For the first time in this new location, I finally got cucumbers to seed stage! I’m doing the gts seeds with the fermentation method and doing my own seeds as I usually do. I’m getting the same results either way.
Nothing. I just broke open another cucumber, and a bunch of stuff floated, but none of what sank looks viable to me. Maybe 1 or 2 in the mix. After they dry they flatten.
This is what I’m getting. None of those are viable. I pulled out three that looked half full, but they likely won’t germinate.
What would cause seeds not to develop to maturity? They obviously got pollinated.
*Note: I left the cucumber on the vine until it started to soften. The outside was entirely yellow/orange/brown. This is the third from different plants with the same result.
I’ve had the exact same issue with seminole pumpkins last year. And a couple of other times. We were blown away by the productions and quality of the pumpkins, and tried to save seeds, but all were flat just like those. I would like to understand what I did wrong as well
Cucumbers often exhibit some level of parthenocarpy (setting fruit without pollination, or incomplete pollination). Is it possible that you selected all of those fruits to ripen during a time when environmental stress lowered the viability of their pollen (I.e. a very hot spell)? This has happened to me in the past, and is quite frustrating!
There is genetic variation in how likely a variety is to set fruit without pollination. It’s a desirable trait for consistent production of fruits, but undesirable for production of seed/adaptation.
Possible, certainly. I ate the first fruits to check for flavor, then let the next on each vine mature. The plants didn’t even start to produce flowers until August.
