Everyone knows that vegetable seeds today are not too cheap. This is especially true for elite producers whose seed is distinguished by good germination and resistance to various diseases. Another minus is the number of seeds in a pack. Sometimes you need to buy a dozen packs, so that is enough for the garden. You can purchase seeds of little-known agricultural companies, there is more material in the bundle, and the price is lower, but germination is in question. That is why many gardeners prefer to harvest their seeds. Today we will talk about how to collect cucumber seeds.
What variety is growing on your site
This should be remembered, because today hybrid varieties are very common. They are distinguished by excellent germination and friendly fruiting, but are not suitable for collecting seeds. To distinguish them is quite simple: on bags with seeds should be the number F1. It is believed that if you plant them immediately, and not after a year, you can get a good harvest. This information has not been verified, but sowing F1 seeds next spring is guaranteed to give a lot of tops and barley.
So, only non-hybrid, bee pollinated varieties are suitable for collecting seeds. Many summer residents note that the taste of such fruits is much better than hybrid, self-pollinated. But varieties from time to time should be changed, because the culture is depleted and can not give a good harvest.
Types of Cucumbers
Before talking about how to collect cucumber seeds, it should be noted that this plant produces two types of fruits. Outwardly, they are very similar, but if you look better, you can notice the difference. Leave several cucumbers on the seeds at once. When they turn yellow and cover with a brown net, carefully consider their shape. Fruits with three ribs, triangular in section - these are “male” cucumbers. Plants grown from these seeds produce many barren or staminate flowers. The second view with four ribs, square in section. These are “female” fruits, and they must be left on the seeds.
Another way to find the differences is to take green cucumbers and cut across. In the "male" fruits, the seeds are located in three segments, in the "female" - in four. By carefully looking at them, you can notice the difference.
We continue to choose a testis
Location on the bush also plays a role. Since collecting the seeds of cucumbers from green fruits does not work, you need to find the best fruit in advance, tie it with a colored ribbon so that none of the household accidentally picks it, and leave it to ripen. These should be the earliest cucumbers that formed from the sinus of the first or second leaf. Ripening period depends on the variety of cucumber. For early ripening varieties, this is usually 35-40 days from the date of fruit formation.
You can remove the testis from the bush in August, when it begins to turn yellow. If it is rainy and cold weather, do not allow the fruit to rot. Tear it off early and lay it on a dry windowsill, it is desirable that the window faces the south side.
Ripening and collecting seeds
We go directly to how to collect cucumber seeds. The sooner the cucumbers are removed from the garden, the longer it takes to stand them on the windowsill. The maximum time that the testes can stay on the bush is 50 days, it should not last longer, otherwise the germination of the fruits will worsen. A fully prepared cucumber is brown-brown in color with a grid of cracks or creamy yellow without a grid.
Since it is not difficult to collect cucumber seeds, we will not describe the process itself, it is better to dwell on the intricacies of which it is important to be aware. It is necessary to cut the fruit when it becomes completely soft, and it must be done along, and not across. Connoisseurs take seeds exclusively from the half where the stalk of a cucumber. They are larger here, with good germination. It is this kind of seed that provides an early and high yield.
Pay attention to such an interesting fact as pollination. If there are others near your site where bee pollinated varieties of cucumbers are also grown, then the bees are more likely to transfer pollen from one plant to another. As a result, collecting seeds, you will not get the purity of the variety and the characteristics inherent in it.
Seed preparation
Having selected the flesh together with the seeds from the fruit, we performed only part of the work. Now we will analyze how to properly collect cucumber seeds. All the material obtained must be folded into an enameled bowl (in metal, the quality of the seeds will deteriorate). After 3-4 days, during the fermentation process, the pulp will easily come off the seeds and it can be separated. Next, you need to rinse well and pour water. After a few hours, they settle, the remains of the pulp and damaged seeds will float up. The entire suspension should be drained, and the remaining seeds should be washed several more times.
All that is required of you still is to lay them out on plywood or glass with a thin layer and dry well. Now you know how to get cucumber seeds. Accordingly, you can use this technique in your garden plot.
Dutch cucumber seeds
They have several advantages over Russian. This is 100% germination, they are hardened, treated for disease and very high yielding. Cons - a high price and a small number of seeds in each pack, sometimes they are sold even individually. On the other hand, the high yield that you take from each bush compensates for these shortcomings. Such varieties as Ajax, Darling and self-pollinating hybrids of Crispa are famous.
Greenhouse varieties, their main differences
If you buy cucumber seeds for a greenhouse, then you should know that you will be offered hybrids, which will not work to collect seeds. Greenhouse hybrids are most often self-pollinated, which is ideal for enclosed spaces. All varietal seeds pollinated by bees are best used for outdoor cultivation.
The most famous seeds of cucumbers for the greenhouse are: Emelya F1, Dynamite F1, Amur F1, Mother-in-law F1. They will grow well outside the greenhouse, in the open ground or even on the windowsill, in the apartment. The only moment - when polluted by bees, they will give crooked, ugly fruits.
Growing fruit plants
Well-dried seed sits perfectly all winter without the slightest sign of illness, but before sowing, it is worthwhile to conduct additional testing. To do this, make a saline solution (2 teaspoons per liter of water) and dip the seeds into it. After 15 minutes, all non-similar ones will surface, they should be removed, and transfer the rest to a weak solution of potassium permanganate for another 15 minutes.
Now the seeds should be left for germination. Put a cotton napkin on a plate and soak in a special solution. To do this, take 1 teaspoon of any complex fertilizer and a liter of water. Wrap the seeds in it and leave for a day. Now you need to harden the plants. Remove the plate with seeds on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator for the night, or rather for 12-15 hours. After that, you can get them and wait for them to hatch. As soon as the seeds open, they need to be planted in the prepared soil.
After about 30 days, they can be transferred to the open ground. With the first ovary, mark the ribbon of candidates for testes. This will be your harvest next year. Now you know how to grow cucumber seeds, and you can easily go through the full cycle. If you think that this process is too complicated or you do not have enough free time, then at your service are companies engaged in plant breeding. Today, the market is saturated with all kinds of seeds, among which everyone will find what he likes.