In the past I have grown a number of different cucumbers but the ones I keep coming back to and grow each year are Burpless Tasty Green and Esmarald. In 2018 I was introduced to Esmarald from Mr Fothergills as John had started off a load of cucumbers and was looking to distribute the love, by giving his babies to anyone on the plot that was happy to give them room rather than compost them.
I have to say Esmarald out grew Burpless Tasty Greens but I was not able to get hold of the seeds again from Mr Fothergills, so I was very happy that I saved seeds and have continued to do so. Cucumber seeds can last 10 - 15 years if stored correctly and in 2023 I did a mass saving of seeds, read post here.
Burpless Tasty Green have been grown annually and in 2021 Swing F1 which was a cucumber with a nice girth only four slices needed per sandwich one in each quadrant of the bread, and quite a nice taste and texture.
Cucumbers were originally found in India around 4000 years ago, and they have since become the fourth most widely cultivated vegetable in the world. Cucumbers found their way to England during the 14th century, but were not at all popular, they did become more widely eaten from the 17th century.
The species grown for food are Cucumis sativus (cucumber) and Cucumis anguria (West Indian gherkin). In the UK, cucumbers are generally grown to maturity in a greenhouse or polytunnel, although ridge cucumbers and some varieties of gherkin are a little hardier and can be planted outside when danger of frost has passed. All of my cucumbers have been grown out on the allotment plot, as space in the greenhouses is valuable.
The plan in 2024 was to grow 5 different varieties of cucumbers and to fill the Climbing Frame Greenhouse on the plot (shown above), with alternative rows of cucumbers and French Climbing Beans. The slugs and snail had other ideas and although starting off all the cucumbers in the potting shed, the slugs and snails ate the lot and I fought to finally get one cucumber plant to grow past the ravenous gastropods.
Burpless Tasty Green (self Saved) - grown in 2024 and slugs and snail wiped them out
Party Time F1 - Mr Fothergills - grown in 2024 and slugs and snail wiped them out thus no harvest or review.
Suprina F1 - D.T.Brown - grown in 2024 and slugs and snail wiped them out thus no harvest or review.
Passandra F1 - Organic Gardening - grown in 2024 and slugs and snail wiped them out thus no harvest or review.
Lunch Box F1 - 10 Seeds - £4.99 - D.T.Brown - Packed Year Ending Sep/2024
5 seeds sown in 2024, slugs and snails ate the lot, thus no harvest or review.
Sow By 2025
Hopeline F1 - 5 Seeds - £3.99 - Dobies - Sow by 7/2025
Emilie F1 - 6 Seeds - £2.99 - Dobies - Sow By 2025
Sow By 2026
Burpless Tasty Green F1 - 10 Seeds - £1.50^ - wilko - Sow by 7/2026
^ Bought in the 50% sale for 75p
Lunch Box F1 - 10 Seeds - £4.89 - Mr Fothergill's - Sow By 2026
5 Seeds sown in 2024
5 seeds sown in 2024, slugs and snails ate the lot, thus no harvest or review.
New in 2024 Party Time F1 - 6 Seeds - £3.99 - Dobies - Packed for year End 2024
Kyuri Japanese - 10 Seeds - Free from garden press event - Sow by 7/2026
Sow By 2031 - 2036
Marketmore - 10 Seeds - Speedy Seeds - wilko - Sow by 2024 on packet.
Sow By 2033 - 2038
Burpless Tasty Green F1 - Numerous seeds, self saved 2023
Cucumbers I have grown in the past include: -
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