If you have a plant growing on your site that suits you completely, and you want to grow it again, then you just need to collect the seeds from the fruits with your own hands. Of these, earlier than in this year, cucumbers will sprout, the plants will be healthier, and the harvest will be richer.

How to collect cucumber seeds correctly?

A prerequisite for collecting seeds from cucumbers is that the variety must not be a hybrid, but a natural one. How to distinguish hybrids: if the packet of seed material is marked F1 or F2, then this variety is a hybrid, and such cucumbers are not suitable for collecting seeds.

What cucumbers can you collect seeds from? From those grown from seed material natural variety. Such cucumbers will only improve and consolidate their positive properties with each planting year.

How to get cucumber seeds at home?

To get seed, you need to leave a few cucumbers for seeds, that is, do not pick them until they are fully ripe. They should turn yellow and become soft. Seed cucumbers should be left at the end of the season.

To collect seeds, you need to choose “female” cucumbers - they have a square cross-section. To avoid confusion, mark them with a ribbon and place a board under them to prevent them from rotting prematurely. When the cucumber turns yellow-brown and the stalk dries out, it’s time to collect the seeds.

How to collect cucumber seeds at home?

Cut the ripe seed cucumbers lengthwise, strictly in half. Only the front third is suitable for seeds seed material. We clean these seeds into a wooden, glass or enamel bowl.

If there was little liquid in the seed chamber, add some water to the bowl. Place it in a warm place for 2 days to ferment. The amniotic membrane should separate from the seeds.

Now you need to rinse the seeds in running water, removing those that float as unsuitable, and all good seeds spread on cardboard or plywood and dry. If the weather is good, you can dry it on outdoors, cleaning the room at night.

But it’s not enough to know how to assemble it yourself cucumber seeds. It is also important to apply them correctly during the sowing season. There is no need to sow the collected material next year, the seeds should sit for a couple of years. Otherwise, there will be a lot of empty flowers on the plants, and you won’t get a harvest. Best result will produce seeds in the third year - there will be many female flowers on the bushes that bear fruit.

Before you start planting cucumbers, you need to purchase seeds. The quality of planting material will largely determine what harvest of greens can be obtained.

Often summer residents early spring buy seeds for cucumber seedlings in stores. Now trading network offers a wide variety of species. Beginning gardeners who have not yet decided on varieties and are experimenting with their choice suitable cucumbers, it’s better to buy ready-made planting material. But for those who have found the most acceptable option for themselves, it is, of course, better to collect the seeds of their favorite variety themselves and store them until spring.

It is better to collect cucumber seeds yourself

What does the F1 marking on the packaging mean?

When purchasing seeds, you should pay attention to the labels on the packages. The symbol F1 means that this variety was obtained by crossing using first generation seeds. The plants will give a good harvest, but they are not suitable for growing for the next season, and it will not be possible to obtain high-quality cucumbers from them. The characteristic qualities of varietal seeds only become stronger every year.

How to collect cucumber seeds with your own hands

Now you can buy the most different varieties cucumbers, but if you have already proven, productive ones, it is better to collect the seeds yourself. A bountiful harvest can be obtained 2–3 years after harvesting the seed material. For this, four-chambered cucumbers are selected - from their seeds they grow female flowers, and then crispy greens. Three-chambered cucumbers are not suitable for seeds, since they will grow into plants with empty flowers (male flowers).

A four-chambered cucumber is left for seeds; a three-chambered one is not suitable for this.

Several fruits are left in the garden; they should ripen, turn yellow and become soft. Be sure to mark the seed fruits and tie them with thread so as not to accidentally pick them. Since the cucumber will lie in the garden for a long time so that it does not rot, a plank is placed under it. Since new cucumbers do not form on the vines after harvesting has stopped, seed cucumbers should only be left at the end of the season. A good harvest of greens can be obtained from freshly harvested seeds only after 2–3 years, so experienced gardeners resort to a little trick so as not to waste time. Seed cucumbers are left in the garden until frost, so they undergo natural stratification, first surviving the summer heat, and then the autumn cold, and delight with the harvest already at next year.

