Among the existing varieties of cucumbers, it is difficult to choose suitable for pickling. Even experienced gardeners cannot do this. It is necessary to be able to correctly select seeds for sowing and suitable soil, as well as externally 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, you should carefully analyze many factors, ranging from the quality of the planting material to suitable climatic conditions.

The assortment is very large, and it is rather difficult to understand it. 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 proven varieties 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 cans most often explode due to air spaces in the pulp;
• For pickling - medium-sized fruits or small gherkins. More often they give preference to those that have a thin skin and dense flesh; the color of the cucumbers is dark, and the surface is bumpy, often with spines;
• Universal - combine the qualities of the two previous groups; the fruits are of medium size and are suitable both for eating raw and for pickling. They are distinguished by white spines and an unusual shape.

When choosing cucumbers in the market or on the counter of a store, it is necessary to externally assess their belonging to one or another group.

Greens suitable for conservation must meet the following parameters:

• fruit size does not exceed 12-15 cm in length;
• the skin of the cucumbers is not damaged, dark green;
• the surface is pimply with thorns;
• smooth cylindrical shape, slight bending 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 flesh is firm and crispy;
• the taste of the 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 face, there must be a photo of ripe fruits.

If this is exactly what you need, check the integrity of the packaging 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 the peel and pulp with a lack of moisture;
• relatively fast growth of both bushes and fruits;
• massive yield (almost all cucumbers ripen at the same time).

The varieties of cucumbers that are most suitable for canning have been selected by leading Russian experts and tested by many blanks, including production batches.

Zozul hybrid

Early fruiting variety. The period from germination of shoots 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 excellent for canning, have a pleasant taste, excellent crunch. The average weight of a cucumber is 170-250 g.

Voronezh

Refers to mid-late, fruiting period begins on 50-55 days. Cucumbers are small, weighing no more than 100 g, and 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 lumpy, up to 10 cm long, the average weight is 100-130 g. Preserves quality when preserved and can be stored for a long time.

Mid-season (ripening period from the appearance of the first ovaries - 55 days), grown in open ground in the beds. Cucumbers are small, up to 15 cm long, perfect for pickling.

Crisp

Parthenocarpic variety (does not need pollination), grown in hotbeds and greenhouses. Fruits reach 13 cm, strongly lumpy. Gardeners are often used for harvesting for the winter.

There are many other varieties that are suitable for pickling. Among them: Buran, Legend F1, Opal F1, Dachny F1, Tournament F1. All of them cannot be listed, but you need to choose those that are most suitable for planting in your area.

Universal varieties of cucumbers

There are also many versatile cucumber varieties that are suitable for both canning and eating raw. They are intended for outdoor cultivation as well as in greenhouses.

Zakuson F1

Early maturing, does not require pollination. 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 ripening, with a fruiting period of 45 days from the appearance of the first ovaries. Medium cucumbers 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 appreciated by gardeners for its abundant yield.

It is preferable to grow outdoors. Ultra-early variety (40-43 days after the end of the growing season), fruits reach 10 cm in length. The pulp is firm without bitterness. The removed cucumbers retain their commercial qualities for 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 seasoned gardeners is the best clue when choosing seeds for planting.

The common cucumber we are accustomed to is an annual herb from the genus Cucumber of the Pumpkin family. It is a direct descendant of its wild counterparts, which today grow at the foot of the Himalayas, in the tropics and substropics of India.

Thorns

At first there were thorns ...

Wild species of cucumber, both the plants themselves and their fruits, are covered with impressive thorns. 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 thorns dry up and fall off.

Tubercles

Then bumps appeared ...

The tropical relatives of the cucumber, on the other hand, got rid of the thorns themselves in the process of evolutionary adaptation to the conditions of a humid climate. Instead of thorns, they acquired tubercles - organs through which excess water is removed to the outside.

Pimples

And now - both

Pimples, or tubercles, with thorns on modern varieties of cucumbers, agronomists call pubescence of fruits. They help the cucumber breathe.

From a purely practical point of view, the pimples make great pickles. Through the bumps, the brine evenly flows into the vegetable, which makes the pickled cucumber so tasty.

At the dawn of early selection, housewives had a clear distinction between which cucumbers were suitable for pickling and which were not. The thorns are brown, which means you can salt the cucumber, the thorns are light - it is better to chop it into a salad.

Modern hybrids, the size, shape, frequency of tubercles and color of thorns are inherited from ancestors, the quality characteristics of which, selected by the breeders, affect the suitability of the variety for a particular method of use.

Recently, the most popular universal varieties of cucumbers, which are good both fresh and canned and salted. And the color of the thorns on the pimples no longer plays any role ...

Not sure which variety is better to choose for harvesting for the winter? We will be happy to help you!

Find out what varieties of fresh cucumbers are on sale today by calling:

375 29 825 52 55 (MTS)

375 29 220 52 05 (MTS)

And we will be happy to share with you information on how best to use them!

If you carefully examine the cucumber that has grown in the garden, you will notice 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 notice the irregularities on the skin. But why are cucumber fruits arranged like this, why do they need pimples? Have they always been what cucumbers looked like in the past? How did you get smooth varieties?

It is not difficult to answer the listed questions. Humanity has been breeding cultivated, edible plants for thousands of years, the cucumber has also come a long way of domestication, during which it has undergone certain changes.

What does a wild cucumber look like?

However, the bumps did not appear on green vegetables during the selection process. They have a much earlier origin, when the ancestors of the juicy delicacy had to seriously defend themselves from wild animals, from herbivores. It was necessary to discourage the appetite of many who wanted to eat delicious fruits.

Interesting fact: the cucumber is eaten by people immature - still "green". Ripening, the fruit acquires a yellow color, loses its juiciness and taste. But its seeds ripen completely, gain the ability to give life to new plants - planting them from a green vegetable is useless.

In order to protect themselves, the fruits grew serious thorns, which were based exactly on the site of the pimples. The thorns protected the fruit until the seeds were fully ripe, 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 bumps subtropical cucumbers?

Cucumbers with pimples are subtropical plants, their ancestors live in the southeast of India. Facing excess moisture, the vegetable had to work out the mechanism for its discharge, otherwise it would risk rotting in the bud. Plants have learned to get rid of moisture through pimples that took out water, dropped it in drops. In addition, respiration 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 fruit, while smooth species are simply enveloped on the outside.

Where did smooth cucumbers come from?

Looking at the pimples, realizing how important such organs are for the 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 pimpled varieties appeared from India, then smooth ones from China and Japan. The cucumber has two homelands, each of which has brought its own plant forms.... In another climate, the plant did not need hillocks, they were gone, or were not there initially. Today, both forms of the plant are cultivated, the pimpled ones are recommended for pickling, canning, while the smooth ones are considered salad varieties.

In Russia, buyers traditionally prefer cucumbers with tubercles, considering them more tasty and healthy - they are actively purchased even for salads. There is a gradation according to which black-spiked cucumbers are good for pickling, and white-spiked cucumbers for salads, both options have pimples. However, modern breeding has made it possible to obtain a much greater variety of solutions, the old truth about the color of the thorns does not work unambiguously.

As a rule, short-fruited green or dark-green options for salads are bought in Russia, while China and Japan just as confidently choose long fruits without tubercles, considering them the best. In this case, it is impossible to give a scientific answer to the question of choosing fruits, practice shows that the question lies in the traditions and 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, air exchange of the greenery. 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 entire depth.