Larry, I've been wondering about Armenians too. I think the cucumbers have to be very mature, turning tan for the seeds to be ripe. We picked a green one that was 3 feet long and almost as big around as my calf and the seeds didn't seem to be completely mature yet. (We made zucchini bread out of that one, after scooping out the seeds.) But what I am wondering is, since the Armenian cucs are actually a type of melon, will they cross with my cantaloups? Anyone know? They are planted very close to one another.

I don't know the answer to your question Larry, but I am wondering the opposite to the previous poster. I have armenian cukes mixed among lemon and Boston pickling cukes. We made no effort to separate them. We are not growing any melons, so does that mean I can save seeds from the Armenian cukes with no worry of cross pollination?
Thanks,
Charlotte

Charlotte. I can't answer the question, but I still have enough purchased seeds that I can send you a half doz. for next year. I can also send you some of the seeds shown above. These seeds are planted behind my shop with nothing else planted within 50 or 60 feet.

Larry.

The quick answers:

Larry, Save from the largest, oldest and most mature Armenian cuke you can in order to ensure the seeds have matured inside the fruit.

Dorothy, Yes, the Armenians can cross with cantaloupes, muskmelons and watermelons.

Charlotte, Armenian cucumbers, being in the melon genus, will not cross with cucumbers, which are in their own genus, even though all of them are in the cucurbit family.

The longer answer:

Armenian cucumbers are Cucumis melo so they will cross with any other melon or melon-like fruit that also is a member of the C. melo family, but they will not cross with other Cucurbit family members in other genuses.

Cucumis melo includes 7 distinctive types of melons, some of which are used more like cucumbers, and some of which are not sweet.

C. melo includes these groups: Cantalupensis (true cantaloupes); Reticulatus (muskmelons, often called cantaloupes in the USA), Inodorus (aka Winter Melons); Conomon, Dudaim, Flexuosum (includes Armenican cukes); and Citrullus lanatum (all watermelons). So, if you grow Armenian cukes close to melons from any of the C. melo groups and you don't bag blossoms, you could get crossed seed.

Cucumis melo will not cross with true cucumbers which are in the Cucurbitaceae family with them but which belong in a different genus. They also won't cross with wax melon, jelly melon, gourds, squashes, pumpkins, burr cucumbers (gherkins), luffa gourds, or chayote.

The problem with saving seeds from anything in the C. melo family is that they are outcrossing, relying on bees and small flies for pollination. So, if you grow more than one member of the C. melo family, and they are in bloom at the same time, you can get crossed seed unless you are growing them well-isolated from one another, or hand-pollinate and bag your blossoms, or cage your plants.

To save the seed, Larry, let the Armenian cuke get overripe, which means it will get very large and fairly big around and the flesh will lose whatever good eating quality it once had. If you let the Armenian cuke get very mature, it usually will be very seedy, the skin will turn either light green or almost a tan as Dorothy mentioned, and the ridges flatten out a lot. The flesh is still mostly green, but in some of mine that I let get that mature (I feed the big ones to the deer and the chickens as summertime treats), some of the most mature flesh near the seeds has a pale orange tinge to it. After cutting open the Armenian cuke, scoop out all the seeds, and soak/rinse in water and then strain off all the bits of flesh and stuff and let the seeds dry very well before storing them.

Hope this helps,

Dawn

Hi there!

Having experienced growing Armenian cucumbers and many other C. melo species that are eaten as cucumbers I would have to say that I have never experienced C. melo crossing with any other species other than C. melo. You can grow Armenian and Carosello cucumbers (C. melo) at the same time as growing C. sativus or watermelons without crossing.

Though some people ferment their seeds in water, my experience has been that if you choose to ferment your seeds that it would be best to do so in as little water as possible as healthy Armenian cucumber seeds from a ripened fruit will sprout very easily.

Here is a link that might be useful: Some more info about the Armenian Cucumber