Are these seeds ok to save?

[Weird Heather]

Hi everyone,

Got a quick seed saving question. I harvested these seeds from a squash to try and grow and they’re only air dried at the moment, but they’ve developed a bunch of cracks down the centre of nearly all the seeds. I’ve not had this happen to squash seeds I’ve saved before so i was wondering a) what might have caused it and b) can they actually be saved now?

Any thoughts/advice would be appreciated. I’ve attached a pic.

Thank you xx

[Westi]

Funnily I had similar with some of the seeds I saved as well from last year. I don't know what caused it but I wondered whether it was because I saved them quite late as this squash (Australian Butter) kept so well, in fact I still have one to use that is perfect, but the seeds I took were from one I used about January time. I did sow a few seeds regardless & did find germination was not great but I do have one I planted out that is romping along & the happiest of all the squash plants at the current time

Do a test sow of a few in pots just to test. I expect it is something to do with moisture content & maybe drying too fast, but one of the clever guys will come up with the scientific stuff to explain this for you!

[Weird Heather]

Thanks for your reply Westi. I was wondering the same kind of things. It was October last time I harvested squash seeds. This one was a cool looking squash I’d got from the supermarket and it saved right through until recently. I guess it’s been warmer than usual in kitchen lately, so drying too fast could be a reason.

Only prob if they grow now, I got nowhere to put them. Even the compost heap already has something growing in it.

[Westi]

Just do about 3 to test germination & if all 3 grow give to the plot neighbours. But keep one & review other options like vertical growing over the shed or along the fence of your plot if you have one. The other issue if from the supermarket are you sure it is not an F1 variety? I would still have to scratch my head for a solution to take it to maturity to check though - i love experiments! There is the horizontal option to training the vine around itself but I find I snap the vine with this method, but you may be luckier! Any friendly neighbour at home with a bit of space?

[Primrose]

I saved some seeds from a huge butternut squash when we finally got round to cutting and eating it in back in February or March and quite a few of the seeds were either cracked or deformed or with no bulk inside them which I attributed to possibly drying out within the fruit over winter. or a dry summer.

I didn't need them for sowing so rather than throwing them away I lightly roasted them for a few minutes in the oven and sprinkled with salt for a tasty snack!.

However, I would follow other suggestions and even if you don't have space to grow any this year I'd experiment with putting one or two of them in pots and trying to germinate them just to see what happens. AT least then you'll have a better idea whether they might be viable or not.

[Weird Heather]

Westi - I’m assuming it probably is an F1. With the whole hybrid vigour thing and uniformity of produce, I’d imagine most commercially grown crops would be from hybrid seeds. But having said that, I’m not adverse to growing some out anyway and just seeing what I get. If there’s anything interesting, I could always try and stabilise it as my own personal squash strain. Or if it tastes rubbish, just use the results for decorations

Primrose - Thanks for your reply. Had never occurred to me to roast the seeds, but don’t need all of them, so even if they’re viable I think I’ll still try roasting a few of them to see how I like them. Thanks for the idea