its absence, additional lighting is used.
To prevent bending and stretching of seedlings, the container with plants is periodically turned with different sides towards the window.

Caring for tomato seedlings after germination

If seeds have sprouted inside a tomato

During the New Year holidays we encountered an unexpected problem. One of the red tomatoes bought at exorbitant prices had heavily sprouted seeds inside. The length of individual sprouts reached almost 0.5 cm. In the end, we simply threw it away and did not use it in preparing the dish.

Why do seeds sprout in tomatoes?

There may be several reasons for this development of events:

The fact is that vegetables supplied to store shelves in winter are often grown in greenhouse conditions using hydroponics instead of soil. Water-soluble mixtures of mineral fertilizers are used as nutrients, which are used to water the crops. Usually the process is fully controlled by automation, which allows minimizing costs while maintaining high yields. But failures are also possible. Seeds sprouted inside a tomato can signal that it has received an increased dose of fertilizers, primarily nitrogen and growth stimulants. It is not advisable to eat such a vegetable.
The second possible reason is improper transportation and storage. The temperature regime or the protective composition that is applied to the surface of tomatoes supplied to us from afar could have been violated (some vegetables can take 2 months to reach domestic shelves, so they are picked while still green).
The tomatoes sold in our stores in winter are, as a rule, special varieties intended for long-term storage. These features are fixed at the genetic level. At the same time, seeds under conditions of temperature changes and improper storage conditions can still germinate much earlier than expected.

The fruit in which the seeds have sprouted can no longer boast of sugar content and will not delight you with its characteristic sourness. Inside it, the decay processes inherent in nature are in full swing. The skin may remain normal until the end, deceptively indicating that the tomato is supposedly in good condition.

By the way, many summer residents could observe something similar with zucchini and pumpkins stored for a long time under beds and in pantries. As a rule, such fruits are no longer suitable for cooking.

It should be noted that modern year-round greenhouse complexes are now being actively built and are already operating in Russia. So there is a very high probability that soon the need for fresh organic vegetables on the domestic market will be largely satisfied.

| 2020-01-04 Amateur gardener

The Secret of Senor Tomato

Our reader, Anatoly Nikolaevich Goncharov, came to the editorial office. Not just like that, but with a “gift”. In his hands he carried a large red tomato.

“Don’t be happy,” he said from the doorway, “this is not a treat.” However, see for yourself.

Before our eyes, he cut a tomato, and we gasped: inside it was stuffed with sprouted seeds!

– What should I do about it? - the reader laments. - My wife says: “Let’s trim the edges and make a salad.” And I generally doubt that it can be eaten. And I lost my appetite...

“And you are doing the right thing in not eating this tomato,” confirmed the reader’s doubts, the honored worker of agriculture in the Kuban, agronomist Nikolai Basenko. We asked him to comment on the fact that seeds germinate in the belly of a tomato.

“This phenomenon happens when the agricultural technology for growing vegetables and the technology for storing them is violated,” Nikolai Vasilyevich told Tuapse News. – We should do an analysis of the tomato, then a lot would become clearer.

Possible causes may be a malnutrition of plants with mineral solutions. We know that now abroad, where tomatoes are supplied from in winter, vegetables are grown hydroponically, not on the ground. The technology itself is not scary if you carefully follow the feeding proportions. Such vegetables are watered with a mixture of mineral fertilizers, and if the proportion is incorrect, an error in dosage will occur - there will be a supersaturation of certain microelements. The fact that seeds have sprouted inside the tomato indicates that it is oversaturated with nitrogen. Of course, it is undesirable to eat such a vegetable. During storage, a similar phenomenon occurs when the storage temperature or the composition of the gas in which vegetables are sometimes stored is disrupted.

This applies to deliveries from overseas, from afar, because vegetables are picked green, and they “arrive” in two months on the way. And if during the process of “tuning to condition” the storage conditions are violated, sprouted seeds can also be observed. In any case, this is a sign of a low-quality product. I would not recommend eating imported vegetables in winter at all. They are only suitable for table decoration. We called the food department of Rospotrebnadzor, and they explained to us that the reader has the right to come and make a complaint about the quality of the product: “But the laboratory is currently undergoing accreditation,” they told us, “and it is unlikely that we will be able to check the quality of the tomato within a month.”

But we learned that our tomato would not have been “helped” here anyway. According to the law, a sanitary doctor, following a consumer complaint, can go to the store where the vegetable was purchased, after notifying the scheduled inspection and notifying the prosecutor's office about this inspection. Then the store would look at the documents on how the vegetables are stored and where they came from. And maybe they would take specimens for analysis. Our reader was ready to go to the end to reveal the secret of a tomato that sprouted from the inside.

