slicing cuke varieties

19 years ago

Well I have made a decision not to attend the local farmers markets this year. There is still too much uncertanty in growing anything on my flood ravaged property. I will however be growing about 1/2 of acre of pickling cucumbers to fill my best customers orders. The varieties I have chosen are Cross Country, Eclipse, Royal, and Eureka. These are all great varieties for handpicking over a long season. I am also looking into raising slicers. Last year the local growers had awful looking slicers. Probably the weather did not help but I think we could grow a slicer with better visual appearence using our methods of culture . I need to find out how much a bushel of exceptional slicers is selling for before I commit to raising them and I also need to find a slicer that will hold up to hand picking.

If any of you can recommend a long producing slicer, with good desease tolerance that won't die aftr its first picking , please tell me what the name is. I have used General Lee before with mixed results. I especially like the lomg thin types. What is the average wholesale price of a bushel of premium slicers?

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Comments (5)

loodean
19 years ago
I, too, have many issues with my cukes. I have ended up going with Sweet Success and Diva because they are "P&G" gynoecious - all female flowers, and are parthenocarpic - don't need bees. This way I can use floating row covers and keep out the cucumber beetles that infect the plants with disease. I don't know of a pickle variety that is P&G.
anniew
19 years ago
I plant Marketmore 76 and DAsher II. Dasher is either from Stokes or Harris...I forget.
Ann
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ohiorganic
19 years ago
Last year I did Straight 8 and Diva. the Diva were started in a hoophouse in April and started producing at the end of May and kept on producing until September. the straight 8 produced for about 4 weeks before succumbing to cuke beetles wilt virus.

I sell my slicers by the piece, not the bushel and get between 75Â¢ and $1.50 per cuke.

Divas are a great looking and tasting cuke-very gourmet and are well suited to greenhouse production.
mommagoose
Original Author
19 years ago
Wow Ohio Organic thats a lot of money for a cucumber:) I am looking for the wholesale price though since I will have to keep my fulltime off the farm job in order to repay my disaster loans. It used to be that New York State Ag and Markets had a wholesale price guide available for us Marketers but they discontinued it a few years ago. Too bad it was very helpful in determining fair prices for the farmers.
I will check into Deva cucumber since so many of you mentioned it. I am also going to add a couple more rows of Cantalopes . I think I will try Twilleys Moneylope and my old favorite Fastbreak. Last time I grew Fastbreak I got 500 melons in about 75 foot of row and believe it or not it flowered twice so I had two crops here in New YOrk State.I was picking melons way into late September. Got to run.
Linda
barrie2m_(6a, central PA)
19 years ago
That does seem like alot for a Diva which is usually mature at 4-5 inches length. For longer slicers like Sweet Success or Tasty green which range 12-15 inches those figures are fairly typical. the later two varieties are worth a try. I gave up on Diva two years ago because nobody wanted them even at 50 cents each.