EVERYTHING You Need To Know About Cucumber Types
Тәжірибелік нұсқаулар және стиль
Finding a cucumber variety that matches your growing conditions and your goals is the BIGGEST factor in achieving a successful cucumber harvest. On the bright side, cucumber varieties are plentiful and there’s probably more than one out there that matches exactly what you need. On the other hand, it can be extremely challenging to select the right cucumber variety without a ton of research; more than any other vegetable we grow, cucumber varieties possess a huge array of meaningful differences that aren’t always obvious until your months into a wasted growing season.
So let’s jump into the wild world of cucumbers and look at all the important traits and characteristics you need to understand before choosing a variety.
Chapters
00:00 parthenocarpic cucumbers
00:20 gynoecious vs. monoecious cucumbers
07:04 burpless or bitter free cucumbers
09:11 greenhouse cucumbers
10:33 thin or thick skin cucumbers
11:19 beit alpha type cucumbers
13:54 seedless cucumbers
14:32 “non cucumber” cucumbers
15:04 heat Tolerance
15:38 disease Resistance
16:52 cucumber productivity
18:26 vining & bush cucumbers
19:03 Use Case
Parthenocarpy:
Cucumbers are among a small group of plants that can exhibit parthenocarpy. Parthenocarpy is the ability for a plant to produce fruit without pollination of the ovules. - these little baby fruits at the bottom of a female flower. That is huge. What it means is that a parthenocarpic cucumber variety does not require pollen transfer from a male flower to a female flower in order to grow the fruit on the female flower to maturity.
Gynoecious vs. monoecious cucumbers:
Most cucumbers produce both male and female flowers on the same plant. Same as other cucurbits like squash and this melon. So an individual plant has all it needs in order to fruit but not a single flower. Unless of course it’s one of those parthenocarpic varieties. That quality of being able to produce fruit from a single plant that produces both male and female flowers is referred to as monoecious.
But there’s yet another category and this is where it gets interesting. Gynoecious plants produce only or mostly female flowers and you guessed it, some cucumber plants are gynoecious.
Burpless or bitter free cucumbers:
Have you ever heard the term burpless used to describe a cucumber?
I definitely recommend growing varieties labeled as bitterfree or bitterless or just plain old not bitter. Some of the bitterness is just down to how the plant is grown -watering, heat, all that good stuff - but growing varieties that are less prone to bitterness in the first place just makes it easier to grow tasty fruits.
Greenhouse or field grown cucumbers:
Many cucumber varieties were specifically bred to perform in the unique conditions found in a greenhouse or a semi protected environment like a hoop house or polytunnel.
Thin skin or thick skin cucumbers:
Thick skin on a cucumber fruit can be very useful. It can make the fruit hardier and store better which is really important to commercial growers. It also has a major downside
Beit alpha type cucumbers:
The Beit Alpha type cucumber has become a major sensation lately and unfortunately there’s a fair bit of misinformation out there about it.
Seedless cucumbers:
Many seedless cucumber varieties are just parthenocarpic; they don’t have seeds because the plant grew a fruit without waiting for it to be pollinated. So if that’s something you care about, you need to make sure the female flowers on your parthenocarpic plant don’t get pollinated.
“Non-cucumber” cucumbers:
There are a handful of other plants in the cucurbit family that aren’t true cucumbers but taste like them and make good cucumber substitutes. Two of the most popular include the armenian cucumber and cucamelons.
Productive Cucumbers:
Productivity describes how much cucumber harvest you’re going to get out of a plant. There are two straightforward factors you can look for to produce lots of cucumbers.
Vining vs. bush:
Like tomatoes, most cucumbers are large indeterminate vining varieties that will grow until frost or disease takes them but there are smaller determinate bush varieties out there too. You can grow the big vining varieties in a container.
#gardening #cucumbers #homesteading
Resources for Further Research
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Greenhouse cucumber production: edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication...
Evaluating 12 beit alpha cucumbers: svaec.ifas.ufl.edu/media/svae...
Evaluating hybrids in beit alpha cucumbers: www.researchgate.net/publicat...
Beit Alpha Cucumber Inbred Backcross Line Population: journals.ashs.org/hortsci/vie...