Do seeds often germinate in tomatoes left to ripen?

Tomato fruits contain several barriers that prevent premature seed germination. This is the mucous membrane around the seeds that prevents the penetration of water and prevents the seeds from developing into a seedling. This is a high acid content, which prevents germination, and, the third barrier, a high sugar content, which also prevents germination. During long-term storage, sugars are spent on respiration and their concentration drops, and acids are also consumed. In addition, the acidity of some varieties is simply low, they are fresh and the seeds in them germinate easily. As it is stored, mucus begins to decompose even faster under microbial influence. So, in some varieties, germination of seeds in fruits can and does occur frequently, while in others it is almost never observed. I would like to draw your attention to the fact that for fruits that are already ripe or have just acquired color, their germination rate is already about 100% and there is no need to overexpose them during ripening. The main thing is that the color of the cameras changes from green to red. In many salad varieties, the chambers ripen earlier than the fruit itself, which allows the seeds to be released earlier. Seeds of varieties with genes for long ripening very often germinate. Their fruit itself does not ripen for a long time, but the seeds are ready for germination long ago.

Sincerely, Ognev Valery Vladimirovich Candidate of Agricultural Sciences, Associate Professor, breeder of nightshade crops, director of the breeding Agrofirm Search

Maxim, these are the ones that grew from store-bought peppers this year. However, I didn’t take any special photographs. The second photo is on a large platter. Peppers 250+- g, the largest tomato 500+ g

Sincerely, Ognev Valery Vladimirovich Candidate of Agricultural Sciences, Associate Professor, breeder of nightshade crops, director of the breeding Agrofirm Search

What to do to help tomatoes

If the seeds were sown to a shallower depth than 1 centimeter and the seed coat did not separate in the soil, but ended up on the leaves, the seedlings need help. Sprinkle a 1-centimeter layer of soil on top of the seedlings, covering the sprouts. The sprinkled soil is irrigated with a spray bottle. After 2-3 days, full-fledged sprouts appear.

Weakened sprouts, if necessary, are regularly fertilized with complex fertilizers with a high content of potassium and phosphorus and a minimum amount of nitrogen in the composition.

When the cover is removed early and the seed coats dry out, they are moistened with water and after soaking, the “caps” themselves crumble. If this does not happen, they are carefully removed with a needle or toothpick. In this case, you need to act very carefully, without touching the plants with your hands.

What causes seeds to sprout inside ripe tomatoes? Are these safe to eat?

Quite often, I began to come across tomatoes with some seeds sprouting inside them, and their sprouts are about 1-1.5 cm long, sometimes white, sometimes purple, which is quite strange, since I have never encountered this before.

How safe is it to eat these tomatoes? Why is this happening? Is it possible to recognize such tomatoes before purchasing?

The germination of seeds inside the fruit indicates that the fruit is not fresh. More than once I have come across zucchini and pumpkins with seeds germinating inside them. I ate them. You can eat such fruits if the shell of the fruit is preserved and there are no signs of rotting. What caused this situation? Breeding varieties with fruits suitable for long-term storage. But sometimes the seeds don’t want to be stored for a long time. And after a temperature change, during long-term storage, they begin to grow. The conditions for their germination inside the fruit are quite suitable.

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Stages of seed preparation

The process of preparing vegetable grains for germination includes several stages in which the seeds are specially processed. Consider these activities:

Testing for seed germination is necessary to make a selection of potentially healthy planting material from empty grains, from which benefit is unlikely.

To carry out this test, dissolve 30 grams of salt in a glass of water and mix thoroughly. Pour the vegetable grains into the resulting solution. After some time, healthy, fruitful seeds will appear at the bottom of the glass, but empty and dried ones will float to the surface. After this procedure, be sure to rinse the selected seeds under clean running water.

Disinfection – will protect planting material from potential plant diseases, harmful microbes and pathogens of various types of infections. The most common method of disinfection is to place the grains in a weak (1%) solution of potassium permanganate for 15-20 minutes, the main thing is not to overexpose them in such a liquid to avoid burns.

An alternative is hydrogen peroxide, in which the seeds are placed and kept in this solution for 10 minutes. At the end of the procedure, it is advisable to treat the seeds with aloe juice or preparations such as “Epin” and “Immunocytophyte” to strengthen the immune system.

Warming up is a procedure necessary for those seeds that spent the winter period in the refrigerator or in the absence of heat. Warming up is carried out through a gradual increase in temperature. So, from the refrigerator, tomato grains can be spread out on dry newspaper on a windowsill where the sun does not reach. After a day or two, leave them on the table in the room, and only then can you transfer them to the heating radiator.

Warm up the grains in advance, at least a month before sowing into the soil, so that they can fully recover.

