YELLOW PICKLE IN CUCUMBERS. 7 



The Ri:latk)n of Dkformed Cucumbers to Conditions Causing 

 "V'eli.ow Pickle 



The cause of nuhljins and deformed cuciiiiihers is usually attributed to 

 the fact that the flower was inii)roperly fertilized or that the seed is de- 

 generating. Both answers seem improbable in the light of certain observa- 

 tions on both healthy and diseased plants. Tiiere are plants so genetically 

 constituted that they iir(>duce only nubbins or deformed cucumbers. But 

 many plants later in life j^roduce nubbins and deformed cucumbers which 

 earlier produced number one cucumbers only. In this case we cannot at- 

 tribute the condition to heredity. When nubbins are produced on green- 

 house grown cucumber plants that are as freely visited by bees as plants 

 producing number one cucumbers, we hesitate to attribute the result to 

 a lack of pollination. It would be supposed that hand pollination should 

 overcome the trouble, but exjierience has shown that resorting to such a 

 method is no assurance that the cucumbers will be normally formed. There- 

 fore we are led to think that the physiological balance of the plant is upset 

 to the extent that fertilization is abnormal. This assumption, however, 

 cannot be proven at the present time. When a i)lant is weak and an in- 

 sufficient supply of food is available to nourish the newly pollinated 

 fiowers, the time when any given flower is i)ollinated may have some in- 

 fluence on the shai)e of the fruit de\eloiiing from it. The number of grow- 

 ing cucumbers on a plant is undoubtedly a contributing cause of the pro- 

 duction of nubbins and deformed cucumbers. By observation it has been 

 noted that the condition of the fruit indicates the conditions under which 

 it was produced. That is to say, if a i)lant is in good health and sets six 

 cucumbers on six succeeding days, they may all start to grow. If some- 

 thing tends to cut down the food sujiply, four of the cucumbers, depending 

 on time of pollination and position on the plant, may continue to grow 

 uninterruptedly, while the other two stop growing until more food material 

 is available. If two of the four cucumbers are picked the remaining two 

 may resume growth. However, the jilant is ])roducing new foliage and 

 new flower buds while cucumbers are maturing. If no new jiistillate 

 flowers have been formed, the two small cuciimliers ma\ grow and form 

 cucumbers, the upjier half of which will be small, while the tip half will 

 be quite bulgy and will contain a large number of viable seeds. 1 However, 

 if new pistillate flowers have been pollinated on the plant, they may re- 

 ceive the support of the plant and grow while the two small cucumbers 

 either ripen into nubbins with a few viable seeds or become yellow pickles. 

 This condition ajiplies only to plants which under normal conditions pro- 

 duce cucumbers of good shape. 



The Application to Practice 



Growers ask as to what can be done to avoid yellow pickle. The better 

 control is, obviously, prevention. When all the yellow pickles and mature 

 cucumbers are removed the plants put forth new growth and develop pistil- 

 late flowers, providing abundant sui)ply of recjuired nutrients and foods 

 manufactured by the leaves is available. If the i)lants are kept healthy and 

 vigorous at all times they will carry more pistillate flowers to maturity. 

 Growth must be continuous and rapid. The presence of a number of 



1 The seeds from a number of self-fertilized cucumbers of this shape have produced 

 plants which bore perfect normally shaped cucumbers. 



