After looking for so long, we have found the cylindrical splotched Carosello Tarantino!
For those of you who do not really care about cucumbers, you may question, what does it really matter if my cucumber looks pretty - but for those of us who are passionate about the finest cucumbers - it is monumental to find something like this!
It has been years that I have been searching for something like this. That being said, if this variety cannot get me any closer to my desired Meloncella Faciata (a cylindrical all-dark green variety with light stripes) I will have to publicize the search with prize money until I find it.
All of my thanks does need to go to my friend Giuseppe, who has stuck with me - and trusted me - through all of our hard work and frustrating (and often delicious) failures.
Next door to the two Carosello Tarantino plants is this variety. I'm not quite sure what it is. I received this variety six years ago from Italy. I made sure to hand-pollinate all of the fruit and kept it isolated through an elaborate scheme that I am sure to discuss later. The closest relation to this would be some form of oval Mandurian Round or a Carosello Tondo Tarantino. I really can't tell.
Whatever it is the variety is not stable - meaning the color or another attribute does not remain the same from one plant to another. I harvested a few of its less colorful neighbors to try them out and, based on the flavor, I am highly impressed.
Given that the oval Carosello variety will cross with the Carosello Tarantino, I am diligently removing all of the male blossoms.
Based on the smaller very interesting blossoms of the Carosello Tarantino - which that are oval and elongated - I'm not really sure what to make of this cultivar. If we can stabilize the variety, it would be an incredible addition to the carosello varieties that we (the public) have access to.
Party Time! I'm usually pretty laid back, but given the news I decided to throw a party to celebrate. We're having the friends of my children come over to swim in our pool as well as to enjoy pizza, popsicles and technology. This may all seem quite eccentric, but if you had been working and waiting for years to find something you would celebrate too!
For those of you who do not really care about cucumbers, you may question, what does it really matter if my cucumber looks pretty - but for those of us who are passionate about the finest cucumbers - it is monumental to find something like this!
It has been years that I have been searching for something like this. That being said, if this variety cannot get me any closer to my desired Meloncella Faciata (a cylindrical all-dark green variety with light stripes) I will have to publicize the search with prize money until I find it.
All of my thanks does need to go to my friend Giuseppe, who has stuck with me - and trusted me - through all of our hard work and frustrating (and often delicious) failures.
Next door to the two Carosello Tarantino plants is this variety. I'm not quite sure what it is. I received this variety six years ago from Italy. I made sure to hand-pollinate all of the fruit and kept it isolated through an elaborate scheme that I am sure to discuss later. The closest relation to this would be some form of oval Mandurian Round or a Carosello Tondo Tarantino. I really can't tell.
Whatever it is the variety is not stable - meaning the color or another attribute does not remain the same from one plant to another. I harvested a few of its less colorful neighbors to try them out and, based on the flavor, I am highly impressed.
Given that the oval Carosello variety will cross with the Carosello Tarantino, I am diligently removing all of the male blossoms.
Based on the smaller very interesting blossoms of the Carosello Tarantino - which that are oval and elongated - I'm not really sure what to make of this cultivar. If we can stabilize the variety, it would be an incredible addition to the carosello varieties that we (the public) have access to.
Party Time! I'm usually pretty laid back, but given the news I decided to throw a party to celebrate. We're having the friends of my children come over to swim in our pool as well as to enjoy pizza, popsicles and technology. This may all seem quite eccentric, but if you had been working and waiting for years to find something you would celebrate too!
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| (Notice the Armenian and unknown carosello slices behind the popcorn) |
Dear Jay,
ReplyDeleteYou're getting more and more scientific!
One year ago I cultivated a Carosello Spuredda Tarantino (the one on the first picture at this post), but what came out was something more similar to a Carosello Tondo Massafrese and twin to the carosello shown on pic 4 and 5 at this post. I think they belongs to the same lot of seeds as the carosello in the photo 1. Yes, this variety isn't stable at all...
-Giuseppe-
Thanks for the response, Giuseppe! I decided to try growing out the seed anyway - and I am so glad I did.
DeletePictures of 4 and 5 in this post look nothing like the Tondo Massafrese I have grown. The seed source for this unknown variety is not the Carosello Tarantino but rather this seed was given to me in a pack it labeled "Unknown" six years ago by Angelo. It is unlike any other carosello I have ever grown, though it is quite vigorous and tasty! Like the Massafrese, the shape is oval, but these exhibit no ridging. Picture 6 is of the same variety with less dark color. I have self-pollinated the unknown oval variety and the fruit is growing quickly. I removed all the male flowers so that it would not pollinate Carosello Tarantino plants that are growing next to it.
With that in mind, what do you think pictures 4,5,and 6 are now - an oval Mandrian-type?
Dear Jay,
DeleteGiving names to unknown carosello varieties is a hard work. That being said, what do you mean for oval Mandurian-type? Probably you mean the Carosello Manduria Round. The caroselli shown on pictures 4 and 5 don't seem to be that strain because the dark green splotches are regular.As a matter of fact, the dark green spltoches on Carosello Manduria Round are more irregular: they look like flecks.
The caroselli displayed on picture 6 seem to be the other type of Mandurian carosello, that is the (regular) Manduria Carosello, though two out of the four show darker green splotches. This makes me think they are a cross with another unknown variety.
Anyway, you are doing a great work with caroselli.
-Giuseppe-