'Marketmore 97' is the most recent addition to a series of disease-resistant slicing cucumbers developed in the Cornell University Department of Plant Breeding. The fruit have green skin with white spines and an average length and diameter of 18.8 cm and 4.8 cm, respectively. Broad resistance to a number of destructive diseases and insects makes this cultivar well-suited to low-input agricultural systems at the scale of the home gardener or the commercial grower. In addition to the cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), cucumber scab (Cladosporium cucumerinum Ell. & Arth.), downy mildew (Pseudoperonospora cubensis Berk & Curtis), and powdery mildew (Sphaerotheca fuliginea Schl. ex Fr.) resistances of 'Marketmore 76', 'Marketmore 97' contains resistance to alternaria leaf spot [Alternaria alternata (Fr.) Keis.], Ulocladium leaf spot (Ulocladium cucurbitae Let. & Room.), target leaf spot (Corynespora cassiicola Berk. & Curt.), watermelon mosaic virus, papaya ringspot virus, and zucchini yellow mosaic virus. Furthermore, the bitterfree character of this cultivar is responsible for nonpreference of the striped cucumber beetle (Acalymma vittatum Fab.) and spotted cucumber beetle (Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi Barber). Finally, a near isogenic line of 'Marketmore 97' is available that is gynoecious. A replicated trial of 'Marketmore 97' conducted in New York in 2006 confirmed comparable yield and quality to other Marketmore cultivars.
