Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Cucumber Seed Saving

I used up the last of my 'Double Yield' cucumber seeds this season so I decided to save my own seed instead of purchasing more. Like tomato seeds, cucumbers have a jell around the seed that inhibits germination and needs to be removed for seed saving. To start the process you need to leave a few cucumbers on the vines to mature. Once they turn a yellow/orange colour the seeds are fully matured like the ones below. Once picked it is also beneficial to allow the cucumbers to further ripen by leaving them out in the kitchen for a couple weeks.

Now cut your cucumbers in half and scope out the seeds into a bowl and add water until it is 50% seed and 50% water. Once this is done cover the bowl with plastic wrap, punch a few small holes in it and allow to fermented for 2-3 days.

After 2-3 days your seeds will look similar to the photo below. A little moldy and pretty smelly as well. This process mimics what happens to the seeds in nature, it will remove the seed jell and is reported to sterilize the seed coat as well.

With the seed fermented, pour the bowls contents through a sieve and rinse well.


With the seed rinsed, dump them out onto a plate and sort out the bad seeds, goo and any moldy bits that remain. I found a fork works best to sort them out. Basically you want plump, evenly coloured seeds and everything else is compost.

Now all that is left to do is dry the seed out. Spread them in an even layer in a coffee filter and place them in a warm/dry place. In a few days they will be fully dried and ready for their envelope.

If you are looking for a good source of seed saving information your best option is 'Seed to Seed' by Suzanne Ashworth. It is the book that I have gained all my seed saving knowledge from. It covers every seed you can think of and is laid out in a very user friendly manner.

I will wrap this post up with a photo of the 'Double Yield' cucumbers from this past summers garden. Their name is fitting as they quite often produce cucumbers in doubles.

12 comments:

  1. Very good post, Dan! I had a cucumber that I left on the vine to get yellow because I wanted to save the seeds, but my mom ended up putting it into the compost pile (see what happens when you teach family new things? they get over-zealous). This was great because now I know how to do it and can look back at this for reference next summer. Thank you :)

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  2. I've never saved cucumbers seed. My favorite cucumber is gynoecious so doesn't reproduce. It is of course a hybrid or how the heck could you get seed. I was going to save seed from the Armenian cucumber this year, but it never really produced because of the weather. If I have enough seed I'll try again next year.

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  3. This being my first year with a 'serious' garden, I didn't even bother with seed saving. I wanted to learn one step at a time. Maybe next year, I'll follow your advice and do some of that seed saving.

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  4. Seed to Seed is an excellent book! I wanted to save seeds from Serpent cucumbers this year but the plants died an early death and I replanted with a hybrid Japanese type cucumber that I had seeds for in my stash. I really like the Japanese cucumbers so next year I think I'll find an open pollinated one and save seeds from it.

    Thanks for an excellent and inspiring post!

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  5. Very informative! I will have to bookmark this for next year!

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  6. Great step by step Dan on the seed saving process for cukes (and tomatoes too really!). My copy of "Seed to Seed" is getting a bit dog eared - not because I do so much seed saving (as I don't really) but it also has really excellent detailed information about the growth habits and needs of many common vegetable plants. Super resource in a variety of ways.

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  7. Very like tom seed saving then. Good pictures.

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  8. My cucumber season is long gone, but I will try to remember this for next year. Have you ever compared saved cucumber seeds to bought ones regarding yield or pest control...?

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  9. Cool (as a cucumber) I'll have to remember that for next year.
    Glad I stumbled upon your blog!

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  10. Great article! For now, I'm sticking with the easiest seeds to save, like beans. Next year I may try this seed-fermenting trick and do cukes, too. How do you keep them breeding true? Don't cukes crossbreed? http://www.growandmake.com/seed-saving-tips

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  11. Great article! For now, I'm sticking with the easiest seeds to save, like beans. Next year I may try this seed-fermenting trick and do cukes, too. How do you keep them breeding true? Don't cukes crossbreed? http://www.growandmake.com/seed-saving-tips

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