I would only save seed from the fruit that had the characteristics that I wanted the next generation to have.

Why don't you choose one of your perfectly round fruits? Seems that would be the best option. Choose the prettiest and biggest of your round fruits from which to save your seed.

I agree with the recommendations to not save from catfaced fruit that may have resulted from megablooms/fused blossoms, but it also isn't something I'd worry a great deal about. Catfacing is not widely understood, but the researchers have figured out that it results not only from megablooms/fused blossoms (only sometimes, I get plenty of megabloom fruit without catfacing), but also from inconsistent moisture levels, excess nitrogen before and during fruitset, and the most common cause is merely that temperatures are at or below 50 degrees when the plants are flowering/setting fruit. It also is more common in certain types and varieties of tomatoes than others, so there likely is some sort of genetic predisposition to it in some tomato varieties or types. Open-pollinated and some hybrid beefsteak types are especially prone to it.

I grew Brandywine tomatoes several years ago and they all had nobs & ribs and catfacing, I decided that it might just be something heirloom type tomatoes. It could be from cool temperatures and I am pretty lax in watering, I have to admit that I am slow to get around to watering. So it could be any one of these possibility's. I generally try to save seeds from good type specimens, but on occasion there will be one with catfacing come along that is extra big and I will give in to saving the seed. I appreciate every ones opinion's on this. Thank you.

I am processing tomatoes today, and as I go along, I am selecting the biggest, prettiest of those varieties that have been producing well, and saving seed from them.

I know it's pretty pointless to save seed from hybrids, but I am saving seed from the biggest and prettiest Brandy Boys, as well. I've been reading up on those who have been successful (some are up to F9 or F10, from what I've read). I thought next February I'd grow some out, choose the potato leafed seedlings, and toss the rest. I think it's fun to experiment sometimes.

Turbo Cat,

On another forum they were talking about breeding new family lines of tomatoes and many have crossed heirlooms or old lines with hybrids to bring in new genes for color, size, taste & early ripening and disease resistance. Some strains were discovered growing in a field of a different kind. So who knows you might find something you like.

I like saving seed and watching them grow from year to year. I have read that when grown in the same soil and climate every year that they adapt to your particular area and get better. The tomato seed I saved from last year was only from good round tomatoes. That is why I was wondering about the catfacing. The majority of this years tomatoes have been round. Just some show the catfacing that is why I was wondering if it might be genetic or because of the early weather that we had. I processed the first tomato of the year this morning trying to get it done before the heat started, we don't have air-conditioning, so it was a race to get done. It was all Cherokee Purple tomatoes and it does have a real tomato smell, I hope it taste as good as it smells.

Congrats! I hope it tastes, and I bet that it does, as good as you hope it will. As far as the "cat-facing", and when I say "cat-facing", I'm actually referring to the oddly-shaped tomatoes resulting from fused blossoms (megablooms), I saved seed from the first Pink Berkeley Tie Die this year that was a massive megabloom, and the seedlings are now big enough to harden off and transplant into the garden for fall. It will be interesting to see if they come true. I suspect that they were caused due to cool weather, etc., but who knows? I may get something entirely surprising when the fruit shows up. :)

Oh mercy, I hate to hear that you don't have air conditioning!!! Please be careful in this heat. I never understood why my long-gone mother-in-law would never put a/c in her house in Tennessee. She never had a/c in her life, and wasn't going to start. She did have big shade trees, which helped, but it still got pretty warm. I could (and have) lived without a heater, but I couldn't get by without a/c.

Please let me know how your seedlings turn out.