Radek Tesár 23. 7. 2025 clock 3 minutes video
Older and overgrown cucumbers often end up in the basket, but unnecessarily. They hide unexpected potential: you can get seeds for the next season, or make them a nutritious fertilizer for the garden.
Every gardener sometimes happens: just a few days away from home, and instead of the flower bed, you will welcome overgrown cucumbers that are no longer suitable for salad or canning. Instead of disappointment, you can take advantage of the opportunity. You can make great use of these fruits either as Source of own seeds for the next season or as a natural fertilizer that will give your plants the necessary nutrients and energy.
Do you grow cucumbers in your garden? Watch the video how to joke correctly to produce as much as possible:
The seeds of their own cucumbers
Semes have its rules. Above all, the seeds are taken only from non -nybrid varieties. If you are serious about growing, Choose proven and old varieties, for example from permaculture or seed sources. It is also important to prevent crossing of different varieties. So grow only one variety for the seeds, or cover the flowers to avoid pollination from another variety.
Leave cucumbers for seeds on the plant longer than normally. It must fully ripen, which you can tell by turning the color into yellow -orange and softer to the touch. Mark these fruits when growing, eg with a ribbon on the stopper, so that you do not accidentally calm them down. But if you have already reaped, some cucumbers can still be ripened outside the flower bed. All you need is a dry and warm place.
From mature fruits, hollow out the flesh with seeds. Let her stand in a bowl for one day with a liquid. Fermentation will help separate the seeds from the slime that covers them. Then rinse the seeds, drain and dry. After drying, store them in marked bags or glasses. The seeds will last five or more years if they are stored in dry and cold. So you don’t have to be afraid to forget them, even for several years.
Cucumber Fertilizer: The second life of the overripe fruits
If you no longer need the seeds, you can return the cucumbers overgrown with the soil in the form of fertilizer. Just chop them to smaller pieces and add to the compost. Cucumbers contain a lot of water, potassium and nitrogen, so they accelerate decomposition and enrich the compost O. They can also be buried directly into the soil, ideally at a time when you do not grow anything else on it.
You can also prepare from overgrown cucumbers so -called green fertilizer: Pour the chopped fruits with rainwater, leave to ferment for several days and use the extract to fertilize tomatoes, pumpkins or peppers. The result is a natural bomb full of nutrients, which helps the plants in flowering and the formation of fruits.
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Gardening surpluses do not have to end in the garbage. As you can see, not only salad, but also fertilizer or seed supply. In this way you close the garden cycle: What once grew up can serve as a basis for the next season. And without unnecessary waste.
So overgrown cucumbers are not a mistake, but an opportunity. It will allow you to become more self -sufficient, teach you to take care of your own seeds and offer the possibility to improve the soil in a completely natural way. Whether you make them a fertilizer or hide the seeds for the next year, one thing is certain: Nature does not like wasting. And your garden will thank you for it.
