Superior performance from new vegetable varieties

All-America Selections have been announced for January 2020. These are the best performers among new and improved plants and seeds for home gardeners.

- CAROLINE SPEAR

Winners announced in January include two annuals, two perennials, seven tomatoes and three for the vegetable garden, which this column will detail. Descriptions are used with permission from AAS.

Green Light F1 Cucumber: This little beauty is an excellent mini cucumber, said many of the AAS judges. The yield was higher than the comparison varieties with more attractive fruit, earlier maturity, and superior eating quality. “I would absolutely grow this in my home garden,” commented one judge. Grow Green Light on stakes or poles for a productive, easy-to-harvest vertical garden that will yield 40 or more spineless fruits per plant. Pick the fruits when they’re small, between 3 and 4 inches long, and you’ll be rewarded with great tasting cucumbers, even without peeling. Succession plantings will ensure a summer-long harvest. This cucumber is 37-42 days to harvest from seed or 30-37 from transplant. Plant spread is 20 inches.

Fun fact: This cucumber is parthenocarpic, meaning the flowers are all female and the fruits are seedless without needing to be pollinated.