Favorite Cucumbers

[jmsieglaff]

Now there is the question. I am going to grow cukes this year. My Community Garden Plot is 30 x 30. I am putting up a fence/trellis for cukes 15 flong. This ought to be enough for one 5' tall little ole lady and a whole bunch of neighbors too. The people here have been so very helpful with such great advice, it sure makes it hard for a girl to make a choice.

I will be growing because I have found seeds for and because of the great advise:

County Fair
National Pickling
Boston Pickling
Homemade Pickles
Sweet Success

I wonder if I will have enough.... LOL

Ha! Sounds like you found a nice garden plot and I think you'll have A LOT of cukes! I am trying a new to me this year, China Jade, in addition to my Sweeter Yet.

[Ginger2778]

Just to throw a wrench in the works, I have a new slicer this year, and I'm in love with it. TaurusF1. What a producer! I have a great problem with pickleworms here, so I cover the 2 Earthboxes in tulle at night, fastened with clothespins. Removed in the am to allow for growth and airflow. These are the sweetest, crunchiest, non bitter longest slicer cucumbers, and with every female flower developing. They have male flowers but still produce no seeds so far. So far, 3 plants have given me about 60. I got my seeds from Harris, but Twilley seeds have them for a better price. So does Amazon but I wouldn't trust those.
Photos of a 1 day harvest, of extras I gave to the local nursing staff at a hospital, and of the tulle I put on to keep the nocturnal pickleworm moths out.

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[MissS]

Thank you Marsha. Those look great. I will give them a try next year for sure!

[slugworth]

suyo long from saved seeds
You don't have to peel them

[HL2601]

Tormato I have been channeling you! Have 4 Viridis F2s I just planted from the Xmas seeds you sent! Thank you for those-

[Whwoz]

A question for those who trellis cucumbers, have never done it before myself and am considering doing it this year, just wondering how the plants would cope with fruit of upto 2lb hanging from the vines? Would it be best to support them somehow or should they be OK just hanging.

[karstopography]

[mention]Whwoz[/mention] I sometimes place the cucumbers on the trellis structure or on the vine in a way that offers the cucumbers some added support. Cucumbers hang pretty well, though, the stems are tough and strong, I haven’t had a cucumber tear free due to its own weight. I haven’t let a cucumber get to 2 pounds yet, though.

[Whwoz]

Thank you [mention]karstopography[/mention], useful information, much appreciated. The Sikkims that I grew last season pushed 1.75 lb if I missed them in what was an ordinary season for us after the fires. If I trellis them hopefully I can pick them all at our preferred size, which is much smaller, but allowing for some to get bigger if they get away from us. Won't be trying to trellis Giant White Russian though, at 4lb, they are just to big.

[Ginger2778]

Mine are trellised because I grow them in my Earthboxes that already have tomato cages. They set lots if fruit, and it's very easy to see, so mine never even get to 1 lb. Can you eat a 2 lb cucumber? Is it tough?

[worth1]

Mine are trellised because I grow them in my Earthboxes that already have tomato cages. They sets lots if fruit, and it's very easy to see, so mine never even get to 1 lb. Can you eat a 2 lb cucumber? Is it tough?

These things aren't even close to what you and I would call a cucumber here.

[Whwoz]

Marsha, what I am growing is a different style of cucumber to the burpless ones that you have shown above. Those sizes mentioned are the normal size for those varieties so no, they aren't tough at all. The Sikkims go a russet red when mature and become a bit bitter, the Giant White Russian go a yellowish -brown and because they are bred as a storage cucumber are still good to eat, just need one slice to cover a bread bun.

Mine are trellised because I grow them in my Earthboxes that already have tomato cages. They sets lots if fruit, and it's very easy to see, so mine never even get to 1 lb. Can you eat a 2 lb cucumber? Is it tough?

[Hatgirl]

I grow Femspot every year. Great taste, no spines.

[karstopography]

Growing cucumbers has been a revelation to me. I’ve gone from not liking cucumbers in general, all I really ever had was super market ones, to now loving them. I bought the seed from the feed store that sells out out of bulk bins. I bought Garden Sweet Burpless, which are pretty long and a little knobby, still very good and not bitter, but I like them peeled. But, there must have been another type of seed in the mix. A spineless type, essentially no knobs, and the cucumbers tend to stay much shorter than the Garden Sweet Burpless. A lighter green skin and skin so thin that I prefer these cucumbers skin on. I wish I knew what type I have, they are very good and seem a little more productive than the Garden Sweet Burpless. If I knew what I had, I get those again. Maybe it’s a Persian type, those from what I’ve read seem to be shorter, thin skinned and spine free.

[Whwoz]

[mention]karstopography[/mention] track down a stem or two of the cucumber you like and pollinate the flowers, tagging them so you know which ones you have pollinated. If only one plant, you will be selfing, which may or may not take, but worth trying, even a poor set of seed should enable you to harvest enough seed for next year, when you can collect more. Knowing the name maybe ideal, but if you save the seed yourself, knowing what variety is not essential.

A photo may help someone confirm what group of cucumber you have, then a search of the suppliers website may narrow down the variety also

[eyegrotom]

karstopography Take one of the cucumbers that you like to the feed/seed store they might be able to tell you what kind of is

[Shule]

Our Spacemaster cucumbers are doing extremely well, this year! I was quite surprised, especially considering they're probably in salty soil (they're by a driveway that gets salted a lot in the winter; snow falls on it, and that snow has been known to get shoveled onto the soil where the cucumbers are growing). They might be a new favorite, if this is normal for them. The skins have been bitter for us, though, but you can peel them off.

[karstopography]

I’m going for a fall crop of cucumbers. Looking at the local planting charts, timing for seeding is anywhere from mid July into and through September. I’ve got the mystery seed from the feed store, plus Ashley, a persian type, and Arkansas little leaf. Might try them all. Not sure when I’ll put them in, maybe a staggered planting.

[TXTravis]

[mention]karstopography[/mention] I'm planning to try Fall cukes this year for the first time as well. Really looking forward to the Parisian Gherkin Hybrids. I've decided that I like cornichons better than any other pickles, and aim to do something about it.

[friedgreen51]

I have grown Arkansas Little Leaf several times. It is a good pickle type cucumber and good for eating. It was always a winner for me.

Here is the Seed Saver Exchange description:
Popular and reliable, this white-spined pickler has multiple disease-resistance. Compact vines have multiple branch points and will climb a fence or trellis with ease. Small leaf size makes finding fruit easier, and the parthenocarpic flowers produce fruit under stress and without pollinators. 5 in. long fruits good for slicing and pickling. This variety may have lost Downy Mildew resistance with the emergence of new strains of the fungus, as it now varies from year to year with how well it resists DM.

[WoodSprite]

[mention]MissS[/mention], how did your cucumber comparisons turn out?

I don't like cucumbers but grow them for my husband and to make sun pickles (which I do love). I grew Homemade Pickles for the first time this past year. They didn't produce as many cucumbers as other varieties that I grew many years ago.