SAVING SEEDS - SQUASH
By: Ron
The One Who Walks Two Paths
Brief anatomy lesson of the two types of flowers: The male flower has a straight stem beneath the bud and the female flower has a miniature fruit right beneath the bud. When you decide to save seed, you need to go out early and find flowers from both sexes that the buds have yet to open. This is best done early in the morning before the sun has a chance to hit the plants. Then, using a piece of masking tape, tape the ends of the flower closed on both a male and female flower bud, leaving enough room to retape the female flower after ripping the bud end. We tape the male also to ensure that the only pollen that is available is pure from that plant, no insects had a chance to add pollen to it .
The following morning, cut off the male flower and remove the flower petals. This will give you the anthers with the matured pollen. Carefully snip off the end of the female flower bud and rub the male flower all over the stamen of the female. Retape the end of the flower bud closed. This will ensure that no insect will add pollen from some other plant. Tie a ribbon or some other similar device on the stem of the fruit loosely. This will allow you to distinguish which fruit you have pollinated to save the seed from. Even though one fruit usually gives you enough seed it is a good idea to do a couple in case of rodent or other types of damage hitting your selected fruit before it has a chance to ripen.
Now, if all went well, the flower bud will drop off and the fruit will swell up and grow like normal. The difference is that you want the fruit to grow as big as possible, so leave the fruit on the plant until it falls off or you notice it starting to get squishy.
The next step is pretty easy, as all you have to do is cut the fruit open, scoop out the seed and wash it in lukewarm water until all the stringy, sticky flesh is gone. Then spread it down on a cotton towel to dry in a warm dry place for a couple of weeks. Label and store.