The ordinary cucumber familiar to us is an annual herbaceous plant from the genus Cucumber of the Pumpkin family, a direct descendant of its wild counterparts, which today grow at the foot of the Himalayas, in the tropics and subtropics of India.
spikes
First there were spikes...
Wild cucumber species, both the plants themselves and their fruits, are covered with impressive spikes. Presumably, in this way, the wild cucumber protects itself from premature eating by animals, while the seeds are not yet fully formed. After the onset of the physiological ripeness of the fruit and the ripening of the seeds, the spikes dry out and fall off.
tubercles
Then the bumps appeared...
Tropical relatives of the cucumber, on the contrary, got rid of the thorns themselves in the process of evolutionary adaptation to the conditions of a humid climate. Instead of spikes, they acquired tubercles - organs through which excess water is excreted.
pimples
And now it's both
Pimples, or tubercles, with thorns on modern varieties of cucumbers, agronomists call fruit pubescence. They help cucumbers breathe.
From a purely practical point of view, thanks to the pimples, magnificent pickles are obtained. Through the tubercles, the brine evenly enters the vegetable, which makes the pickle so tasty.
At the dawn of early breeding, housewives had a clear distinction between which cucumbers were suitable for pickling and which were not. The thorns are brown - it means that you can pickle the cucumber, the thorns are light - it is better to chop it into a salad.
Modern hybrids inherit size, shape, frequency of tubercles and color of thorns from ancestors whose qualitative characteristics, chosen by breeders, affect the suitability of the variety for one or another method of use.
Recently, the most popular are universal varieties of cucumbers, which are good both fresh, and canned, and salted. And the color of the spikes on the pimples no longer plays any role ...
Not sure which variety is better to choose for harvesting for the winter? We will gladly help you!
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The best varieties of cucumbers for pickling and canningAmong the existing varieties of cucumbers, it is difficult to choose suitable for pickling. Even experienced gardeners can't do it. It is necessary to be able to correctly select seeds for sowing and suitable soil, as well as outwardly distinguish between fruits that are best suited for canning.
How to choose the right varieties of cucumbers for pickling
Before choosing varieties of cucumbers for pickling and harvesting for the winter, many factors should be carefully analyzed, ranging from the quality of planting material to suitable climatic conditions.
The range is very large, and sorting it out is quite difficult. New varieties appear very quickly thanks to breeders and it is almost impossible to guarantee their characteristics. That is why most housewives recommend not experimenting, but using only varieties tested by experience for canning.
External differences of varieties
It doesn’t matter if you are going to grow greens on your own, or buy ready-made products, you need to be able to externally determine the quality and characteristics of the fruit.
The following groups of cucumbers are divided:
- For salads - they have large long fruits and a beautiful presentation, their surface is smooth and light, and the shelf life is rather short; during canning, such cucumbers lose their taste and color, and jars most often explode due to air gaps in the pulp;
- For salting - medium-sized fruits or small gherkins. More often they prefer those that have a thin skin and dense pulp; the color of the cucumbers is dark, and the surface is bumpy, often with thorns;
- Universal - combine the qualities of the two previous groups; the fruits are medium in size and are suitable for both raw consumption and pickling. They are distinguished by white spines and an unusual shape.
When choosing cucumbers in the market or a store counter, it is necessary to externally evaluate their belonging to one or another group.
Zelentsy suitable for conservation must meet the following parameters:
- fruit size does not exceed 12-15 cm in length;
- the peel of cucumbers is not damaged, dark green;
- pimply surface with spikes;
- the shape is even cylindrical, a slight bend is possible;
- the fruits are firm and elastic to the touch;
- when cutting a vegetable, there are no internal voids;
- the number of seeds is small, and the pulp is dense and crispy;
- the taste of cucumber is sweet without bitterness.
How to choose seeds
When choosing seeds for planting cucumbers, the necessary parameters should be indicated on the package. On its front part there must be a photo of ripe fruits.
If this is exactly what you need, check the integrity of the package and the expiration date. The envelope with seeds may be damp, in which case it is not recommended to purchase it. It is best to buy planting material in specialized stores.
The best varieties of cucumbers for pickling and canning
To determine which variety of cucumbers is best for pickling, there are basic characteristics inherent in all:
- resistance to bad weather conditions;
- lack of bitter taste of peel and pulp with a lack of moisture;
- relatively fast growth, both bushes and fruits;
- mass productivity (almost all cucumbers ripen at the same time).
Cucumber varieties that are most suitable for canning are selected by leading Russian experts and tested by a variety of blanks, including production batches.
Hybrid Zozulya
An early fruiting variety. The period from seedlings to the first harvest is no more than 50 days. Does not need pollination and has a high yield. The fruits are slightly elongated and are great for canning, have a pleasant taste, excellent crunch. The average weight of a cucumber is 170-250 g.
Voronezh
It belongs to the middle-late, the fruiting period begins at 50-55 days. Cucumbers are small, weighing no more than 100 g, have excellent taste.
Bush
This early subspecies is intended only for open areas, as it is unable to self-pollinate. Fruiting period is 45-50 days, high yield. Cucumbers are dark and bumpy, up to 10 cm long, the average weight is 100-130 g. It retains its quality during conservation and can be stored for a long time.
