Of all the varieties I grew in my greenhouse this summer, the Zorzi Carosello Spuredda Leccese was my favorite. It started out very healthy and strong and was quick to set fruit and produce abundantly. I harvested the first small fruit on May 9th, just to try it out.
By the time of the second crop, the Zorzi carosello had a fruit color that looked more like a mix of Scopattizo and dark Leccese. A little pretty, but not exactly what I was looking for. Texture was decent, as was water content. The seed of this variety is not narrow like the native dark Leccese. It was however darker in color like the Scopattizo Barese, so the parent plants that the seed originated from may be more closely related to this variety.
So - will this carosello be making my future seed lineup?
Don't plan on it any time soon.
 |
| May 14th |
 |
| Plant sprouting March 19th, 2019 |
 |
| April 1st, 2019 |
 |
| All true leaves showing. Some problem in the left plants |
 |
| Additional compost/ammendments helped the plants recover - April 11th. |
Although
many other carosello cucumbers turn out to be completely different then
the picture, this one held pretty close to what the picture displayed.
However, the picture has a photograph of three cucumbers that look the
same – which is very different from what I experienced. Though fruit
shape was generally cylindrical, fruit color varied dramatically from
one cucumber to another – even on the same plant. Although I can select
cucumber varieties by growing out like cucumbers on one plant, the
genetics of color become much more difficult to reproduce when the plant
produces cucumbers that each look a little different. Though I was hand
pollinating the plant by selfing (pollinating the female flower from
male flowers on the same plant) I was unable to get much consistency in
color until my second planting.
 |
| April 27th, 2019 |
 |
| April 29th |
 |
| April 30th |
 |
| May 1st |
 |
| May 2nd |
 |
| May 4th |
 |
| May 6th, with flash |
 |
| Without flash |
 |
| May 8th |
 |
| May 9th |
 |
| May 9th |
 |
| May 13th |
 |
| Removing fuzz to check color underneath |
 |
| May 21st |
By the time of the second crop, the Zorzi carosello had a fruit color that looked more like a mix of Scopattizo and dark Leccese. A little pretty, but not exactly what I was looking for. Texture was decent, as was water content. The seed of this variety is not narrow like the native dark Leccese. It was however darker in color like the Scopattizo Barese, so the parent plants that the seed originated from may be more closely related to this variety.
 |
| July 20th, 2019 |
 |
| September 18th, 2019 |
Don't plan on it any time soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Dear Gardening Friends,
I look forward to learning more about gardening with you. Your comments help me recognize that gardening is a life-long journey.
To advertisers: Note that this blog is concerned with gardening and gardening techniques. Please do not attempt to advertise here by leaving a comment. Depending upon how egregious the comment is, it may be deleted.