Tomatoes are a favorite for home gardens – they grow quickly, are good for you, and can be used in so many ways. Imagine picking a ripe tomato from your backyard to make a pizza, salad, or salsa! This isn’t just a dream; it’s something you can easily do yourself.
One of the most appealing aspects of cultivating your produce is the control you have over what goes into your food. Tomatoes are notorious for being among the most pesticide-laden crops when grown conventionally. Growing your own is the perfect solution if you’re a tomato enthusiast wary of those chemicals.
So, where do you start?
Should you use the seeds from a fresh tomato? Or just buy pre-packaged tomato seeds instead? How long does it take for the tomato seeds to germinate?
Let’s test it out.
Seed Selection: Fresh Tomato Seeds vs Pre-Packaged Tomato Seeds
Round 1
In the first round of tomato versus tomato, we put up a fresh tomato slice against the pre-packaged tomato seeds.
The seeds and the tomato slice were planted on the same day with the same soil quality and adequate lighting. The subjects were watered every 2-3 days for 14 days.
Nothing was visible from the seeds in the first 2 days. The soil was just consistently kept moist.
On the third day, the first sprout emerged from the pre-packaged tomato seeds. The rest followed suit on the fourth day, beating the tomato slice up to day 14.
Interestingly, there were no signs of life from the tomato slice — a perfect knockout.
We think it’s the coating of the seeds from the slice. It will take a while for the tomato slice to completely decompose and the seeds to clear the coating before fully merging with the soil.
We’ll give this round to the pre-packaged tomato seeds. We were hoping for a good fight.
Round 2
The setup was the same. But this time, We opened up an overripe tomato. We took out the seeds, gave them a quick bath to remove the coating, and dried them all before planting. The pre-packaged seeds just patiently waited for the second round to begin.
Unlike the previous test where the first sprout emerged on the third day, we can already see some action in the pre-packaged seeds on the second day. In the right conditions (soil moisture, temperature, light, seed depth), we can say that these pre-packaged tomato seeds would sprout within 2 to 3 days.
But the fruit seeds didn’t go down without a fight. Two seeds started to sprout on day number 5, followed by a few more when they reached the first week. This strengthens the presumption that it has something to do with the seed coating. Simply washing and drying tomato seeds can make a huge difference.
What else should we put up against? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.