How to Save Cucamelon Seed - The Fermentation Method
Saving your own Cucamelon seed is an easy thing to do and will save you the cost of buying expensive seed the following year. There are a couple of methods that you can try. In this article we will go through how to ferment Cucamelon seed in water to remove the gelatinous coat that can inhibit germination. Fermented seed tends to be viable for longer than non fermented seeds so you should be able to store the Cucamelon seeds for up to 5 years if needed. (If you want to air dry your Cucamelon seeds instead check out our article here).
Step 1
Choose a number of ripe Cucamelons that you want to save your seed from. They should be about 2.5 cm 91 inch) long.
Step 2
Cut the Cucamelons in half to expose the seeds.
Step 3
Find a clean jam jar.
Step 4
Put a couple of centimetres (1 inch) of water into the jam jar.
Step 5
Squeeze the seeds with your fingers from each half of the cut Cucamelons into the water at the bottom of the jar. It is possible to get up to 50 seeds or more from a single Cucamelon so you don't need many to get lots of seeds. Squeeze seeds from a couple of Cucamelon to ensure a good mix of seeds in case some aren't viable.
Step 6
The Cucamelon seeds will sink to the bottom of the jar.
Step 7
Do not put an airtight lid on the jar. As the seeds start to ferment they will produce a gas which may cause the jar to explode if the gas can't escape!
Instead cover with a piece of kitchen towel secured with an elastic band. This will allow the gas to escape whilst keeping the fermentation smell in and keeping flies out.
Step 8
A mould will form on the surface of the water. The seeds should be left in the water for 5 days or so. Then remove the mould and any Cucamelon seeds that have floated. Then pour the rest of the water in the jar through a sieve to catch the remaining seeds and rinse the seeds in fresh water.
Step 9
Next spread the seeds out to dry before storing. You can use a paper towel for this but the seeds may stick. We dry our seeds on an unglazed terracotta saucer placed in a warm room, as the terracotta absorbs any moisture. The seeds do not stick to this.
Once the seeds are totally dry place them in a paper envelope, labelled with the name of the seed and the date collected.
For advice on storing seed check out our helpful guide here.
