Mercury This was a real standout in our cucumber trials for both flavour and productivity. Choose Mercury cucumber seeds for exceptionally early beit alpha type cucumbers. The fruits are 20cm (8") long with thin, shiny, dark skins, and crisp, sweet, flavourful flesh. The seeds are small in a tight seed cavity. Plants are very productive both outdoors and in the greenhouse, but were bred with open field growing in mind. Lots of fruits develop on each plant in one relatively concentrated set. They are suitable for pickling when picked immature, but they make fine slicers at full size. Matures in 55 days. (Hybrid seeds)
Marketmore - A superb, tasty, straight-fruited slicing cucumber with excellent resistance to powdery and downy mildew. Ideal for culture in pots and grow bags. Outdoor ridge type.
Passandra F1 - Prolific crops of top quality, mini 'female' cues. Has good tolerance to powdery and downy mildew and cucumber mosaic virus. Ideal for producing reliable crops in the greenhouse.
Patio Snacker cucumber seeds produce compact little plants that grow to only 90-150cm (36-60"), but producing numerous full-sized slicing cucumbers from mid-summer on. Trellis the little plants, or try them in a hanging basket and allow the short vines to spill over the sides. Patio Snacker was bred with the small-space gardener in mind, so it's ideal for balcony growing. Be sure to keep the plants picked so that new flowers and fruits continue to come. Matures in 50-55 days. (Hybrid seeds)
Cucamelon Melothria scabra. Also known as the Mexican Sour Gherkin, cucamelon seeds produce vines that could be mistaken for regular cucumber plants. The plants are not quite as productive as cucumbers, but the fruits are amazingly cute and novel. They look like tiny watermelons, but have a very appealing cucumber flavour with slight citrus notes. Eat them fresh or pickle them for a crunchy treat. Harvest them at the 2cm (1") size, before the seeds develop. This is a heat loving tropical plant that is most productive in hot weather or a greenhouse setting. Start the seeds indoors and treat as you would a conventional cucumber seedling. Matures in 67 days. (Open-pollinated seeds)
Early Fortune CERTIFIED ORGANIC. Described as the earliest and best white spine, heirloom cucumber ever offered, Early Fortune Organic is a fresh and clean tasting slicer is descended from seeds first bred in Michigan in 1906. The fruits grow 18-21cm (7-8”) long, and a consistent 5cm (2”) in diameter. The plants are richly productive for the home or market gardener. It also makes gorgeous pickles. The plants are productive in the greenhouse or polytunnel, but equally so growing in raised beds or the open field. Give the fruits a quick rub with a tea towel or similar cloth to remove spines at harvest time. Matures in 55 days. (Open-pollinated seeds)
How to Grow
35 seed/gram. Cucumbers grow best in a rich, warm, sandy loam soil. Before planting, work into the native soil 30 cm (12″) deep large amounts of garden compost or composted manure. As cooler soil will reduce germination and increase the chance of the seed rotting before it sprouts, wait until the soil has reached a temperature of at least 18 C (66 F) before planting. Mound the soil up into hills about 15-20 cm (6-8″) high and about 30-60 cm (12-24″) across. Space the hills about 120 cm (4′) apart. Sow the seed 2 cm (3/4″) deep with 6 to 8 seeds per hill then after the seed sprouts, thin to 3 or 4 plants per hill. If you have limited space, most cucumbers grow on trellises. Protect the plants from any late spring/early summer frosts and keep the plants evenly watered through the growing season. Even soil moisture is very important as cucumbers become very bitter if the plant becomes moisture stressed by hot dry weather. To prevent damage to the plant, harvest the cucumbers by cutting them from the vine with a sharp knife – do not pull or twist them from the vine.