The seed cucumber must be ripe, yellowed and soft

Seeds are selected only from the front part of the fruit, approximately 2/3. The remaining third, where the tail is, is not suitable - such seeds will later grow into cucumbers with a bitter aftertaste.

To collect material for future sowing, you must perform the following steps:

1. Cut the fruits, use a spoon to remove the seeds along with the pulp, put them in a jar, filling it 2/3 full.
2. Add water if necessary.
3. Place the container in a warm place (t +25° C) for 2 days.
4. Mix the seeds well.
5. After fermentation, wash the seed material several times, freeing it from the pulp and seed coat (if the seeds are dried together with the shell, they will not sprout).
6. Spread the peeled seeds in a thin layer on cardboard, place them outside under a canopy, and bring them into the house at night.

The seeds should be removed along with the pulp.

Video: how to properly collect cucumber seeds

How to choose seeds when purchasing

You should not buy seeds just because of the beautiful packaging; you should trust well-known companies. The bags must be carefully inspected and touched. You should not take wet ones; the contents could become damp, moldy, or sprout.

There are varietal and hybrid seeds. Hybrids have high yields and immunity to diseases, but they are not suitable for seeds. Varietal plants produce seed material, have excellent taste, are versatile, but are less resistant to infections.

It is also necessary to immediately decide where the cucumbers will be grown and how they will be used. future harvest. For cultivation in a greenhouse or on a loggia, self-pollinating or parthenocarpic varieties are selected, which do not require pollination at all. Varietal and hybrid cucumbers are planted in open ground.

When purchasing seeds, you should give preference to trusted manufacturers

Seed varieties also differ in terms of fruiting time. You can pick greens as early as early June (Altai early cucumber, Zozulya F1), in July (Nezhinsky 12, Moravian gherkin F1), August (Springhead F1, Aquarius) and late in September (Kapelka, Marinda F1).

When choosing seeds, you must also consider how the cucumbers will be used. Depending on this, varieties are divided into pickling (Rodnichok), salad (Adam) and universal (Dachny). Salad varieties have a thicker peel, which is why they are salted unevenly and are not suitable for pickling. Canned fruits have a sweeter taste, have dense flesh, and retain their shape well during heat treatment. Universal varieties are used for both salads and pickles.

You should not take risks and purchase seeds at sales and promotions. Very often they offer stale seed material or one that is not in demand among summer residents.

Video: how to choose cucumber seeds

Shelf life of cucumber seeds

High-quality cucumber seeds germinate by 90%. The shelf life of dried seeds is 6–7 years. They should be kept in a dry place at no more than +12° C and air humidity no higher than 60%. Seeds can withstand zero temperatures, but unheated room during the cold period they become damp and become unsuitable for sowing. Seeds should not be stored near heating devices, on stuffy mezzanines. At temperatures above +25° C they remain viable only for a year.

The shelf life of seeds at home is 6–7 years

Checking seeds for germination

Before planting seeds, they must be tested for germination. This is done as follows:

1. It is necessary to remove small and damaged seeds, leaving only large, full-bodied ones.
2. Count out a small number of seeds (usually take a number that is a multiple of ten, this makes it easier to calculate percentages).
3. Place a moistened napkin on a plate, wrap the material in it and cover with a bag.
4. Place in a warm place, constantly moistening the cloth with water.

After 4–8 days, the sprouts should emerge. If only 30% of the seeds germinate, there is no use in using them; there is no point in expecting a harvest. When germination is more than 30%, the seeds can be prepared for sowing.

Sometimes you just put the seeds in a glass of water, stir them and let them sit for 5 minutes. The floating seeds are discarded. Those that have settled to the bottom are removed from the water, dried and prepared for sowing. Such seeds will have good germination.

Before planting, cucumber seeds need to be checked for germination.

If you collect your seeds correctly or buy material of a suitable variety and carry out pre-sowing preparations, you can ensure yourself a rich harvest of delicious crispy cucumbers during the season.

Not all garden owners buy new colorful bags for each season, because they know how to collect cucumber seeds at home. This process is not particularly difficult, but has its own nuances.

