Veseys

Gardeners’ Forum: “Seeds for a seedless cucumber”

• Seeds for a seedless cucumber

  Posted by Wayne Hall on Tuesday, February 17, 2009 2:29 PM AST

  Without giving out any trade secrets how does one get seeds to plant for seedless greenhouse cucumbers such as Carmen (as seen in the 2009 Veseys Seed catalog on pg 26)?

  • re: Seeds for a seedless cucumber

    Posted by Vanessa on Tuesday, February 17, 2009 4:27 PM AST

    That is a really good question Wayne! Carmen Cucumber is a parthenocarpic variety. This means that Carmen will set it's fruit without being pollinated, therefore is doesn't produce seeds. Not only is Carmen parthenocarpic, it is also gynecious so it only produces female flowers. In order for a home gardener to produce seeds from Carmen the female flowers would have to be pollinated by a male cucumber and the resulting seed would be a cross between Carmen and that male parent variety. By comparison, the seed company producing a seedless variety would maintain a male (and female) parent line. The parent lines are guarded very closely.