They do not require a pollinator to reproduce. It should not make a difference on production either way but if pollinated by an insect you may get fully formed, hard seeds if they are grown near other types of cukes. If not picked at the pickling stage (~3") they will grow out to about 8" and still be of good quality for slicing although they will still be fairly small in diameter at about 2" compared to many other slicing types. Can't comment on the resistance to bacterial wilt as I don't seem to have much of problem with the cuke beetles (knocking on wood!). Squash bugs are my nemesis.

"Resistance" means it is somewhat more tolerant of wilt than other varieties as it tolerates the disease for a somewhat longer period of time and continues to produce. It does not mean immune.

Relatively seedless unless cross pollinated by other varieties. Size is more of the pickling type than the classic slicing cuke IME.

If cuke beetles are a chronic problem for you have you considered just using delayed planting? Since cuke beetles have a clear life cycle, it is a common practice that lets you avoid most of them.

Dave

One other thing which helps is to plant nasturtiums around and amongst your cucurbits (cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, etc.).
Nasturtiums are a natural repellent for squash bugs and cucumber beetles.

I had cuc beetles all summer, got worse, tried EVERYTHING. Hours a day handpicking, 7 days a week........ etc. Very frustrating.

I figured what resistant meant, but from my experience resistant stuff has not made any difference.

It takes time to develop a garden that contains beneficial insects that can control the pests. In my organic garden, the only real pest I have is the squash bug--and the only thing I can do to get squash is patrol the plants regularly and destroy the egg masses and any adults I find. Every other pest problem--bean and potato beetles, aphids, etc. are so small as to present no problem to the crop. But that wasn't true the first few seasons. I also use row covers on the brassicas to protect against flea beetles and the butterflies that lay the eggs that become those green larvae. Also row covers on the cukes and squash until they start to flower.

Planting dill in the garden and other flowers that attract beneficial insects can make a huge difference. Try googling something like flowers to attract beneficial insects.

I have not grown State Fair cuckes, but there are many varieties which are parthenocarpic. That means that if you have cucumber bugs you can grow them under a bug mesh cover w/o pollination. And you can spray them once in a while and do not worry about killing bees.

I gave up on growing cucumbers in open ground, I grow them vertically in a screen house, this is much easier for me. You still need somewhat resistant varieties, as beetles still have access to the plants tendrils when plants grow bigger and tendrils can use screen holes to get out of the screen.

thanks I always thought hand pollinating we less effective them bees, also did not think about netting keeping bees out if I use chemicals (I really do not want to kill bees I know they are hurting!).

If you choose to grow one of these parthenocarpic varieties of cukes then you can easily use the insect barrier covers discussed on one of your other threads and not worry about the pollination issue.

But yes, as a general rule, especially with squash and melons, hand pollinating results in a much better crop.

Dave