Seed Saving - Cucumbers

I mentioned last week that I had stumbled across a cucumber that was old and yellowed on the vine but was perfect for seed saving, so for the benefit of seed-saving newbies (like me!), I thought I'd show you briefly what I did with it.

According to my seed-saving bible, The Seed Savers Handbook, cucumbers will cross-pollinate with other cucumbers, so if you have two or more varieties growing (unless they are separated by 500m or more), you could end up with some weird and wonderful new cucumbers LOL. Otherwise, you can hand pollinate your flowers (for a good overview of how to do this, have a look at these instructions).

Then, for seed saving, cucumbers need to be left on the vine until they are large and matured. Pale-coloured cucumbers will be yellowed and green ones will be yellow or brown. As you can see in the photo below, my Richmond River Green apple cucumber grew much larger than the one I harvested to eat on the right, and ended up dark yellow.



Cucumber seeds (like many vegies including tomatoes) are covered with a slimy jelly-like coating, which needs to be removed before drying and storing them. Luckily this is easy.


Scoop the seeds out into a jar and cover with fresh water, preferably rain water or filtered water, as the chlorine and other chemicals in treated water will inhibit the process.


Leave the seeds to ferment for a few days, until a mouldy scum has developed on the surface of the water. This mould is beneficial in that it helps kill off any seed-borne diseases.

Shake the jar and pour off the water and any seeds which have floated to the top - these will be unviable. Drain the seeds left at the bottom of the jar through a sieve and wash any remaining coating off with fresh running water.

Shaken them onto wax paper, a paper towel or leave them in the sieve (don't forget to label them!) and leave them to dry completely for a week to 10 days. Move them around in the first few days to separate any clumps to ensure that they dry completely.

Once they are completely dry, store them in a labelled envelope somewhere dry and cool. Under normal conditions they should last for up to four years, although under ideal conditions they can last up to 10 years apparently.

The greatest benefits to saving your own seeds are that it not only provides you with free seeds, but by selecting seeds from plants which produce the best vegies and show the most pest / disease resistance, you are able to consistently grow plants each year which are acclimatised to your local environmental conditions, and therefore produce better (and more) fruits and veg! Good stuff.