Topic: Saving Cucumber seeds

[Georgie]

I have extracted the following advice from 'The Real Seed Company' website:

'Melons & cucumbers

All varieties of melon will cross.   Ideally, you need around a quarter of a mile between different varieties.   If your melons are in a greenhouse or tunnel, you can probably get away with a somewhat smaller distance, particularly if there are hedges, houses or other tall barriers in between your melons and the neighbouring crop.    Cucumbers won't cross with melons, but will cross with any other cucumbers or gherkins nearby.   Again, you need around a quarter mile isolation to make sure that your plants won't cross.   

It is possible, although fiddly, to hand pollinate both melons and cucumber flowers.   Grow plants under a fleece tunnel to exclude insects, and then hand pollinate the flowers on those plants with a paintbrush.   Make sure that you exchange pollen between different plants to keep the diversity of your variety.   

To harvest melon seed, pick the melons when they are ripe and ready for eating and keep indoors for a further day or two for the seed to mature further.   Then open the fruit, scoop the seed out, and wash in a sieve under running water.   Spread out on a china plate to dry thoroughly.   

Cucumbers need to be ripened well beyond the edible stage.   They will become much fatter, and green varieties will turn a dark yellow brownish colour, white varieties a paler yellow. Keep for a week or so after picking to let the seeds mature fully.   Then cut open, scoop out the seeds and surrounding pulp into a jamjar, add a little water and stir well.   Leave the jar on a sunny windowsill for 2-3 days for the seeds to ferment.    On the third day, fill the jar fully with water, and stir well again.   The good seeds should sink to the bottom of the jar, leaving pulp, debris and empty seeds floating on top.   Gently pour off the water and debris, refill the jar, and repeat.    After a couple of rinses, you should be left with good seeds at the bottom of a jar in clean water.   Drain off the water, and spread out on a plate to dry well.

Both melon and cucumber seeds will last for several years if dried well and stored somewhere cool.'

Two questions if I may.  Firstly, do members agree broadly with this method of saving Cucumber seed and secondly, if I'm growing Crystal Lemon and BTG,  is the crossed seed likely to be worth growing?

Thanks in advance.

G x

[Suzanne]

I haven't tried saving cucumber seed, and my squash/courgette seeds are just sccoped out and dried. However Real seeds usually give excellent instructions and I have seen this method featured in Organic Gardening magazine a few years back. It seems very similar to seed saving for tomatoes.

Cucumbers like courgettes cross readily - so not sure what Crystal lemon/Burpless would taste like  ???

[Toadspawn]

You are begining a plant breeding programme. if you cross homozygous parents A and B the resulting heterozygous F1 could be like parent A or parent B or better than or worse than either parent. If you then allow this F1 to self pollinate and grow the seeds the plants will segregate and you could get anything better, worse or very similar to either of the parents. I would guess that if this cross was worthwhile then it would have been done by the plant breeders and any successful variety produced would be available commercially. I do not know if the progeny of such a cross are available, but maybe someone else does.

[Georgie]

Thank you both for your detailed replies.  If I had acres of space I would give it a go but given that I only need/grow three plants I think I'll carry one buying my seeds so I can be certain of the crops.   :)

G x

[Robert_Brenchley]

The fermentation method works fine for tomato seed, and I imagine it would be just as good for these.

[Jeannine]

I can't see the point of fermentation for melon or cuke seeds,certainly for tomatoes as the jelly like substance on the seeds  is better off, this happens during the fermantation. Cukes and melons don't have it, so why?? I have never done it with melon seeds which I do save with some varieties.

 Letting the melon over ripen is a good idea, often the seeds prove to be empty if the seeds are kept from immature fruit.

I agree with the distance if saving seeds, however you could bag them if closer.

XX Jeannine

[saddad]

I save my own "White Wonder" and "Boothby's blond" but don't bother with fermentation. Grow them in isolation though.
 :)