No matter how much you like the variety, you need to pay attention to whether it is a hybrid, which is indicated by the letters F1 or F2. Even when you manage to find seeds in such fruits, the cucumbers will not set, and if they grow, they will lose their quality. Excellent productivity and disease resistance are preserved in hybrids for only one season.

Which fruit to choose?

Breeders develop crop varieties by crossing the best plants. Stable characteristics are not obtained in one year. This kind of work takes a lot of time. You need to collect cucumber seeds from fruits that have 4 chambers, since they form female flowers on which the ovary is formed. Within a season, a delicious harvest will ripen from the seeds collected with your own hands.

To prepare them, you must not pick the largest fruits on the strongest bush. You can mark these cucumbers with a ribbon, put something under the base, otherwise, once on the ground, they will rot if it rains. So that the fruits do not interfere with the appearance of a new ovary, cucumbers should be left for seeds not at the beginning of the season, but at the end.

Hybrids that self-pollinate are usually planted under the film. Varietal plants in a closed greenhouse, it can be grown if bees fly into it, otherwise the fruits will not set.

When to collect seeds?

To quality characteristics the varieties were preserved, the next year many fruits ripened on the bushes, delighting with bright green, delicate taste, seed cucumbers are left on the vines until frost sets in. The grains must survive not only the summer heat, but also the autumn temperature fluctuations. After natural stratification, next year the sprouts will sprout together, a lot of ovary will form, on which cucumbers will set.

These green fruits contain enzymes, thanks to which animal fats are absorbed faster. They contain vitamins, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and calcium. Fiber normalizes intestinal function. Alkali salts neutralize acids and prevent the conversion of carbohydrates into fats.

Seeds are selected under a combination of three conditions:

• the fruit becomes brown;
• the cucumber becomes soft;

From such grains you can get a harvest for the next year. They will retain their properties for several seasons.

How to collect cucumber seeds correctly?

In order for each grain to sprout in the spring, you need to know how to prepare them and devote time to this process special attention. Whether the quality characteristics of the variety will be preserved depends on how the cucumber seeds were collected.

Having found a fruit with square section:

1. Cut it into 2 equal halves.
2. The grains are taken out from the front part.
3. After cleaning the chamber, the seeds along with the pulp are placed in a plastic or glass glass, filling it one third full.
4. If there is a lack of liquid, add water.
5. The container is covered with gauze and sent to a warm place where fermentation should take place. Fermentation lasts from 24 hours to 3 days.

When the cucumber begins to rot, bacteria appear. To make them die, such a fruit is treated with a solution of copper sulfate.

After the grains are cleared of pulp and shell, they are filled with water. Seeds that will sprout will be at the bottom of the container, empty ones will float to the surface. The grains are subjected to this manipulation several times, after which they are washed again and transferred to the material. To help them dry better, you can put the cloth on the radiator or place it near another heating device.

Seeds are packaged in cloth bags or stored in paper bags at low temperatures in the dark for several years. In the first season, many male flowers will form on the bushes grown from these grains, but there will be few fruits.

If you don’t want to wait for the seeds to stand, you need to heat them in the oven for a couple of hours at 50 degrees. Cucumber seeds give the best inputs in the fourth year; they can be sown in the sixth, but not all of them will emerge from the soil.

It is imperative to take into account that if, after fermentation, the shells of the collected seeds do not separate and they are dried, the sprouts will not sprout.

How to get seedlings?

In the southern regions, crop seeds are sent directly to open ground. Summer residents grow cucumbers not in the fields, but in small areas. In order for the root to take root better, place 1-2 grains in each glass and peat pot. Before disembarking:

1. The bag of seeds is kept on a radiator or in the sun for 14 days.
2. To improve germination, the grains are heated for two hours in a thermos.
3. Place in a solution of potassium permanganate for 30 minutes.
4. Rinse with running water.

After soaking, sprouts hatch on the third day. The seeds are placed on the surface of the earth and covered with a layer of 15 ml of soil. The soil is lightly sprayed, but not watered. Prepare seedlings in each pot in this way.

