Eureka and Country Fair -- Would There Be Any Point?

14 years ago

Cucumbers do badly here -- succumbing to heat and wilt shortly after they get going. So I sought out and planted the most disease-resistant cukes I could come across. It was a bonus that I happen to like pickling types for fresh eating.

I know that both these cukes are hybrids. And so far both seem to be doing wonderfully -- vigorous vines even in my poor soil with fruit set immanent.

Would there be any point to attempting to save seeds and seeing if, over the generations, I got something with the same sort of resistances but adapted to my particular climate and soil and stable so that I don't have to buy the expensive hybrids every year?

Or are the massive disease resistance and vigor the characteristics I'm most likely to lose?

What's the experience of experienced seed savers on this type of deal?

Comments (4)

countrycarolyn
14 years ago
First off in order to save a cucumber you will have to let it grow on the vine until it becomes mushy. When you dont pick your cucumbers then it prevents growth of new cucumbers therefore it would be best to be done late in the season.

"A hybrid is the combination of two or more different things, aimed at achieving a particular objective or goal." (that was copied from wikipedia) In other words in order to acheive the "hybrid" you would have to know which cultivars or varieties that were originally used in cross pollination.

I know of people that have tried to save the seeds from a hybrid just to see what happens. Well it doesnt work like they had hoped for. The outcome is always different from your parent plant. You may have something awesome and you may have something horrible. Its an iffy sitiation cause you never know for sure what all was used to produce that "hybrid" to begin with. I mean all you can do is try, what do you have to lose?? So good luck to ya and let us know what happens.
iam3killerbs
Original Author
14 years ago
My thought was to continue to order these excellent cucumbers while playing with whatever comes from the seed for a few years.

I've always had interesting results from volunteer squash and melons that sprout from the compost and thought it might be fun to see what the progeny of these wonderful cukes might become.

But I thought I'd ask for experienced input in case someone came back with important information like having sterile seed. :-)
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countrycarolyn
14 years ago
My father is the experienced one I just always watched him growing up lol. I have seen him try many many things, with pretty good results and some not so good. Which then I try new things I can hear him now "Carolyn thats not going to work, but you can try it."

Heres something I found and it tells about a cucumber (closer to the bottom) I dont know if it will help ya but if your like me I enjoy reading about stuff like that. Anyways good luck to you and even if it isnt the exact result your looking for I hope you find something that will still be a good cucumber.

Here is a link that might be useful: Seed Saving
P POD
14 years ago
Which variety are you growing? I don't know about your seeds, but I understand that seed houses sometimes mark some OP varieties as hybrids for various reasons.