Estimates of Heritabilities and Variance Components in Pickling Cucumber1

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Abstract
Variance component estimates were obtained in a North Carolina Design I experiment for several traits in pickling cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) for a simulated once-over mechanical harvest. The reference population was random-mating and derived from 18 inbred lines obtained from several U.S. breeding programs. Environments sampled were the spring and fall of a single year. Data indicated most of the genetic variance was additive for all traits except fruit color. Evidence for relatively large genotype by environment interaction variances were found for number of fruit, length to diameter (L/D) ratio, and fruit firmness. Heritabilities, based on full-sib families grown in 2 replications in each of 2 seasons, for dollar value and number of fruit, were .19 and .17 respectively. Genotypic and phenotypic correlations for number of fruit and dollar value were high indicating selection for increased number of fruit would be effective in increasing crop value.

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