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Parthenocarpic

 
pollinator
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I am trying to decide what to plant in my indoor, winter garden.  Parthenocarpic cucumbers sound great because they don’t need to be hand pollinated.  I have some Beit Alpha planted outside. No fruit yet. It is supposed to be an open pollinated variety but seedless. How do they get the seed to plant?
 
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They can produce the fruit without pollination, but if they do get pollinated then the fruit won't be seedless. It will probably have fewer seeds than most varieties, but there will still be some.

When looking up the details of this particular variety, I see that some sellers are claiming that it only produces female flowers. The reviews posted on those sellers' websites say otherwise. I would bet you'll find both kinds of flowers on your plants.

(I grow seeds for a living. I've produced seeds for other parthenocarpic varieties, just not this one. All of them produced both male and female flowers, and would develop seeds when pollinated.)
 
Ken W Wilson
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Thanks Ellendra!  Seeds are OK. I just don’t want to have to hand pollinate. Are there any other varieties you would recommend?
 
Ellendra Nauriel
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Personally, I like the disease resistance of Diva cucumbers. There are a lot of varieties I haven't tried yet, so take that recommendation with a grain of salt :)
 
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I had never heard of parthenocarpism.  My wife was picking out cuke seeds to plant, and that term was used, so I had to look it up.  
So long as they are pollinated, are the seeds of Parthenocarpic Cucumbers viable for seed saving?  What if they cross with "regular" cucumbers - either monoecious or dioecious varieties?  How does that all work out?  Is there more than one species of thing that we call cucumbers (similar to squash) or are they all the same species?
 
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