Hardening is a session that increases the resistance of future seedlings to sudden temperature changes. Tomato is a fairly heat-loving plant; the comfortable air temperature for its rapid growth is +25-30°C. In case of sudden cold or heat, seedlings may die.

To prevent this from happening, before germination, tomato seeds are hardened by keeping them in the refrigerator for 12 hours, and then left in a warm place for the rest of the day at an air temperature of 18-20°C. These two actions alternate at least 3 times. The hardening procedure is usually carried out at the stage of soaking the seeds.

After thoroughly processing the grains, it is necessary to move on to the next two important stages - soaking and germination of seeds.

Let's watch a video about several methods of dressing tomato seeds, including treatment with hydrogen peroxide:

How to store seeds

Dried seeds should be stored in a paper bag, not in a film or bag, not in a closed jar - they will become moldy and disappear.

The easiest way is to make an envelope from printer paper, sign the date of packaging and the name of the variety. Place all paper bags with seeds in one cardboard box and label it.

It is better to store seeds in a pantry where the temperature does not rise above 25°C. Although the most ideal conditions are a temperature of about 5-8°C and a humidity of 50-55%, it is not advisable to store seeds in the refrigerator - it defrosts periodically, and temperature fluctuations (and at the same time changes in humidity) adversely affect the seed material. The more even the temperature during storage, the better, so keep it warmer but more stable.

The shelf life of tomatoes is five years, this is the maximum at which germination is almost 100%.

What seeds to collect

To grow from your own seeds, you only need to collect the fruits of varietal tomatoes, for example, Nevsky, Demidov, Siberian early ripening, Pink honey, Honey Spas, Bull's heart, etc. - all these are varieties, not hybrids, this means that if you choose the right fruits and prepare the seeds, with a very high probability they will grow exactly the same vegetables.

Why is there no 100% guarantee that the seeds will grow as expected: despite the fact that tomatoes are self-pollinating plants (one flower contains stamens with anthers and a pistil), their flowers attract insects - bees and bumblebees can easily carry pollen from one plant to another, bring from a neighboring garden plot, and to prevent cross-pollination, different varieties should be isolated from each other by 50-100 m. The likelihood of cross-pollination of tomatoes in open ground is especially high, although it least of all threatens the flowers on the lowest trusses of the bush.

Unfortunately, misgrading occurs quite often in store-bought seeds, both varietal and hybrids.

How to select fruits for seeds

It is important to inspect the entire tomato plantation and take a closer look at the tomatoes:

mark the healthiest bushes and the most productive
select fruits with the most typical characteristics for the variety (shape, color, size)
select fruits of the correct shape (not deformed due to lack of nutrients or diseases)
For tomatoes grown in greenhouses, select tomatoes from the second bunch
For open ground tomatoes, it is advisable to select fruits from the first bunch

So, for example, the variety Bull's Heart has a varietal feature - the formation of fruits of different sizes and shapes on one bush: up to 3 largest fruits are formed on the lower clusters, weighing 250-300 g, but they are somewhat flat in shape (this is a typical feature) , on the upper clusters there are fruits of a characteristic shape (elongated teardrop-shaped, oval), but smaller - weighing about 150 g or less.

It is better to pick tomatoes that are ripe, but it is also possible to pick tomatoes that are brown (green, acquiring a reddish tint) and put them to ripening (the correct term is ripening).

The best time to collect tomatoes for seeds is the period of massive fruit ripening, early and mid-August (depending on the area). You can get up to hundreds of seeds from one fruit.

Ripening tomatoes

You can put tomatoes for ripening in any dry and warm place - in the kitchen on a shelf, in a closet or on a windowsill, where they are always visible. Warn your household that the tomato is in the seeds, otherwise the largest, most beautiful and ripe one will beg to be eaten.

The fruits should lie until they are well ripe, when a little more they burst, flow, and soften. You can’t leave it until it becomes inedible - the fruits can rot from the inside and begin to sprout inside the fruit!

Ripening on the root or on the windowsill

Some gardeners argue about where it is better to ripen tomatoes - leave them until they are fully ripe right on the bush (root) or pick them and bring them to condition on the shelf.

In fact, seed material is better when the tomato is ripe and not picked, if there is no danger of late blight development and loss of planting material.

But for the harvest of the mother bush, it is better if the seed tomato is picked while still brown or blanzhe (beginning of coloring) - then the remaining tomatoes ripening in other clusters will be larger. If you have a surplus harvest and you don’t care about the loss in total mass, it is better to leave the seed tomato on the bushes until it takes on color and begins to soften, but under no circumstances overripe! Overripe seeds lose their viability (they germinate much more slowly).