Varieties of self-pollinating cucumbers for pickling and canning: a selection of the best, recommendations for selection, advice from gardeners

Each owner of a household plot or plot of land plans in advance: what kind of vegetables and fruits he will grow; which of them will be consumed fresh, and which will be used for homemade preparations. Experienced housewives know that the key to success in winter preparations is not only strict adherence to the recipe, but also the quality of the raw materials. At first glance, all cucumbers are similar, but this impression is deceptive, because the varieties of this vegetable are divided into salad varieties (intended for fresh consumption) and those intended for pickling and canning. If you plan to preserve cucumbers for the winter, it is better to immediately plant varieties suitable for this in the garden.

The article gives useful tips on how to select the most suitable cucumber varieties for canning based on external characteristics, and also talks about modern and classic varieties suitable for pickling. Fans of home gardens will also be able to find useful information about the correct choice of cucumber seeds for planting for preservation. In this article you will also find useful information on selecting cucumbers for canning, as well as photos and descriptions of the best varieties. In addition, we will provide several simple but tried-and-true recipes that will help keep vegetables tasty and crisp throughout the winter.

Varieties of cucumbers for canning

Recipes for pickling and canning cucumbers

Cold pickling

Hot salting

Savory Recipes

Features of choosing a variety of cucumbers for pickling

Summer preparations of aromatic crispy cucumbers are a winter table decoration. Experienced housewives know that a successful recipe is not enough to get a tasty product. Not every cucumber is suitable for pickling and canning.

There are three types of cucumber varieties:

Salad varieties . These cucumbers are fragrant, juicy, and have thin skin. But during heat treatment, the skin and fruit bodies soften, the aroma is lost, and the taste deteriorates.
Pickling varieties of cucumbers have dense flesh; the skin does not soften under the influence of temperature, allows salt to pass through, and promotes uniform salting of the product.
Universal varieties of cucumbers are suitable for both salads and pickling.

Salad cucumbers cannot be used for preparations . Only pickling and universal varieties are harvested.

Parthenocarpic hybrids

Although many gardeners “ate the dog” when it comes to cucumbers, quite often the term self-pollinating is used when describing the type of propagation of a variety. Cucumbers usually have both male and female flowers. Pollen from male flowers to female flowers is transferred mainly by pollinating insects, to attract which it is recommended to plant together with bright flowers. But in modern conditions, when the industrial production of vegetables dictates its own rules, many varieties of cucumbers have been developed with a predominantly female type of flowering that do not require pollination. Such plants do not have empty flowers or male flowers (but they also do not produce seeds).

The ability of plants to form fruits without pollination is parthenocarpy.

So, when it is said that a hybrid has a female type of flowering, it is more correct to use the term parthenocarpic varieties rather than self-pollinating.

The advantage of parthenocarpics is that they grow everywhere: in open ground, in greenhouses, on loggia balconies and even on window sills. The fruits set together, the harvest of cucumbers ripens of the same size, without bitterness. Since parthenocarpic plants do not produce seeds, the fruits do not turn yellow. The disadvantage is that parthenocarpics are sensitive to temperature changes and, when planted in open ground, can produce distorted fruits.

How to choose the best self-pollinating early ripening variety for pickling

When choosing a variety or hybrid for cultivation, first of all, they pay attention to the crop’s requirements for soil, humidity, temperature conditions and correlate them with the characteristics of their garden plot and region of residence.

Early ripening pickling varieties include those whose growing season before fruiting is 35-45 days.

Self-pollinating hybrids are recommended for pickling:

Hector F1 – 30-36 days;
Courage F1 – 38-44 days;
Cupid F1 – 37-40 days;
Prestige F1 – 42-45 days.

Mid-season

Mid-ripening pickling hybrids produce higher-quality fruits for harvesting for the winter compared to early-ripening ones . The growing season until harvest is 45-50 days.

Choose the following hybrids:

Ginga F1;
White sugar F1;
Murashka F1;
Siberian salting F1.

Long-term fruiting

Late varieties of cucumbers are most suitable for canning and pickling . The taste of these products is preserved throughout the year. The structure of the fruit is not damaged during heat treatment.

Cucumbers that bear fruit until late autumn:

The F1 is the envy of everyone;
Magdalena F1.

