Do n’t you just bonk win - win situation ?
Choosing which typecast ofcucumber plant to grow in your gardenis one of those time when it ’s gruelling to go haywire .
Each family ofCucumis sativus , as these veg are know botanically , offers an copiousness of reward and benefits .
From slicer to picklers , hybrids to heirloom , vines to bush types , there will probably be at least one that will suit your growing needs .
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But first , it pays to know aboutallthe possibility , at least in oecumenical terms . There may be a A-one - helpful trait you ’re not mindful of , or a whole group that would not do well for you at all .
To assist you get screen out , here ’s what I ’ll cross :
What You’ll Learn
slice vs. Pickling
Pollination Requirements
Bush vs. Vining
Thin - Skinned and Burpless
Specialty Cucumbers
cross vs. heirloom
When you get together the merry band of cuke gardener , the first eminence you typically come across is based on whether the fruits a plant life produces lend themselves more to “ slicing ” or to “ pickling . ”
The slicing types have thickset , dark green skins . These can be bitter , so masses sometimes peel them before serve . They go into salad or are eaten fresh , maybe sliced into sticks with a flake of onion plunge .
Slicing works typically producea bumper harvest of fruits harvestedwhen they ’re between seven and 10 in long , depending on the cultivar .
Pickling kind produce heavily , too , but since they ’re not as large as slicers , you commonly do n’t get as many pounds from a single plant .
They ’re best harvest at three to five inches tenacious , or even shorter for gherkin miscellany . The fruits also have skin that last out crispy after pickling , and few – but larger – spines than slicers . Their skins are n’t bitter .
Contrary to what you might assume , pickle cucumbers are also toothsome for brisk eating . They have smaller seeds than slicers , a fresh smell , and skin that do n’t get tough unless you let them get too fledged and produce too orotund on the vine .
Another way gardeners and researchers categorize these plant is based on their flowering tendency , and whether they postulate pollination to farm .
Two eccentric may rely on insect to pollinate their flowers . The “ monecious ” ones produce male and female flowers on a undivided plant , while “ gynoecious ” varieties have flowers that are nearly all female .
Monoecious type are always open - pollenate , while some gynoecious ones are and some are n’t .
Most gynoecious form have been bred to be high - yielding and to produce quickly . They may or may not want pollinators to fruit .
You wo n’t take to worry about whether any gynoecious varieties you might buy have access code to male flower if they ’re reliant on pollination , though . alternatively , seminal fluid provider usually coalesce the ones that do need pollinate with a small percentage of a monoecious seed , and that take maintenance of it .
But you do need to grow at least seven plants of a gynoecious form to ensure one of them is monoecious and can fertilize the others , concord to Al Burkett , a cucumber breeder with Peto Sluis Seed Company in Woodland , California .
Burkett addressed cucumber pollenation as part of the National Gardening Association ’s Learning Library coverage .
To be on the secure side , anyone who be after to grow only a dyad of plants should choose a cultivar that ’s “ parthenocarpic . ” Those miscellany produce yield without pollination .
Parthenocarpic types are sometimes cite to as “ self - pollinating , ” though that ’s not strictly true . They can also be pollinated by insects bear pollen from other cucumber prime , but they ’ll have yield regardless .
If they ’re not exposed to pollen from the heyday of the other types , they ’ll produce Cucumis sativus that are about seedless .
This make the seeds scarce , so they ’re usually more expensive to purchase to uprise in your garden . They ’re also a minute harder to find , though a distich of type are widely available .
One of the most pop parthenocarpic varieties for home agriculturist is ‘ Diva , ’ a intercrossed motley which produces thin - skinned fruits ready for harvesting at five to seven in long .
‘ Diva ’
you could find seeded player in packets of 12 to 1,000available from True Leaf Market .
But if your serious option is growing cucumbers in a greenhouse or cold frame , youdefinitelywant a type that is both parthenocarpic and gynoecious . That assures your pick will have lots of female flowers but wo n’t postulate insects to produce fruit .
A standout variety in this family is ‘ Sweet Success , ’ an All - America Selections winner that render fluid - skinned , sorry green fruits that reach 12 inches long at maturity .
‘ mellifluous Success ’
‘ Sweet Success ’ seeds areavailable from Burpee via Amazon .
Cucumber plants can be sprawling vines that will rise from four to 12 or even 15 human foot foresightful . There are also “ bush ” type that take up just a couple of straight infantry in the garden . They may grow only two feet tall , and diffuse just 18 inches .
It ’s counterintuitive , but sometimes the vines make better employment of small garden spaces . you’re able to plant them just one foot apart if you offer ample keep inthe form of a trellis or fencing .
Within the bush category there are also “ dwarf ” varieties . They ’ve been cover to bring forth in container garden or modest spaces .
One instance is ‘ Spacemaster . ’ It farm to just six or eight inches marvelous and spreads 26 inches , but still produces eight - inch slice cucumbers .
Learn more about ‘ Spacemaster ’ and32 more of the best vining and George H.W. Bush cucumbers in our pathfinder .
Thin-Skinned and Burpless Cucumbers
Garden - variety cukes do develop a fair amount of a chemical compound acknowledge as cucurbitacin , which can make them bitter .
The chemical compound is found in the high concentration in the pelt and stems , and it may be the source of the indigestion some experience after feed these crunchy vegetables .
