Cucurbit Genetics Cooperative Report 17:12-13 (article 3) 1994
Todd C. Wehner
Department of Horticultural Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7609
I often receive requests for a set of cultigens (cultivars, breeding lines and plant introduction accessions) that represents the diversity of the American cucumber market. The cultigen set might be used for testing herbicides, starting a breeding program, or for basic research where a representative sample is needed for proper extrapolation to the whole population. It is difficult to define a set of cultigens that represent all of the diversity, but after many genetic studies I have settled on a primary and secondary set that serve the purpose. The primary set would suffice if only a small sample can be grown, but the secondary set should be added for better representation. For breeding, the cultigens should be chosen that represent the types needed.
The cultigens presented here are a subset of those recommended to expand the USDA cucumber germplasm collection (1). Fruit type is American pickle or slicer type, and there are also some round-fruited and Beit Alpha (middle eastern) types that have useful traits. Sex expression is gynoecious, monoecious or hermaphroditic. Region is the general area of the U.S. used for breeding and testing. Usually southern cultigens have white spined fruits and resistance to anthracnose, while northern cultigens have black or white spined fruits and resistance to scab and cucumber mosaic.
Perhaps other researchers can suggest representative sets that work better, or that cover different market areas of the world.
Table 1. A set of 12 primary and 28 secondary cucumber cultigens that represent the American marketz
Cultigen |
Type |
Sex |
Region |
AR |
Notes |
Primary (12 cultigens) |
|||||
| Coolgreen | Beit Alpha | Mon | N/A | S | Susceptible to most diseases |
| Gy 14 | Pickle | Gyn | South | R | Common inbred |
| Gy 57u | Slicer | Gyn | South | R | Common inbred |
| M 21 | Pickle | Mon | South | R | Dwarf-determinate |
| Marketmore 76 | Slicer | Mon | North | S | Common inbred |
| Poinsett 76 | Slicer | Mon | North | S | Common inbred |
| Straight 8 | Slicer | Mon | North | S | Standard of 1940s |
| Sumter | Pickle | Mon | South | R | Standard of 1980s |
| Tablegreen 72 | Slicer | Mon | North | R | Standard of 1970s |
| WI 2757 | Beit Alpha | Gyn | North | R | Multi-disease resistant |
| Wisconsin SMR 18 | Pickle | Mon | North | S | Standard of 1960s |
Secondary (28 cultigens) |
|||||
| Addis | Pickle | Mon | South | R | Long fruits |
| AR 75-79 (Little John) | Pickle | Mon | South | R | Little leaf |
| Armstrong E. Cluster | Round | Mon | N / A | S | Early flowers |
| Chipper | Pickle | Mon | South | R | Blocky fruits |
| Clinton | Pickle | Mon | South | R | Blocky fruits |
| Delcrow | Pickle | Mon | South | R | Late yielding |
| Early Russian | Slicer | Mon | North | S | 1854 cultivar |
| Gy 3 | Pickle | Gyn | North | S | Common inbred |
| Gy 4 | Pickle | Gyn | South | R | High yielding gynoecious |
| Homegreen #2 | Slicer | Mon | South | R | Gummy stem blight resistant |
| Lemon | Round | Herm | North | S | Hermaphroditic |
| LJ90430 | Round | Mon | North | S | Wild type |
| M 27 | Pickle | Mon | N / A | S | Dwarf-determinate |
| Marketmore 80 Bw | Slicer | Mon | South | R | Common inbred |
| Marketmore 85 | Slicer | Mon | North | S | Small dwarf |
| Marketmore 86 | Slicer | Mon | North | S | Medium size dwarf |
| Model | Pickle | Mon | North | S | Standard of 1940s |
| MSU 713-5 | Pickle | Gyn | South | S | First gynoecious inbred |
| National Pickling | Pickle | Mon | North | S | Standard of 1930s |
| Producer | Pickle | Mon | North | S | Standard of 1940s |
| Redlands Long White | Slicer | Mon | South | S | White fruits |
| Slice | Slicer | Mon | North | S | Multi-disease resistant |
| Spacemaster 80 | Slicer | Mon | South | R | Dwarf-determinate |
| Spartan Salad | Pickle | Mon | North | S | Powdery mildew resistant |
| SR 551 | Pickle | Mon | North | S | Scab resistant pickle |
| TMG-1 | Trellis | Mon | North | S | Virus resistant |
| Wautoma | Pickle | Mon | North | R | Multi-disease resistant |
| White Wonder | Slicer | Mon | North | S | White fruits |
zFruit type is American pickle or slicer, round-fruited, or Beit Alpha (middle-eastern).
Sex expression is gynoecious (Gyn), monoecious (Mon) or hermaphroditic (Herm).
Region in north or south U.S. or not applicable (N / A).
Anthracnose resistance (AR) is resistant (R) or susceptible (S).
Literature Cited
- Wehner, T.C. 1990. Cucumber cultivars and breeding lines for the U.S.D.A. plant introduction collection. Cucurbit Genet. Coop. Rpt. 13:1-3.