Pickling cucumber

Sun

Full sun; light afternoon shade can help in very hot climates.

Water

Keep the root zone evenly moist, especially during flowering and fruiting. Water deeply when the soil surface begins to dry, without leaving the soil waterlogged.

Soil

Fertile, moisture-retentive but well-drained soil enriched with compost; ideally pH 6.0-7.0.

Height

6-12 in (0.15-0.3 m) trailing; 4-6 ft (1.2-1.8 m) on a trellis

Spread

3-6 ft (0.9-1.8 m) trailing; allow 1-2 ft (0.3-0.6 m) between trellised plants

Flowers

Yellow flowers from early summer until autumn, depending on sowing time and climate.

Foliage

Large, rough, green leaves with shallow lobes; bristly stems carry curling tendrils.

Growth

Fast in warm weather

Care needed

Medium

• Pollinators
• Heat tolerant
• Low allergen
• Edible

Northern hemisphere months. In Australia, shift them by six.

Difficulty

Moderate

Toughness

Needs looking after

Pick your zone, country, light and whether you have pets.

1. Planting day

   0.5 ft (0.15 m)

2. After 1 year

   0.7 ft (0.22 m)

   full size

Full size in one season.

From a typical nursery size, at an average rate for this kind of plant. A rule of thumb, not a forecast.

Cats and dogs

Safe

Growth rate

Fast

• Plant outside after all frost risk has passed and soil has warmed to at least 65°F (18°C).
• Water at soil level and avoid repeated drying out while fruits are developing.
• Mulch once the soil is warm, keeping mulch clear of the stem.
• Apply a balanced vegetable fertiliser according to the label; avoid excessive nitrogen.
• Install a sturdy trellis at planting and guide young shoots onto it.
• Keep insect netting or row covers off flowering plants so bees can reach the flowers.

Pruning. Routine pruning is unnecessary. During growth, guide vines onto their support and remove badly diseased leaves with clean tools; avoid heavy cutting that exposes fruits to strong sun.

Begin checking for fruit roughly 55-65 days after sowing in warm conditions, allowing longer in cool weather. Pick firm, green cucumbers about 2-6 in (5-15 cm) long, choosing smaller fruits for whole pickles and harvesting before they swell or turn yellow. Cut the stalk with scissors and check plants daily or every other day to keep them cropping.

Spring

Prepare a sunny bed with compost and put supports in place.

Mid spring

For an early start, sow indoors in individual pots 3-4 weeks before the expected planting-out date.

Late spring

Harden off seedlings and plant out after frost, or direct-sow once the soil is warm.

Early summer

Mulch warm soil, guide vines onto supports and allow pollinators access to flowers.

Summer

Water consistently, feed as needed and harvest frequently.

Autumn

Remove spent vines when production ends or frost kills them; clean supports and discard badly diseased material.

• Train up a trellis along the sunny edge of a vegetable bed to save ground space.
• Use a simple frame in a potager to add seasonal height among lower edible crops.
• Grow in a large container with a sturdy support on a sunny patio, where watering is easy.
• Let vines trail through a dedicated mulched bed, leaving paths clear for frequent harvesting.

Garden styles it suits: Potager (kitchen garden), Cottage garden, Farmhouse, Edible landscape, Homestead and Small-space.

Plant it with: Dill, Nasturtiums, Calendula, Lettuce and Radishes.

Wildlife: Bees visit the flowers and are needed for reliable fruit set. Flowers of nearby dill and calendula also provide food for beneficial insects.

• Powdery mildew: space plants for airflow, use a trellis and remove heavily affected leaves; late-season infections may not justify treatment.
• Cucumber beetles, especially in North America: protect young plants with insect mesh, remove it for flowering and hand-pick beetles; promptly remove plants that collapse from suspected bacterial wilt.
• Aphids: inspect shoot tips and leaf undersides, wash colonies off with water and preserve ladybirds and other predators.
• Poor fruit set or misshapen fruit: allow bees access, keep watering even and hand-pollinate female flowers with fresh pollen from male flowers if bee activity is low.

Not known to be toxic to cats, dogs, horses or people; the normal, non-bitter fruits are edible. Discard any unusually bitter cucumber rather than eating or pickling it, because high levels of cucurbitacins can cause serious stomach upset. Do not eat foliage or other parts as a substitute for the fruit.

• Slicing cucumber (Cucumis sativus)

  The vines look much the same, but slicing varieties generally produce longer fruits. Fruit appearance alone cannot reliably confirm 'Boston Pickling'; use labelled seed.

• Courgette or zucchini (Cucurbita pepo)

  Usually has a bushier habit, thicker stems and much larger yellow flowers; its developing fruits lack the typical cucumber's prickly surface.

The cultivar name 'Boston Pickling' refers to Boston and its traditional use as a cucumber harvested young for pickling.

Propagation. Sow seed in warm conditions, preferably about 70-85°F (21-29°C), in individual pots or directly into warm soil. This open-pollinated cultivar can be saved from fully mature fruit, but seed may not come true if other cucumber varieties flower nearby.

Accepted botanical name

Cucumis sativus

In the US and Canada

Introduced in Hawaii, the lower 48 states, Pacific Basin and Puerto Rico.

Native range

Assam, Bangladesh, China South-Central, China Southeast, East Himalaya, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand and West Himalaya.

Measured

Average height 200 cm.

Sources: GBIF (CC BY 4.0), USDA PLANTS and Trefle (CC BY 4.0). The care and design notes are LandscapeGPT's own.