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Vegetable Gardening

a cucumber pickle

16 years ago

We have a new greenhouse. Some fool, not naming names, is in the habit of thinking he will remember plants, no need to mess with labels. As a result I, I mean he, has a self-pollinating greenhouse cucumber (Sweeter Yet) growing in a big pot with a cross-pollinating one (Babylon) and doesn't know which is which. I just read that growing two types together will make one of them bear bitter or tasteless fruit. What should I do? Would putting both outside help?

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Comments (2)

rodger
16 years ago
Growing two varieties side by side whether its a hot peper and a sweet bell or a pickling cucumber or a long green slicer has no bearing what so ever on the crop that each produces as far as taste and appearance etc are concerned. The only crop I can think of that this is a problem in , is corn. If two corn varieties are planted side by side and bloom at the same time the corn kernnels or seed will show traites of each in taste and appearance, for example if I planted a white corn and a yellow corn together, I will get a bi-colored corn. I do this all the time with silver queen and qolden queen corn, it is cheaper than buying the bi-colored seed. The only effect of growing two types of anything side by side would be in the seed, which for all crops, except corn, is transparent, if you grew out the seed the new plants would be a hybrid of the two parents. So plant as many cucumber varieties ,melon varieties, squash varieties ,bean varieties, tomato varieties ,side by side as you want and there will be no effect on the crop. But don't keep any seed unless proper distance or isolation was used because the seed will be crossed and produce something other than what the parent was. Same applies for people other mammals and birds etc just because we live or work side by side, touch and associate doesn't mean we will turn into one or the other. But if any offspring were to arise from this association that offspring would be a mix of the two parents. Rodger
paulns
Original Author
16 years ago
That's kind of amazing about the corn Rodger. Thanks for your response.

It's the Babylon that's gynoecious (sp?). Here's what I read, in a couple of places: "These varieties produce only female flowers. Fruits that are fertilised by male flowers are bitter tasting." This means this generation's fruits will be bitter, not the fruit grown in the next generation, no?
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I have Boston Pickler seeds, if I could get them to produce. My problem, right now, is that the plants look fabulous, despite a few whiteflies. However, they are only making male flowers, and have been since they started flowering. I believe I planted these around the first of May, so they are around 8 weeks old. Could be a combination of shade and heat. I put them in a shady location, partly hoping to minimize heat and partly because i have a great trellis there.They get only about 4 hours of sun a day. I have since realized that the sidewalk and house wall are a heat sink and they are probably much hotter than if I'd put them in direct sun. So, I'm going to put a new trellis in a garden bed that I'm currently filling and it will be direct sun. This will be a sixteen foot trellis, dedicated to cucumbers for the fall. Perhaps I'll just give the Boston Picklers another try. I have no problems with pollination, my squashes are getting pollinated without any artificial insemination on my part, although I do sometimes help my lonely kabocha along, since it doesn't have any other Maximas to play with. I have to be careful not to get stung by a bee whenever I mess with the flowers, though.
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Another poster here, had grown cucumbers of an aisan type which were also very long. If they are cut into chunks it doesn't matter. The picklers tend to be crisper, less tough skin, and smaller seeds. This, compared to the store bought salad types, which are better if peeled and if they are too big, the seeds are tough. Burpless might be fine, but after they are pickled, it really doesn't matter whether the cuke was a burpless or regular variety due to its brine. I grow a few different types of pickling cukes. I find that they are esier to deal with even as whole pickles as they fit the jars (even pints) much easier than the big cukes do.
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