Photo Attributions:
Kiwi Photo by Pranjall Kumar on Unsplash
Пікірлер: 41
I've watched thousands of hours or vegetables gardening videos. I know. I need to find a hobby. Haha. Amazing that different varieties that pollinate differently. I don't ever remember anyone mentioning the names, how/where they grow and how/where they were developed until I found this channel. . From video game nerd, to book nerd, to garden nerd. If I was a younger man I'd go back to university to study plant/soil/agriculture science. Maybe in my next life. KZread is such a great substitute.
@NextdoorHomestead
Жыл бұрын
You and me both! I sort of feel like this channel and my homestead garden are like a part time, self-directed "going back to school". Anyhow, yeah, I think it's wild how different the conversations around cucumbers are for professional growers vs. home growers. That's always the case but for some reason cucumbers have really been left in the last century for us home growers. There's so much cool stuff out there to take advantage of.
If you want to take notes he left a handy tool in the description. Thanks for that.
I just looked up the Beit Alpha variety "Katrina" seeds at Johnny's: packets are sold out and cost $30. 50 seeds is backordered until May 1 and over $47! Almost $1 per seed is INSANE! XD I'll be sticking with the heirloom varieties. Cucumbers are abundant anyway as long as you keep harvesting. Happy 2024 growing season to everyone.
@NextdoorHomestead
3 ай бұрын
Yeah, seeds from Johnny's are SUPER expensive =(. I buy as much of my seeds as I can from Migardener and dollarseeds.com to save on costs (and because they're awesome), but a lot of Johnny's varieties are worth the price for me because they perform so well and because we eat so much produce. Glad to hear you've got some heirlooms that are working for you!
thank you so much for such a compendium of knowledge on Cuces!
@NextdoorHomestead
Жыл бұрын
No problem! I find them so fascinating. Hope it was helpful 😁
I had NO idea! Now I'm so confused. I grabbed an interesting (to me) type from Bakers Creek. I've never grown Cucumbers b4. Now I need to figure out what it is...I didn't realize it can be so complicated. I'm pretty mind blown right now. :). Thanks for the video.
@NextdoorHomestead
Жыл бұрын
Ah, I'm sorry if I confused you! I know this video is sort of just information overload - I just happen to find cucumber types really fascinating. I wouldn't stress it too much your first year. They're actually pretty unique plants in terms of their needs and wants so you'll get a lot of good experience no matter what =) Best of luck!
I had no idea there was so much to know about growing cucumbers. I'm going to have to do some research before planning the garden for next spring!
@NextdoorHomestead
Жыл бұрын
Hey there, always good to hear from you! Hope your projects are going well 😁 Thanks for watching, it's interesting stuff eh?
New subscriber! I just discovered this treasure trove of knowledge! I’m excited to see your channel grow. Thank you for sharing your clear passion for gardening! I love your research approach.
@NextdoorHomestead
Жыл бұрын
Thanks for joining up and for the kind words! I hope you like the upcoming videos too =)
Who loves cheat codes in the garden ? ←this guy
Thank you for addressing Beit Alpha cucumbers because I was confused. I ordered seeds from two different sources. One was identified as Beit Alpha but the other wasn’t until the seeds arrived. Both plants were very different. The second was compact which is what I was looking for but it never produced any flowers (that could have been a heat related issue). The first one produced long vines and mostly male flowers. I think I will give the second one another try.
@NextdoorHomestead
Жыл бұрын
No problem! The 'Beit Alpha' naming conventions are just a mess and lead to frustration given how different the varieties are. I hope you find a variety that works for your garden - really makes all the difference.
mow we just need to find these gynoecious or parthenocarpic varieties in our garden centers as seeds (plants they won't have?)... online i saw them in etsy & others.
@NextdoorHomestead
5 ай бұрын
They're often poorly labeled but most of the big online seed retailers carry multiple varieties that do the trick =) Best of luck!
You just totally blew my mind.
@NextdoorHomestead
Жыл бұрын
Haha, yay! Glad it was interesting. I love talking cucumbers =)
I bought a 4-in pot at the local nursery that was a variety called ichiban and is a blend of Persian & Japanese styles. It is so damn good! It has been making a lot of cucumbers and they are absolutely delicious. Next year I'm going to get seeds for that kind.
