PSI: 2002 Cucumber Trials

These varieties have been bred under conventional conditions, so we expected to see differences in their performance under organic conditions. Again, the hope is that promising varieties will be commercialized by small, regional seed companies, thus making them available to farmers. This summary is intended to provide a brief picture of what performed well and what did not.

Marketmore 97:

A Cornell variety, Marketmore 97, performed well and could be picked right up to frost in one trial. This variety does not have a bitter taste.

One grower loved it and said she could combine it with earlier varieties.
Two bacterial wilt resistant hybrids did not perform as well.
This variety is offered at the following seed companies:
- Territorial
- Harris Seeds

Beit Alpha OP (fsP93):

Beit Alpha OP (fsP93) performed well in conventional conditions but not under organic conditions.

Beit Alpha has multiple disease resistance with a bitter taste
Variety has a very shiny, dark green skin with few bumps and spines.
It was highly susceptible to beetle scarring.
One grower said that it took two hands to pick and the fruit wilted quickly after picking.

Poinsett 97 OP:

Poinsett 97 is an open-pollinated (OP) variety that is potentially earlier than the hybrids but its multiple disease resistances doesn't include bacterial wilt.

Its performance and overall evaluation varied depending on the farm.
None of the farms thought it tasted any better than their standards.
Some of them said it tasted slightly bitter.
The overall quality was good, yields varied from extremely poor to prolific.

Other Cucumber Varieties Trialed:

M97F x M80BwF1 : Multiple disease resistance, bacterial wilt resistance with non-bitter taste
P93F x M80BwF1 : Multiple disease resistance, bacterial wilt resistance with bitter taste