Saved seed & sowing next year

[PerryParticipant]

Last season I saved seeds from many of my favourite plants, heritage tomatoes & chilis for example, and I now have 100s of seeds, some of which have already become healthy little seedlings which will be planted out this year.

The question is what to do with the remaining seeds, I assume they will stay strong & viable for at least a year or two, so should I keep them safe to plant next year or compost them and save a new ‘fresh’ batch from this year’s harvest? The only minor concern is that I have heard varieties can start to lose their character or become less vigorous if seed is saved for successive generations from the same original plant, although I have no idea if this is true.

I’d like to keep some of these going well into the future if possible.

[RhysParticipant]

I have saved tomato seeds for over five years and my most vigorous seeds were saved in 2014 and they still germinate like new five years on.

In general I use last years each year but as seeds have been germinated from glacial moraine it is safe to say they can last a long time if kept cool!

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