Long-shot Tondo di Manduria

In late July I started a planting of Tondo Manduria from some seed my friend Angelo provided me with in 2013. It is amazing how well his seed has germinated all these years later. In any case, my desire to get the fruit to seed was pretty futile, due to the prevalence of Powdery Mildew. By the time I got around to the plot, the disease had established itself so firmly, that there was little I could do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like all other populations of the Tondo Manduria, this variety expresses multiple phenotypes in the same population. The term we often use for this is “polymorphic”. The Tondo di Manduria generally has two expressions for vine length, fruit shape and color. The vines can be long or compact, the shape can be round or cylindrical and the color can be light or light with splotching. I personally prefer the compact vines that produce round fruit with splotching.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Within this population, the vines and fruit expressed all the regular traits correlated with the commercial strains of this variety. In the end, the fruit I picked didn’t mature any further, but just began to rot – so I was forced to harvest mostly immature seeds that I had to toss.

The Poinsett 76 Cucumber:

While I have grown a lot of American style slicer cucumbers in the past, I really enjoyed growing the Poinsett 76 this year. Given the fact that there was a lot of competition for light, the fruit produced quickly and, compared to the other varieties I grew, was quite productive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Poinsett was apparently developed by Henry M. Munger and released by Clemson and Cornell to be resistant to a host of diseases. The fruit and the plant looked very good throughout the time that I grew them and I generally really enjoyed the process of growing the fruit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found the flavor of the fruit to be very good for an American slicer. Though noticeably shorter than a Marketmore 76, I found the taste and texture to be superior to the Marketmore.

 

 

 

 

 

Overall, I thought it was both fun and worthwhile trying out the Poinsett 76. For those who are looking for a favorable heirloom American slicer, this is definitely one worth trying out.

A Short Season for Salt & Pepper

Immediately after I could distinguish the smooth Carosello Leccese from the other more scalloped fruit in my Carosello Leccese trial, I cleared the smooth-fruited plants out in order to make room for some Salt and Pepper cucumbers. I was critically low on seed and it was important for me to try growing them. The Salt and Pepper cucumbers did really well at first and they grew pretty well. Unfortunately, due to some kind of problem related to the soaker hose, the plants did not get the consistent amount of water that they should have.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just like when I first grew out Salt and Pepper in the chicken garden, I really enjoyed growing this variety. It is an unassuming little variety that has a really nice texture, it is generally pretty consistent and good. It also did extremely well with fending off powdery mildew from a cucumber-melon variety growing next to it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the harvest and seed processing, I was very excited about being able to provide Salt and Pepper seeds to others. Unfortunately, for some reason, the germination turned out pretty poor. I allowed one of the mature fruit to sit until it became fairly soft, then harvested seed. I hope that this will enable me to harvest at least a little bit of good seed. I will also seek to find other small seed producers to determine if I can source this variety from another grower.