Nope- no definitive idea.
I've read some things on-line from 'home experts' on pickling and some say don't wash produce vigorously as that could somehow affect the fermentation process- i.e. removing good bacteria needed for the fermentation process.
Another said wax applied to fruits and vegetables could impact it.
Another commented pesticides use can impact it.
Nothing is proved, its opinion and should be taken with a grain of salt. All I know is my observations- the cukes we get from a local real food grocer (organic) do fine. They are not washed (or lightly) and we just rinse them off and away we go. (Well one batch did get ruined but that was operator error forgetting to keep water in the water seal crock lip. It was exposed to air for too long).
100% of the standard grocery store cukes we bought failed fermenting. Cloudy film on tops with pink mold with long spores into the brine and totally smelled rotted.
We're going to stick with organic and/or home garden cukes. I also do not follow on-line 'blogger' advice. Roots & Harvest (a company related to LEM) published solid recipes for sauerkraut and pickles, so do several extension offices. That's primarily where we get our info from.
Interestingly I recall the brine formula my grandmother and great grandmother used on the farm. They had huge crocks. You poured water 1/2 up the crock and added salt. When an egg would float- you got it right. Cukes went in, covered and that was that. My research showed that if an egg would float in your brine- you were right around 10% salinity which is damn near double what we wind up using!
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