I'm growing Pathernon F1 courgette this year and have been quite impressed at the earliness and reliable cropping, they taste pretty good too. I'm planning on growing some earlier again next year in the polytunnel as I think they should do well. They are quite expensive though, the pack I have was £2.99 for 5 seeds, but I likely had them in a special offer when they would have been a pound, which is still quite dear for 5 seeds. It got me to thinking as the plant puts out a fair amount of male flowers too, they are not like an all female type cucumber, but are able to self pollinate if pollen is available? I'd like to have a dabble at growing out some F2's next year and also making a couple of crosses this season.
I'm assuming/hoping a parthenocarpic habit is a passable trait that I can select for whether crossing or stabilizing? I'm growing a couple of types of Cousa courgette as I love the taste of the white ones, I'd like to use these to cross with Parhernon, although a shorter cut might be to use Cavilli as it is another parthenocarpic type but with white fruit. If I wanted to use Cavilli I'd have to sow now. Would it be better to cross these two, or use the two non parthenocarpic types with Parthenon?
I'm assuming/hoping a parthenocarpic habit is a passable trait that I can select for whether crossing or stabilizing? I'm growing a couple of types of Cousa courgette as I love the taste of the white ones, I'd like to use these to cross with Parhernon, although a shorter cut might be to use Cavilli as it is another parthenocarpic type but with white fruit. If I wanted to use Cavilli I'd have to sow now. Would it be better to cross these two, or use the two non parthenocarpic types with Parthenon?
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