'Wet' seed collection?

[mithril]

Hi all, this is probably going to sound daft but how do you 'dry-out' seeds from things like peppers, tomato's and cuecumbers for sowing later? I've had a look through the books that I've got but they just mentions packet seeds.
Thanks,
mithril.

[Wombat]

Just leave them on paper towel in a cool dry place Mithril. Tomato seeds should be fermented by putting the pulp in water for a couple of days. You then only dry the ones that sink or the ones that float.............it's late and I can't remember which. I'll look it up later...

[flower]

tomato seeds; full of air means infertile so bin the floaters.

pepper seeds cross with any others grown within quite a distance. you can get round this by making a 'cage' with some old net curtain to stop bugs getting in. Then you will be certain that whichever pepper you choose from that plant will have self pollinated.
Allow your pepper to get fully ripe on the plant (I wait til it gets wrinkly) then cut away the flesh to leave the seedy bit. Dry them very thoroughly (to prevent mould)
one pepper will give about three or four packets worth so really worth doing.

As with all seed saving, avoid F1 varieties.

[digiveg]

You can also just squish the gel off fresh tomato seeds between your fingers and then wipe them onto a bit of absorbent paper to dry. I tend to forget about ones I put in water until they've turned to mush. They'll breed true, which is great. However, peppers (as already pointed out) and cukes won't unless you're really careful about it. With cukes, you have to isolate the female flower before it even opens, then pollinate it with pollen (a small, soft paintbrush is good) from a male flower. Then keep it isolated until it turns into a cuke.

Also worth remembering is that once you allow a cuke to ripen for seeds the rest of that plant will stop producing! So just seed couple of the best plants, and leave the rest alone.

Other good plants for seeds that will usually breed true are lettuce and peas.