EVALUATION OF THE MATERNAL FORMS OF CUCUMBER HYBRIDS FOR OPEN GROUND IN TERMS OF THE DEGREE OF EXPRESSION OF THE FEMALE SEX

Growing heterotic hybrids of cucumber on large areas is possible only if the production of their seeds does not require large additional labor costs in comparison with conventional varieties. Cleaning of maternal forms by flowering type – removal of plants of intermediate type of flowering and single male flowers on plants of predominantly female type requires considerable labor costs. Significantly simplifies and reduces the cost of hybrid seed production using maternal forms of female type that do not have male flowers. It is very important to create maternal forms with a consistently high female expression that do not respond to changing environmental conditions. This will allow hybrid seed production of cucumber not only in protected, but also in the open ground, which will significantly reduce the cost of production of seeds. The objective was to assess the maternal forms of the cucumber hybrids F1 Krepish (L-100), F1 Brunet (L-105), F1 Frant (L-290), F1 Krasotka (L-25) according to the female expression in the conditions of spring film greenhouses and open ground near Moscow. The open ground served as a provocative background for identifying the most stable in terms of the severity of the female sex lines. It was determined that the bee-polluted hybrids of the cucumber F1 Krepish and F1 Brunet are most suitable for conducting hybrid seed production in the open field, since their maternal forms need to be cleaned according to the blooming type less than others.