It’s easy with tomatoes. It is enough for them to be shaken by the wind or your hand and they pollinate themselves or a neighboring plant. But cucumbers need insects to reproduce. The good news is that this is far from the case for everyone. “The parthenocarpic ones are the majority today,” says Jana Bucharová in the iReceptář do úcha podcast.
You can find the audio version of the podcast here:
You may have noticed the label for the first time this year. Parthenocarpic. It sounds like something out of a horror novel. From the mad scientist’s lab. But the reality is much simpler. And in the garden, these varieties can save you a lot of work.
Smart cucumbers
So what does the mysterious word mean? “These varieties of cucumbers do not need pollination to produce fruit,” explains Jana Bucharová, an expert in the magazine Receptář on garden topics, in the podcast.
Today, most cucumbers are grown in a greenhouse or a greenhouse, where pollination of cucumbers is a problem. So if you don’t want to run around the plants with a brush yourself. “That’s why these varieties of cucumbers were bred.”
Advantages of hybrids
Of course, similar varieties do not only have advantages. It’s usually the biggest one, isn’t it. “Therefore, you cannot save your own seeds for next year,” warns the expert. “And they will come across a variety that is not a hybrid, which is rather a rarity today,” he adds.
On the other hand, hybrids are often more resistant to diseases and do not suffer as much from the bitterness of the fruits. Modern varieties are often resistant to uneven tissue development and thus fruit deformation. That’s why it’s worth trying to sow them. Maybe this year.
