shule1

@bower, Nan, ddsack, and Worth,

I've frozen whole tomatoes in plastic zipper bags in the freezer, saved the seeds and planted them. None of the ones I planted sprouted, and I overseeded (which is why I had my doubts), but I have several more varieties I haven't tested (still have the seeds). The ones I did test were all F2s from the Brandy Boy cross that I have (although they were from a number of frozen fruits). The unfrozen F2 seeds all sprouted (I mean, I overseeded those also and got lots of germination from each fruit). I had all these seeds in an unheated greenhouse. I might try some from frozen fruits indoors, since they might sprout faster that way.

One of the differences between a freezer and outdoors is that the freezer generally gets extremely cold (not just freezing), all at once, and stays that way consistently.

For the seeds that I planted from frozen fruits, I froze them for at least a number of days, I think. A shorter time might yield different results, as might a different variety or germination method. Or, if I planted the seeds directly, without drying them, that might prove to be different, too.

It's also possible that freezing doesn't kill the seeds at all, but that it makes them go dormant. Maybe in nature lighter freezes and thaws wake a seed up after harder freezes make them dormant (or other triggers).

I still have the frozen Brandy Boy cross F2 seeds (as well as the other varieties).

It'll be great to hear Nan's results.