Decades ago , “ burpless ” varieties were introduce in an attempt to address this drawback . Asiatic cucumber vine with thinner skins and less cucurbitacin were the first to be market as “ burpless ” in the US .
If you ’re a stickler , it ’s deserving mentioning that while most of these varieties are n’t as biting or as likely to cause indigestion as some other homegrown types , they do n’t always provide a burpless experience .
Gardeners may also use the term “ burpless ” casually to mean a variety that has few seeds and fragile pelt . If you ’re on a pursuance for easy - to - digest homegrown cuke , view both burpless types and those referred to as “ bitterfree . ”
Some of the thin - skinned types – burpless or not – admit extra - tenacious European variety with no spines , and spiny , foot - long Asian slicers .
A short variety run by the names Persian or Lebanese , with ‘ Beit Alpha ’ being a specific cultivar . These are the same smooth - skinned fruits you so often see stacked in diminished formative bags in openhanded food market storage .
There ’s a catch - all category that ’s usually call “ Novelty ” or “ Specialty ” on-line or inseed catalogs . That ’s where you ’ll retrieve some of the best conversation starter !
Some of these are just strange type ofC. sativus , like the scented - bitter fleshed ‘ Brown Russian , ’ which resemble nothing so much as a muddle - form baking tater .
There ’s also the open - pollenate ‘ pied Serpent ’ or ’ Striped Armenian . ’
With striped , curving fruits picked at 15 inches long , it ’s unremarkably refer to as a cuke , though it ’s actually a dissimilar species , C. melo .
‘ Painted Serpent ’
you could regain seedsavailable from Eden Brothers .
One cunning novelty variety , Melothria scabra , the ‘ Mexican Sour Gherkin , ’ aka cucamelon or computer mouse melon , is used in the same manner , but is both a dissimilar genus and species from other pickling varieties .
Most of the previous categories of Cucumis sativus plant will match into one or the other of these categories .
Many modern salmagundi , and all of the parthenocarpic types , are loanblend . This mean they were engender in controlled environments to produce sure traits .
One thing to be aware of is that hybrid will not necessarily be the same as the parent plant , or bring about the same fruit , if you lay aside the cum to grow next year .
If you are determined to save seeds to swop or plant next year , open - pollinate heirloom are your only alternative .
As for what that recording label have in mind , many authorities classify a vegetable as an heirloom only if it was developed before 1951 .
Some unique cultivar have a legacy that stretch forth much further , and were introduced centuries ago .
“ All heirloom plant are open pollinated – meaning that ejaculate from these kind can be saved each twelvemonth by home gardener and will grow “ true to type ” from seed each time , ” Browning added .
“ In other words , works develop from seed will look on the dot like the parent plant life did , throw the same plant sizing and ontogenesis habit , as well as yield size , colour , and flavor . ”
heirloom often have interesting hoi polloi as part of their chronicle , like ‘ White Wonder . ’
This cultivar search like a newfangled variety with its easy - to - spot creamy - skinned fruit . But it was first introduced by W. Atlee Burpee , who establish Burpee , in 1893 .
He come from a highbrow home descended from Gallic Canadian Huguenots , but still became a hobbyist breeder of domestic fowl and industrial plant , meeting with international winner when he was just 16 !
Burpee rebelled against his father ’s idea that he become a medical Doctor of the Church , or else die into the agriculture business enterprise and becoming an former proponent of improved plant seeds .
He come out with ‘ White Wonder ’ the year before two other Burpee innovations , ‘ Iceberg ’ lettuce and the ‘ Stringless Green Pod Bean . ’
‘ White Wonder ’ is a vining diverseness that produce cream - colored , six- to eight - inch fruits .
‘ White Wonder ’
seed areavailable from Eden Brothersin a salmagundi of packet sizes .
The mixed bag that have been passed down from generation to generation may also taste well than their cross counterpart , or at least taste more like the fruit you remember from childhood or a relative ’s garden .
But loan-blend have been bred to resolve problems that stand in the way of successfully growing a harvest . Cucumber hybrids are an especially worthful option , because they are resistant to many diseases that can ravage heirloom plants , such as fusarium wilt .
Many growers and seed swapping organisation will note if an heirloom is particularly susceptible to a sure disease , or more than one . If the disease is prominent in your growing area , you should head off embed that cultivar .
And to be on the good side , when you maturate heirloom , be extra persevering with touchstone that will protect them from disease . These can let in harvest rotary motion , interplanting , and providing plenteous spatial arrangement .
Which Cuke will Make the Cut for Your Garden Team?
There ’s one more matter I ’d like to emphasize about the extravagant act of choice described here :
Do n’t let it throw you !
It ’s pretty dewy-eyed to make a quick choice of either the pickling or slicing category , and then pin down that to a pubic hair or vining smorgasbord , and go about your day .
Or you’re able to savor the choice , look at all the types , and then pass hours more opt a cultivar that has the right name , the perfect look , and a great back story .
And formore data about farm cucumbersin your garden , check out these scout next :
© Ask the Experts , LLC . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.See our TOSfor more details . in the beginning published May 19th , 2021 . Last updated April 6th , 2025 . Product photos via Burpee , Eden Brothers , and rightful Leaf Market . Uncredited photos : Shutterstock .
About
Rose Kennedy
