saving zucchini seeds?

[anc]

Is there a way to get the seeds pollinated to guarantee that I will get the same plant next year when saving the seeds?? I am asking because once I tried saving the seeds and ended up getting some sort of unrecognizable squash. I want to get the same traditional zucchini.

 

[Chuck]

Is there a way to get the seeds pollinated to guarantee that I will get the same plant next year when saving the seeds?? I am asking because once I tried saving the seeds and ended up getting some sort of unrecognizable squash. I want to get the same traditional zucchini.

Buy heirloom or open pollinated seeds and they will come true. If you buy hybrid seeds it is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you will get when you save and replant the seeds. Most time it will say on the package if it is a hybrid. If you buy online almost all of the time.

 

[anc]

so how do I know if I have an heirloom or OP, my package doesn't say anything, and when ordering online I am assuming that I should only be looking for open pollinated

 

[Chuck]

so how do I know if I have an heirloom or OP, my package doesn't say anything, and when ordering online I am assuming that I should only be looking for open pollinated

I guess the best way is to google the varieties name,ie. grey zucchini or yellow straightneck, what ever name is on the package. That should tell you if it is a hybrid. When you order online normally it says in the description what it is. Other sites have different sections, one for hybrid and one for the other.

 

[headfullofbees]

The seed packet will say "F1" if it's a hybrid, but that's not your only problem; cucurbitaceae will readily cross-pollinate with other varieties from a relatively big distance.

What you have to do is to tie up a female flower just before it opens, and when it looks ready, untie it, pollinate it with male flowers from the same variety, and tie it up again.
Put a tag round the stem, so you know which one it is later, and let it fully develop and ripen.