Cucumber - Wautoma

This seed was kindly donated to us by Maggie from The Incredible Seed Library - A medium cucumber -  Best grown in a greenhouse or polytunnel but can be grown in a warm spot outdoors. Seed saved by Maggie.

When to sow: Sow indoors between March and April - at 21 – 24 degrees C

Requirements: Cucumbers require good, steady warmth to germinate, plants will die off in frosty greenhouses so bring inside if temperatures fall below 8 degrees. Plants prefer to be grown in a greenhouse of polytunnel but can survive outside from Mid May. 

Harvest: June - Oct

Saving seed: Cucumber flowers need to be hand pollinated so that they do not cross pollinate (Video coming soon). Once hand pollinated, allow the pollinated fruits to grow way beyond eating size, they will change colour (depending on variety). Once the vines begin to die back, bring the hand pollinated fruits inside and store them in a cool, dry place for two weeks (this helps the seeds fully mature). Cut the fruits open, scoop out the seeds (watch our video on this), wash and dry fully. Package, label and date. Save as many seeds as you can to share with friends, family and of course seen networks. 

Sending seed back: A guideline amount to send back to The Seed Saving Network is 2 tablespoons (about one cucumber fruit's worth) of course you can hand pollinate more fruits and send even more back. 

Image courtesy of the Incredible Seed Library