Containers with seed grains are placed in boxes, which are moved to the window, or sent to the greenhouse, closed plastic film. At 25 degrees Celsius, you won’t have to wait more than 3 days for the first shoots. When they appear, the air temperature must be lowered so that the cucumbers do not begin to stretch. In cloudy weather, you need to turn on a fluorescent lamp so that the plant does not feel dark. Daylight for seedlings must be provided for at least 10 hours a day. Transplantation

3 weeks after sowing, 2 leaves appear, and the cucumbers can be sent to the garden. Then the roots will not get sick and will take root well. Before this, the land is fertilized with rotted manure and disinfected with a solution of potassium permanganate and Fitosporin.

Seedlings develop at a temperature of 16 degrees; when it gets colder, growth stops, so they need to be moved into the ground when the air warms up well. In the first days, it is advisable to cover the bushes with pine or spruce branches from sun rays. If you collect cucumber seeds correctly and care for the plants, they will reward you with juicy and green fruits. Harvesting begins one and a half months after planting in the garden.

Many amateur gardeners at the end of summer have a question about how to collect cucumber seeds. , to take care of home planting material for next year. And although this process seems simple at first glance, there are still a few golden rules that will help you collect high-quality seeds of this vegetable.

Collection process

The main thing in such a matter as collecting cucumber seeds is the difference between natural and hybrid varieties. You can distinguish them from each other by the following characteristics: if a purchased bag of cucumber seeds is marked F1 or F2, the variety is a hybrid and is not suitable for home sowing from collected seeds.

Advice: Home collection of seeds can only be done from natural varieties of cucumbers, since such material will strengthen its high-yielding properties every year.

In order to properly collect homemade cucumber seeds for the next season at the end of summer, you should grow a seed cucumber in the garden. There is no need to pick it until it grows to a certain size and acquires a yellow-brown color. Remember: a cucumber left for seeds should not have any damage or rotten sides.

In order not to confuse it and maintain it until the desired state, the stem can be marked with a ribbon. To ensure maturity when it is removed from the garden, the cucumber can be placed on the windowsill for two weeks, after which the seeds should be removed.

If you plan to grow cucumbers on a loggia or in a home greenhouse, you should use hybrid or self-pollinating varieties. Collection of cucumber seeds grown in a greenhouse can be done if the greenhouse is frequently ventilated with the possibility of insects entering to pollinate the plants. cucumber from home greenhouse, left for the seeds, cut in half, the seeds are pulled out, washed and dried. Cucumbers grown at home will have a 99% germination rate and will sprout earlier in time compared to purchased ones.

Tip: In the process of collecting seeds from a cucumber, the hollow material is sorted: for this, after collection, they are immersed in salted water at the rate of 2 tbsp. l. per glass of water. Empty and not fully ripened seeds will float, while those suitable for planting will settle to the bottom of the glass. They should be selected and laid out on paper to dry, then they are placed in a paper envelope for storage.

Subtleties of collection

To properly collect full-fledged planting material, you should grow a couple of cucumbers in the garden and leave them on the vine. By the end of summer they should turn brown and become soft. If the cucumber turns yellow ahead of schedule, this means it is unsuitable for collecting cucumber seeds. When the cucumbers are no longer removed from the garden, new ovaries on the vines stop growing. For this reason, cucumbers set aside for seed should be selected from the garden at the end of the season.

Collecting seeds from home cucumbers can be done correctly by using a special technique, which involves preparing planting material immediately after the first frost. This is necessary for hardening the vegetable, which is formed after it endures the conditions of warm summer temperatures and cold autumn temperatures. This method allows you to get a full harvest for the next season, when harvesting seed cucumbers from the garden begins.

To collect planting materials, you should choose “female” cucumbers with a square cross-section. The whip and the vegetable must be tied with a ribbon and left untouched.

Tip: You can place a board under the fruit to prevent it from rotting. As soon as the vegetable becomes soft and acquires a yellowish color, it should be removed from the vine.