For greenhouses

Hybrids are best suited for growing self-pollinating pickling cucumbers in greenhouses. They are resistant to many diseases, have high yields and are undemanding to care.

Hybrids will do:

Siberian salting F1;
Murashka F1;
Hector F1.

For open ground

Self-pollinating cucumbers for open ground are resistant to temperature changes. Plants must tolerate dry periods well and be immune to diseases :

Nezhinsky;
Vyaznikovsky;
Bush.

Recipes for pickling and canning cucumbers

If you have already chosen cucumbers for canning and brought them home, you will definitely be interested in simple recipes for preparing them for the winter. However, before actual cooking, you need to prepare the vegetables themselves.

Note: If you picked cucumbers from your own garden, it will be enough to simply wash the vegetables and soak them in cold water for two hours. For purchased cucumbers, the preparation will take longer.

If you bought cucumbers at the market or in a store, you must soak them in water. It is advisable to leave them to soak overnight, since you do not know exactly when the cucumbers were picked or how long they were stored before purchasing. Soaking will help saturate the vegetable pulp with liquid, which is necessary to ensure that the fruit remains crisp even after heat treatment.

After soaking, the cucumbers must be washed and sorted by size. In addition, during the sorting process, it is imperative to remove rotten or damaged specimens, since such cucumbers, even if sterilized, can lead to the lid swelling or the jar exploding.

Reviews from summer residents

Summer residents try to grow different varieties and hybrids to choose one suitable for the climate of their region, and share recommendations.

Victor, Ufa : “Good cucumbers Prestige F1. Tasty and not too capricious. I’ve been growing them for five years now and haven’t noticed any problems, so I can confidently recommend them to everyone, you won’t regret it.”

Andrey, Sortavala : “Last year I planted Amur F1, I liked it. It is very hardy and produces almost no stepsons, all on the main stem.”

Sergey, Vologda : “On manure beds without a film covering, the Gingo F1 seedlings withstood the night cold down to +4°C without loss. The harvest is incredible. Good for pickling in tubs.”

What cucumbers are suitable for pickling?

Ideal cucumbers for pickling are those that:

strongly pronounced pimples (tubercles), always with black spines, which are easily removed when fully ripe;
dense and crispy flesh;
The size of the green cucumber should be approximately 7-10 cm . Cucumbers up to 5 cm in size are most often pickled; more than 10 are served fresh;
with a small number of small seeds . The presence of large seeds, even in small quantities, is not desirable;
thin, dense skin without bitterness;
there are no voids inside the fruit.

In addition, gardeners used to give preference to dark green pickling cucumbers; now there is considerable demand for light green varieties and hybrids.

Cucumbers are NOT suitable for pickling:

with porous pulp;
with a large number of seeds or with large seeds;
with thick skin;
with voids inside;
watery;
with bitterness.

Criterias of choice

The following fruits are used for preservation:

size is 12-15 centimeters;
the skin is intact and has a rich green color;
there are pimples and thorns on the peel;
vegetables have a beautiful cylindrical shape - a slight bend is acceptable;
the surface has a hard and elastic consistency;
when cut, internal voids are not visible;
there are some seeds inside;
the pulp has a dense consistency and crunch;
the vegetable has a sweet taste without bitterness.

Top 10 best cucumber seeds for greenhouses

In the Urals, Siberia and other areas with a difficult, cool climate, you can get a good harvest of greens only by growing the crop indoors. However, only varieties and hybrids that are not demanding on light intensity and daylight hours are suitable for such conditions. In the table we note the most popular greenhouse varieties for pickling and canning.