Mid-season (ripening time from the appearance of the first ovaries - 55 days), grown in open ground in the beds. Cucumbers are small, up to 15 cm in length, great for pickling.
Crisp
Parthenocarpic variety (does not need pollination), grown in greenhouses and greenhouses. Fruits reach 13 cm, strongly tuberous. Gardeners are often used for harvesting for the winter.
There are many other varieties suitable for pickling. Among them: Buran, Legend F1, Opal F1, Country F1, Tournament F1. You can’t list them all, but you need to choose those that are most suitable for planting in your area.
Universal varieties of cucumbers
There are also many versatile varieties of cucumbers that are suitable for both preservation and eating raw. They are intended for cultivation on an open ground, and also in greenhouses.
Snack F1
Early maturing, does not require pollination. It ripens already on the 40th day after germination, and the fruits are small up to 7-8 cm. The surface is almost even with slight tuberosity. Cucumbers do not outgrow, but they can be used even at the gherkin stage. They have excellent taste, both fresh and canned.
Ira F1
Early maturing, with a fruiting period of 45 days from the appearance of the first ovaries. Cucumbers are medium up to 15 cm, weighing 60-80 g, dark in color with a slight white bloom. This variety is resistant to many diseases and is valued by gardeners for its abundant yield.
Preferably grown outdoors. Ultra-early variety (40-43 days after the end of the vegetative period), the fruits reach 10 cm in length. The pulp is dense without bitterness. Removed cucumbers retain their marketable qualities for quite a long time.
In each region, there may be different popular varieties for pickling and canning, suitable for this particular area and climatic conditions. The experience of experienced gardeners is the best clue when choosing seeds for planting.
If you carefully examine the cucumber grown in the garden, you can see a lot of pimples on the skin of the vegetable. Some varieties turn out to be completely covered with tubercles - you don’t even have to look closely to note the bumps on the skin. But why are cucumber fruits arranged in such a way, why do they need pimples? Have they always been what cucumbers looked like in the past? How did you manage to get smooth varieties?
It is not difficult to answer these questions. Mankind has been breeding cultivated, edible plants for thousands of years, the cucumber has also come a long way of cultivation, during which it has undergone certain changes.
What does a wild cucumber look like?
However, pimples appeared on green vegetables not in the selection process. They have a much earlier origin, when the ancestors of juicy delicacy had to seriously defend themselves from wild animals, from herbivores. It was necessary to beat off the appetite of many who wanted to eat delicious fruits.
Interesting fact: Cucumber is eaten by people immature - still "green". Ripening, the fruit acquires a yellow color, loses juiciness, taste. But its seeds ripen completely, gain the ability to give life to new plants - it is useless to plant them from a green vegetable.
In order to protect themselves, the fruits grew serious spikes, which were based just in place of the pimples. The spines protected the fruit until the seeds fully ripened, after which they fell off. Many modern varieties of cucumbers also have small thorns, which are especially well felt when harvesting a summer cottage crop with your own hands.
Why do subtropical cucumbers need pimples?
Cucumbers with pimples are subtropical plants, their ancestors live in the southeast of India. Faced with excess moisture, the vegetable had to work out a mechanism for its discharge, otherwise it would risk rotting on the vine. Plants have learned to get rid of moisture through pimples that bring water out, drop it in drops. In addition, breathing is always important for the plant, the tubules in the pimples began to play this role, providing ventilation.
Interesting fact: housewives choose pimply cucumbers for pickling. This is important, because through the tubules in these organs, the brine penetrates into the fetus, while smooth species are simply enveloped in it from the outside.
Where did smooth cucumbers come from?
Considering the pimples, realizing how important such organs are for a green fruit, it becomes difficult to understand how the smooth forms of the same plant appeared. It turns out that they were not obtained through selection - smooth cucumbers were in nature right away.
If short-fruited pimply varieties appeared from India, then smooth ones - from China and Japan. The cucumber has two homelands, each of which brought its own forms of the plant.. In another climate, the plant did not need tubercles, they were gone, or they were not there initially. Today, both forms of the plant are cultivated, the pimply ones are recommended for pickling, canning, while the smooth ones are considered salad varieties.
In Russia, buyers traditionally prefer cucumbers with tubercles, considering them tastier and healthier - they are actively purchased even for salads. There is a gradation according to which black-thorn cucumbers are good for pickles, and white-thorn ones are good for salads, both options have pimples. However, modern selection has made it possible to obtain a much greater variety of solutions, the old truth about the color of the spikes does not work unambiguously.
As a rule, in Russia they buy short-fruited green or dark green varieties for salads, while China and Japan also confidently choose long fruits without tubercles, considering them the best. It is impossible to give a scientific answer to the question of choosing fruits in this case, practice shows that the issue lies in the traditions, taste of people. After all, almost the entire Middle East generally considers cucumber a dessert!
Thus, the tubercles on the cucumber are separate organs that ensure the removal of excess moisture, the air exchange of greens. Initially, thorns grew on them, they played primarily a protective function - thorns are observed on many varieties of vegetables to this day, they also grow on pimples. Therefore, we can confidently say that the tubercles protect the fruit, and they also make it suitable for salting, allowing liquids to penetrate evenly, to the full depth.