It is important to follow the following procedure:

1. The front part of the cucumber is used to collect seeds at home.
2. The released seeds must be placed in glassware. If homemade cucumber does not contain enough internal liquid, a little water should be added.
3. The container with seeds is placed in a warm place for easy fermentation for two days. This is necessary to separate the shell from the seeds.
4. After two days, the seeds are washed and dipped in salted liquid to determine the hollow units.
5. Suitable for further use The seeds are placed on paper for final drying. According to the rules, prepared planting material is able to maintain its original germination properties for 6 years.
6. It is considered correct to sow the seeds of domestic cucumbers after they have been stored for three years, which allows you to get a lot of female inflorescences on the cucumber vine.

Selection of planting material

Any cucumber seeds are planted in a special way and require preliminary harvesting. The following types of homemade cucumber seeds are distinguished:

1. Regular - undergo sorting, where in special conditions Hollow seeds and those suitable for planting are packaged separately. You can obtain complete planting raw materials by immersing them in salt water. Those that sank to the bottom are suitable.
2. Processed - are treated with antifungal drugs and nutritional reagents.
3. Calibrated - require warmth and moderate moisture. Failure to comply with storage and planting rules leads to a decrease in germination percentage. Such seeds are placed on a damp gauze cloth and stored at a stable temperature of up to 30 0 C.

Tip: When the seeds begin to sprout, they can be planted in the ground.

Seed preparation

Preparing cucumber seeds with your own hands is necessary for their rapid germination and protection from garden insects. To keep the vine of homemade cucumbers strong and healthy, the seeds undergo this treatment.

1. Disinfection- a processing method that can be either chemical or thermal. In the first case, the seed is treated with hydrogen peroxide brought to a temperature of 35 0 C. The seeds are soaked for 10 minutes. Thermal harvesting involves soaking the seeds first in cold water, and then - in a hot one. The alternation of conditions lasts within 10 minutes.
2. Hardening- the process of increasing the resistance of seeds to changes in atmospheric temperature during the ripening period. Planting materials collected at home are soaked in water for 7-8 hours, then they are placed in the refrigerator for 10 hours. Then they are put on the window. The hardening process lasts for a week.
3. To grow a crop with your own hands, the planting material, before being sown in the ground, goes through warming conditions. To do this, the seeds are wrapped in a bag, which is hung near a radiator or stove for 4 hours.
4. Soak- carried out until shoots appear from the seeds. They are placed in a bowl and covered with damp gauze, constantly wetting them. Soaking time – up to 20 hours at a room temperature of 25 0 C.

Procedures carried out at home have a positive effect on planting material, increasing productivity and protecting it from pests and unwanted weather conditions. Activation of growth and yield of cucumbers will depend on the soil and location of the site. At the same time, the land must meet the chemical and mechanical requirements the area where cucumber seedlings will be grown.

What seeds do you use for cucumber seedlings? Do you buy them at the store every time or prepare them yourself? Beginning vegetable growers may have a natural question: why extra hassle, if you can easily purchase seeds of any variety in specialized stores and on the market?

If you have just started experimenting with varieties and have not yet found the most suitable variety of cucumbers, it is more convenient to buy ready-made seeds. But when your plot already has a variety that you really like, it is much better to collect seeds from it with your own hands - cucumbers will sprout earlier than those grown from purchased seed material, they will be less susceptible to diseases, and there will be more ovaries.

Required condition: Before collecting cucumber seeds, make sure that they are not hybrids, but natural varieties. If the bag of seed material was marked F1 or F2 in the name, this is a hybrid that will delight you with super-yield, frost resistance, super resistance to drought and disease for only one season. Hybrids are not used for propagation, since their seeds either do not grow into plants at all, or the fruits do not ripen, etc. In general, you won’t be able to wait for good cucumbers from hybrid seeds. But in varieties, the necessary properties are only strengthened every year.

Collecting cucumber seeds for greenhouses only makes sense if you regularly ventilate the greenhouse

It is worth noting that for growing cucumbers on a balcony or in a greenhouse, it is recommended to use either parthenocarpic hybrids (which do not form seeds) or self-pollinating hybrids, since there will be no one to pollinate the plants. Therefore, collecting cucumber seeds for greenhouses only makes sense if you regularly ventilate the greenhouse, allowing insects into it to pollinate the flowers.

