Why not let tomatoes lie on the windowsill

I have a Florida Petit indoor tomato. Grew up in a greenhouse.

Florida Petit Tomato Aug 20, 2021, What's Left

I chose a couple of tomatoes for seeds, put them on the windowsill. And not only them. There are several varieties, which are softer, and I dissolve them into seeds in the first place. Florida Petit did not become soft, she just decided that she was lying too long, it's time.

Invisible Seed Crime

I began to get seeds from Florida Petite. I ate these FloridoPetitiks, gave them to my grandson, definitely tasty, not sour at all. Did everything very quickly.

And suddenly, it turned out that some of the seeds had sprouted:

I doubt very much that these seeds will be useful. And I wanted to give them to my mother-in-law. We'll have to use other tomatoes for seeds.

The variety, it is not clear, American or Russian, early maturing, registered in the Russian Federation in 2017.

This is what the Florida Petit looked like in mid-July:

It's good that this is so far the only case of seed germination inside the fruit, but I made conclusions!

First conclusion

Not all varieties of tomatoes visibly spoil and ask: "Eat us soon!" Seeds can germinate even in August in a safe tomato on a windowsill.

And like others

Here testimony from the Ioannina Forum, 2018: “This year, almost all seed greenhouses are sprouting, I don’t know why. I gut them a little immature, and ferment only a day and they are all sprouted> :(. From the whole heap I choose 5-10 pieces that have not sprouted. Probably the seeds will have to be dried immediately without fermentation. "

It was not about such large roots as mine, but about white beaks. Although full of examples with sprouted seeds, much more spectacular than mine (Fu!).

How this phenomenon is explained by science

Viviparia is the name of the process of seed germination in fruits.

From article to article speculation migrates that the reason for seed germination in tomatoes is storage in the refrigerator, and then in the warmth. Allegedly, in this way, the seeds have time to go into a dormant period, so they germinate.

Neither mine, nor many other affected tomatoes (judging by the forums) did not get into the refrigerator even on cold nights. Our temperature did not drop below + 15 ° С at night. And even a greenhouse, not open ground. The drop in temperature is very short-term, and during the day it is hot. Let me remind you, August!

1. Tomatoes contain substances - germination inhibitors (these are phytohormones). They prevent seeds from germinating. If something happens to these defenders, nothing will stop the seeds from sprouting inside the tomato. Apparently, the heat plus the sun are quite strong inhibitor destroyers.
2. Another "scientific" reason is nitrogen overfeeding. I have a chronic nitrogen deficiency in the soil.
3. There are varieties prone to seed germination inside. Usually these are those that "lie on the shelf for a long time", LSC type. Florida Petit is just, according to the description of the variety, lying.

Second conclusion: Increased solar radiation may be sufficient to suppress seed germination inhibitors. Therefore, long-term storage on the windowsill should not be allowed.

Did you sprout seeds inside the tomatoes?

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