@NextdoorHomestead
Жыл бұрын
Wow, they have the first harvest date listed as 35-38 days for that Ichiban variety! Pretty amazing.
@wardsdotnet
Жыл бұрын
I don't remember when I bought it. It was a while ago
@NextdoorHomestead
Жыл бұрын
Looks like maybe the ichiban variety from ichiban seeds? Cool find!
@wardsdotnet
Жыл бұрын
Oops oops oops sorry sorry. Unagi. I misremembered
@wardsdotnet
Жыл бұрын
55 days according to the tag from the nursery. Grown by Sweetwater nursery. But I will want to buy seeds for it for next year
Awesome video!! Thanks. What varieties are you growing this year? (2024)
@NextdoorHomestead
5 ай бұрын
I'm switching it up a bit! We'll be growing Corinto (which is my favorite) for certain, tasty king Japanese, H-19 little leaf, and probably Burpee bush champion. Honestly, I'll probably add one or two more to the list to keep experimenting - I'd really love to have a longer list of varieties that are easy to recommend to folks.
Since I live in the Ozarks and have plenty of pollinators do I need to be too concerned about pollination problems? Just moved here from Illinois a couple years ago so still learning about my new area.
@NextdoorHomestead
Жыл бұрын
Good question! Having lots of pollinators is a major plus, no doubt. With enough heat and humidity (which I believe are characteristic of the Ozarks) you may still have issues with successful pollination though. I know that's a strange sentence, but unfortunately one of the potential issues with plants that require pollination is the process can fail with high heat and high humidity. Not to say it will - I don't know the area well enough - just to say that a parthenocarpic variety can be beneficial even in areas with plenty of pollinator insects. Hope that was helpful and not just confusing =)
Thank you for such a detailed video! When looking at seed packets either in stores or online they don't seem to say if they are parthenocarpic and/or gynoecious etc is my issue, any advice? Is there an online source / database that breaks down cucumbers and their specific traits? I'm growing the variety Konsa for the first time as they were given to me. A german variety and now I can say it is only producing female flowers. It would be nice to know straight away if I'm growing a variety and need to leave the male flowers on, remove them, there are none, use them to hand pollinate if they appear etc...stop the madness.. Thanks! 😃
@NextdoorHomestead
11 ай бұрын
You are most welcome! And unfortunately, the answer is no (or not that I'm aware of). I think if we're being honest, seed packet descriptions are just not usually very helpful because they leave out so much key info. One thing you can do is start by looking at descriptions from seed companies that sell primarily to professional growers. Places like Johnny's, High Mowing, etc. They are typically much, much, much better at including those key characteristics. I'm afraid I'm not sure what the equivalent seed purveyors would be outside of the US =(. Luckily, researching seeds is a nice way to get some gardening in during winter!
@carlgallagher6325
11 ай бұрын
I agree completely about seed packets leaving out key details OR even including details that seem like hard rules. For example, 'Plant in Full Sun', when infact the vegetable may still be planted in partial shade or worse and still give a decent crop, I feel it can put newcomers off a bit. It did with me when I first started but now I'm a lot more experimental and using my own intuition more. Thanks again and love the channel..looking forward to seeing you become one of the OG's of youtube gardening 🌱 Greetings from Ireland @@NextdoorHomestead ☘
Went to my local nursery to snag an eggplant for a container but they were out. Picked up a bush cucumber variety instead and now I'm both excited and nervous!
@NextdoorHomestead
Жыл бұрын
Fun! We actually planted a couple bush cucumber seeds a few days ago to mix it up a bit. Best of luck =)
@StabbyMcShankerson
Жыл бұрын
@@NextdoorHomestead Same to you! Just moved on to your growing cucs in containers video :)
Where is best place to buy parthenocarpic cucumbers. I don’t get the bees . I want the small that grocery sells usually a plastic bag.They are about 4-6” long? I am in zone 9 it gets very hot in summer in LA.
@NextdoorHomestead
Жыл бұрын
Hey William! I suggest Johnny's for parthenocarpic cucumbers as they do a better job of showing you exactly which seeds are parthenocarpic or gynoecious or both. www.johnnyseeds.com/