Subtleties of collecting cucumber seeds

How to get cucumber seeds? To do this, you will need to leave a few fruits until they are fully ripe, until they turn yellow and become soft (if this is an alarming sign). Remember, as soon as you stop picking cucumbers, new fruits on the vines stop appearing, so seed cucumbers should be left at the end of the season.

There is also a special technique for collecting seed cucumbers after the first frost, so that the seed material survives not only the summer high temperature, but also low autumn, thus hardened. Such stratification will help obtain bountiful harvest the very next season after collecting seed cucumbers.

So, to collect seeds, you need to choose “female” cucumbers - those with a square rather than triangular cross-section. Tie the fruit with a ribbon so as not to accidentally pick it, and place small planks under it to protect the cucumber from premature rotting.

Video about harvesting cucumber seeds

When the cucumber turns yellow-white or yellow-brown in color and softens, and the stalk dries out, it’s time to pick the fruit. Next steps:

• a ripe cucumber must be cut in half lengthwise; the front third of the cucumber is used to collect the seed material;
• Clean all contents of the seed chamber from glass, wood or enamel dishes;
• if there was not enough liquid in the seed chamber, add water to the container with the seeds;
• place the dishes in a warm place for fermentation for 2 days so that the amniotic membrane is separated from the seeds;
• after fermentation, rinse the seed material in running water, while the heavy seeds should sink to the bottom, pour out the floating light seeds, pulp and pericarp;
• Dry the clean seeds under a canopy, scattering them in a thin layer on cardboard or plywood; in good weather, you can dry them outdoors and put them indoors at night.

Well prepared and dried seeds at suitable conditions storage can not lose germination up to 6 years. But with age, the germination percentage becomes lower.

Do not repeat the common mistake of beginners by sowing the collected seeds the next year, otherwise many empty flowers will form on the plants, and good harvest you won't wait. It is best to sow seed material after 3 years, then many female flowers will form on cucumber plants.

Growing cucumber seedlings from collected seeds

The root system of cucumber plants is very vulnerable, so it is better to initially sow the seeds not in a box, but in separate cups, peat-humus pots or paper bags, so as not to damage the roots later during replanting. The soil can be purchased ready-made or you can independently mix three parts of decomposed peat, turf soil, manure humus and one part river sand. Add urea (1 teaspoon), superphosphate (1 tablespoon) and wood ash(3 tablespoons).

The root system of cucumber plants is very vulnerable, so it is better to initially sow the seeds not in a box, but in separate cups

Personally collected cucumber seeds should be prepared as follows:

• warm up for two weeks in a bag in the sun or near a radiator;
• pour seed material hot water and keep in a thermos for a couple of hours to improve germination;
• remove all damaged and weak seeds;
• etch for half an hour with a solution of potassium permanganate;
• rinse thoroughly in clean water;
• soak in warm water until a small root appears on the third day.

Sprouted seeds must be sown in the ground immediately so that the sprouts that have just begun to grow do not die. Spread the seed material over the surface of the soil (2 pieces per pot or glass), sprinkle with a 1.5 cm layer of soil. Lightly sprinkle the soil warm water, there is no need to water, otherwise the seeds will be pulled deeper into the ground.

Next, place the cups tightly in the boxes and place them on a window (preferably south) or in a greenhouse, covering the boxes with film. The temperature must be maintained at +25+28 degrees, then you will see the first shoots after three days. When the shoots appear, remove the film and move the box to a window with good lighting, while the temperature will need to be reduced to +19 degrees and +14 degrees at night so that the cucumber seedlings do not stretch. You can regulate the temperature on the windowsill using a window, and in cloudy weather, additionally illuminate the plants with a fluorescent lamp, providing them with daylight for 10 hours a day.

Video about correct preparation cucumber seeds

Watering cucumber seedlings with warm water begins when the first cotyledon leaves unfold; water with a teaspoon, avoiding excess water. Ready seedlings are planted in open ground by transshipment - moving the plant along with a lump of earth into a prepared hole.