Experienced gardener, who grow cucumbers for several years, know that sometimes the harvest is unsuccessful... If the seeds are bought in the store, then take offense like it's not for anyone - well, no luck... And if you risked planting your own seeds, then blame yourself: not that cucumber was left on the seeds. So how do you collect your seeds of cucumbers, how not to let the harvest be bitter? Why do the bitter cucumbers grow? There are some secrets here.
.- Which cucumber should be left on the seeds
- Volsvettsy on cucumbers - how to avoid this
- How to get cucumber seeds
- How to store and store seeds
In our Kuban, yellow-brown overgrown cucumbers, specially left on seeds, are called yellowish. So, if you were in the situation described above, and planting your seeds, you got plants with a predominant amount of emptiness, then you know, you left the wrong yellow seed.
↑ to the contents ↑.Which cucumber should be left on the seeds
The seeds are usually left first on the crochet. Have chosen on what lash he will grow and after it through 5-6 leaves prishchipnite whip. Let all the nutrients go to him. But do not rush, take a good look at the shape of the cucumber.
.It turns out that cucumbers are of two types - female and male. They are easy to distinguish: they have a different form. A female cucumber has a tetrahedral shape, and a male cucumber is triangular. True, we must bear in mind that not all varieties of cucumbers have this feature.
I've been planting cucumbers of Phoenix for many years already. They are viable, drought-resistant. Are good in salads, canning. With them, almost always I have a good harvest. Of course, I grow other varieties as well, but I only harvest seeds from this variety. I do this not every year, as the seeds last long. It is believed that the old seeds grow better, a greater yield can give.
↑ back to content ↑Volsvettsy on cucumbers - how to avoid this
So, if you collect the seeds from cucumber trihedral shape, then, planting them, you will receive plants with a predominant amount of emptiness (staminate flowers). And from the seeds from the tetrahedral fruit (by the way, by the way, they will always be less born) you will receive plants with pistillate flowers, that is, the flowers on the whip will be initially with the ovary.
If you cut the cucumber crosswise, you will see that the tetrahedral cucumber has seeds in four segments, and in a trihedral cucumber, in three segments.
Naturally, the seeds should be left tetrahedral cucumber. Just do not rip it off, but leave it to the root. Only when it turns brown, the skin will churn it, it will become rough - it is ready to collect seeds from it.
.How to get cucumber seeds
To obtain varietal seeds resort to artificial pollination of flowers by hand. The day before the opening, the flowers are isolated with a piece of cotton wool. After the disclosure, female flowers are pollinated male, taken from another plant of the same variety. The dusty female flowers are again isolated until the ovary is obtained, then it is removed.
Rip off the seed cucumber, when they acquire a brown or whitish color, not later, otherwise they will germinate in the fruit.
But there is one more secret about harvesting cucumber seeds.
All gardeners in practice came across the fact that cucumbers can slightly bitter, and sometimes are so bitter that they are impossible. There are several reasons.
.Firstly, cucumbers can be bitter from uneven irrigation. They poured water, then forgot, they could not get out on time to the dacha, summer was hot, and these vegetables are very fond of moisture. Their roots lie near the surface of the soil - this is the difficulty of growing cucumbers in dry hot weather.
And secondly, seed grains from cucumbers should be chosen only from the front half of the fruit, the rear part is rejected, from its seeds, in most cases, bitter fruits grow.
↑ back to content ↑How to store and store seeds
How to properly collect the seeds of cucumber, how to save them for sowing? Here, the cucumber is ripe, or rather ripe. It became brownish, rough, soft to the touch - it's time to take out the seeds. Cut it along, immediately cut and discard the back part of both halves. Scribe all the seeds. Leave them to wander in a cup for 2-3 days. This is necessary to ensure that the seeds are cleansed of mucus. Rinse them. Spread a thin layer of dried. All. You can put them in a paper or linen bag - you will be provided with a good tasty harvest! By the way, germination seeds of cucumbers do not lose for 6-8 years.
Many gardening practitioners believe that only those cucumbers that have grown too slowly become bitter. Therefore, if the cause of slow growth is dry hot weather, then pour beds with manure. But if the reason for the slow growth is to reduce the air temperature, then, alas, there is no way to help your pets. This applies to cucumbers growing in the open ground.
.I read all this information in the old magazine "Farmland". I have successfully applied it in practice for many years.