Name	Days from germination to ripening	Length (cm)/weight (g) of greens at harvest maturity	Peculiarities
Moscow dude F1	40–47	11–15/100–115	The hybrid is productive, shade-tolerant, resistant to viruses, fungi, bacteria and pests
Buran F1	40–55	10–13/90–110	Productive, parthenocarpic. Increased immunity to major crop diseases
Hector F1	38–45	9–13/85–115	Bouquet (4–5 fruits in the axil), productive hybrid. Resistance to thickening of plantings, short-term temperature drops and common diseases at a high level
Adam F1	40–45	9–10/90–95	Parthenocarpic, yield 8–10 kg per m². Fruiting is abundant throughout the entire growing season. The hybrid is resistant to brown spot, mosaic, MR and adverse weather factors
Blagodatny F1	45–58	9–11/110–120	Productive, self-pollinating
Sunrise F1	47–60	15–16/100–120	Immunity to diseases, yield up to 7.5 kg m²
Moravian Gherkin F1	40–48	8–10/80–90	The flowering type is mainly female. Up to 17 kg of greens are harvested per m²
Trump card F1	38–42	10–12/95–115	Self-pollinating, bouquet, gherkin hybrid with immunity to major diseases
Severin F1	40–45	10–12/85–110	The plant is characterized by very good regeneration after stress, as well as excellent immunity to common diseases and pests
Minion F1	40–45	8–11/80–95	Self-pollinating, bunched, 2–3 cucumbers in axils

Attention! Disease-resistant cucumbers are chosen for greenhouses. Hybrids should also tolerate high humidity normally.

In closed ground, ideal conditions are created for obtaining an excellent harvest of greens. However, a crop grown in such conditions requires care and attention; the bushes must be tied up and shaped (pinched, removed by stepsons). They feed and water the plants according to a clear schedule, monitor the microclimate, and regularly ventilate the greenhouse.

Far Eastern

Cucumbers for home preservation. They are distinguished by developed immunity, do not get sick and take root in different climatic zones of Russia, and not only in the Khabarovsk Territory, where they were first bred in the early 40s of the last century. The fruits tolerate prolonged rains and drought well, flowering occurs until the end of September, cucumbers need to be harvested almost every other day. The skin of greens is decorated with white stripes, arranged in tubercles, with black thorns, and the flesh is dense, sour in taste, and not bitter.

Options	Description
Rating	9,8
Price	12 rubles
Productivity	3-6 kg/m²
Fruit size	10-13 cm/120-130 g
Advantages	Tolerates drought and bears fruit until the first frost
Fits	open ground

Characteristics of pickling cucumbers

Choosing the right variety or hybrid does not always guarantee success. It is necessary that greens meet certain requirements:

length – no more than 12-13 cm;
on the skin there are tubercles (pimples) with spikes;
taste – slightly sweet, without notes of bitterness;
pulp – elastic, crispy;
absence of voids.

Greens for pickling and preservation have a special structure inside; the vessels run transversely, so the flesh is crunchy. Salad varieties do not have this feature; when poured with hot brine or marinade, the pulp becomes soft.

The early ones will yield a harvest in the first half of summer, but for winter supplies you will have to sow cucumbers later or use mid-season and late hybrids. In regions with short summers, cold snaps are common at the end of August, so it is recommended to cultivate vegetables in greenhouses. The greens in the shelter will ripen just in time for the start of salting and preservation for the winter.

Barrel pickling F1

Refers to an early-ripening species of gherkin cucumbers pollinated by bees, which are immune to common diseases. Cucumbers are bright green in color, with bumps and black spines, the taste is aromatic and fresh, and they have a good crispness. During preparation, the spines break off, resulting in the formation of porous depressions on the tubercles, which is beneficial for salting, because the brine is quickly absorbed. Smooth cucumbers are slippery, but those with tubercles fit into a jar or barrel without any problems.

Options	Description
Rating	9,8
Price	14 rubles
Productivity	3-4 kg/sq. m
Fruit size	80-95 g/9-11 cm
Advantages	crispy pulp high composition of nutrients stable germination resistance to stress endurance
Fits	open ground and greenhouse

Rules for collecting cucumbers for preservation

Properly collecting vegetables for preservation is an art. Basic recommendations:

It is advisable to collect greens in the morning, before bright sunlight.
The day before, the plants are watered with warm water.
The fruits are removed carefully, without injuring the lashes or turning them over.
During the period of mass harvest, the greens are removed every day so that they do not overgrow. A number of hybrids have a lack of bitterness and the impossibility of outgrowing at the genetic level. If harvested untimely, old varieties turn yellow and the skin of the fruit becomes coarser
It is advisable to make preparations on the same day after harvesting the fruits.
It is recommended to grow cucumbers with different ripening periods. Early pickles will be used for summer preparations, late ones – for pickles and marinades for winter consumption.

With the correct and careful selection of cucumber varieties, as well as proper care of the plants, raw materials for pickles, marinades and preservation, the summer resident will be provided for.