Gynoecious cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) inbred lines selection and evaluation phases under Egyptian production conditions

A cucumber inbreeding program took place for four successive growing seasons from 2023 to 2025 to develop genetically stable gynoecious inbred lines. Pedigree selection was used focusing on sex expression and flowering nature to select gynoecious inbred lines. Eleven cucumber inbred lines were developed through the segregating generations. These lines demonstrated significant genetic homogeneity, as indicated by low coefficients of variation (C.V.%), and showed no signs of inbreeding depression. All eleven lines were genetically fixed for the gynoecious character, ensuring their consistent expression. The mean values for the traits of the eleven developed gynoecious inbred lines were calculated. Evaluation of the genotypes revealed significant differences across all studied characteristics. The highest values were exhibited by IL10-1-1 for all studied characters except fruit diameter, followed by IL27-2-2 for earliness and total yield. The developed inbred lines are candidates for creating commercial F1 gynoecious cucumber hybrids characterized by high yield, superior quality, and genetic uniformity.