The gel coating on the tomato seeds acts to inhibit germination. They may still sprout though if you give them a chance.

Next time try fermenting the seeds. Put them in a small container with some water and wait for a gross moldy scum to form after a couple of days. Pour off the scum on top and rinse the seeds with more water before drying them on the coffee filters. This gets rid of the gel coating over the seeds. There are other ways to do this, but this is how I do it.

I do the same as amberroses, using a small glass container on the kitchen windowsill & covering it, then scooping the moldy scum off before dumping the seeds into a sieve & rinsing well. I like the clear container because I can see what's going on. Fermenting is also supposed to help reduce diseases, I understand.

& I dry my seeds in shallow ceramic or glass dishes, so they don't get stuck. I mark a scrap of paper w/ the name & date if I'm doing more than 1 variety.

Will fermenting work with already dried seeds?

try ditching the baggie and using a regular white envelope(paper)...we store seeds all winter in them and it works out great.....

I don't think you can ferment the seeds once they've dried out, but you might try it w/ some & see what happens.

& FWIW, I use small medicine bottles or small plastic zip bags for many of my saved seeds, & those go in large tins & jars w/ silica gel packets. Tomato seeds should last a long time, years, I understand, if stored properly.

Very interesting. I saved some everglades tomato seeds and did the fermenting thing. Mine sprouted. But I was wondering if the fermenting did anything or if I could just skip that step. Thanks for explaining why the fermenting is important!

4 of my 8 seeds in round two finally sprouted. I also got a couple more toms off the plant to try fermenting the seeds first this time. Hubby loves these little toms, he wants to have tons of plants all around the yard. Hopefully I'll have a few volunteers in the spring as well.