In My Seed Box For 2026 - Gherkin

"Gherkin" is a small variety of cucumber grown specifically for pickling in the UK and other countries. 

Sow In 2026

Restina                   - 10 Seeds - £  0.39 - Lidl  - Sow by 2024

Cornichon de Paris - 20 Seeds - £  2.99  - Fothergill's - Sow by 2024

Cucumber seeds are good for 10 - 14 years so I'm not worried that the seeds I have are sow by 2024 when the Packed dates are 2021 & 2022

I will be looking to increase my Gherkin seeds for 2026 however  

In My Seed Box For 2026 - Index

In My Seed Box for 2023 - Gherkin

   

GHERKIN - seeds if kept in ideal conditions should last between 10 - 15 years the same as cucumbers. 

In 2021 I grew a variety that came from Seed Megastore and were called Gherkin - National and cost me 59p for 25 seeds. The shape of the Gherkin they produced were not what I was looking for! They got very fat very quickly and there were not many fruits per plant, so I will not be trying those again in 2023  

I had bought Gherkin Seeds in 2019 from Mr Fothergill's called Cornichon de Paris - 20 Seeds - £2.15 - Sow by 2024, because they are a small variety and can be harvested at about an inch 25mm long 

This is a French heirloom variety which has long been sold in the markets of Paris and used to produce small, crisp pickled 'cornichon' gherkin. Each plant produces numerous fruits that are harvested at approx. 2.5cm(1in) long.

Sow & Grow 

Sow: Indoors, March-April, for surest results, 5nm (¼") deep, on edge, in small pots of compost. Water well and place in a warm position. A temperature of 21-24°C (70-75°F) is ideal. Keep moist. Seedlings usually appear in 7-14 days. 

When plants have developed 3 or 4 leaves, transplant to 120mm (5”) pots and grow on in cooler, but not cold conditions. Gradually accustom young plants to outside conditions (avoid frosts), before planting out 600mm (2') apart, during May-June, into fertile, well-drained soil. 

Sow: outdoors May-June, for ease, where they are to crop. Sow two seeds per position, 5mm (¼") deep, directly into finely prepared, fertile, well-drained soil, which has already been watered. Allow 600mm (2') between rows. When large enough, thin to leave the stronger plant. Harvest: July-October.

Sowing/Planting and Flowering/Harvesting Guide

JAN	FEB	MAR	APR	MAY	JUN	JUL	AUG	SEP	OCT	NOV	DEC

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Key       Sow Indoors       Sow/Plant Outside       Flowers/Harvest

Additional Guidance 

Pick fruits when up to 50mm (2") long for sweetest flavour. Left to grow on, the fruits can be used as slicing 'cues.

Pinch out the growing tip when six leaves have formed to encourage side shoots to form.  

Restina - Lidl - 30 Seeds - 49p Sow by 2024 

In My Seed Box For 2023 - Index

In My Seed Box for 2022 - Gherkin

  

GHERKIN -  Gherkin seeds if kept in ideal conditions should last between 10 - 15 years the same as cucumbers. 

In 2021 I grew a variety that came from Seed Megastore and were called Gherkin - National and cost me 59p for 25 seeds. The shape of the Gherkin they produced were not what I was looking for! They got very fat very quickly and there were not many fruits per plant, so I will not be trying those again in 2022  

I had bought Gherkin Seeds in 2019 from Mr Fothergill's called Cornichon de Paris - 20 Seeds - £2.15 - Sow by 2024, because they are a small variety and can be harvested at about an inch 25mm long 

This is a French heirloom variety which has long been sold in the markets of Paris and used to produce small, crisp pickled 'cornichon' gherkin. Each plant produces numerous fruits that are harvested at approx. 2.5cm(1in) long.

Sow & Grow 

Sow: Indoors, March-April, for surest results, 0.5cm (¼") deep, on edge, in small pots of compost. Water well and place in a warm position. A temperature of 21-24°C (70-75°F) is ideal. Keep moist. Seedlings usually appear in 7-14 days. 

When plants have developed 3 or 4 leaves, transplant to 12cm (5”) pots and grow on in cooler, but not cold conditions. Gradually accustom young plants to outside conditions (avoid frosts), before planting out 60cm (2') apart, during May-June, into fertile, well-drained soil. 

Sow: outdoors May-June, for ease, where they are to crop. Sow two seeds per position, 0.5cm (¼") deep, directly into finely-prepared, fertile, well-drained soil, which has already been watered. Allow 60cm (2') between rows. When large enough, thin to leave the stronger plant. Harvest: July-October.

Sowing/Planting and Flowering/Harvesting Guide

JAN	FEB	MAR	APR	MAY	JUN	JUL	AUG	SEP	OCT	NOV	DEC

---

Key       Sow Indoors       Sow/Plant Outside       Flowers/Harvest

Additional Guidance 

Pick fruits when up to 5cm (2") long for sweetest flavour. Left to grow on, the fruits can be used as slicing 'cues.

Pinch out the growing tip when six leaves have formed to encourage side shoots to form.  

In My Seed Box For 2022 - Index

Hot Hot Hot

In hindsight I'm guessing it was really way to hot to plant out the Beetroots this afternoon but they really need to go in the ground as they are drying out way too fast in the modules.

They had a good soaking with water from the water butts and hopefully will survive until Monday morning which will be the next time I will be able to visit.

The plastic mesh had gone brittle so good thing that the rest of the roll was stored in the shed and so I replaced it.

Six Gherkin National plants have been planted and watered into a new layer of compost that I formed as a hillock and moat as I'm assuming that Gherkins are a little like cucumbers and don't like there roots to get saturated but are happy to search out the water.

Two rows of swede watered

Two Midnight F1 and Romenesco Courgettes planted at the end of the overflow Sweetcorn bed.

Radishes planted out into the high level planter beside the greenhouse on Plot 1.

Freecycle Paving slabs picked up this morning Laid between Square Foot Gardening Beds 1 & 2

What I did find funny was that the water pressure was so low today, I have no idea if it people filling pools or taking showers, but I later saw that Spencer Road around the corner also has very low water pressure so perhaps there is a major leak somewhere nearby?

.

Greenhouse Door

Early this morning giving the tomatoes a dip in water filled trays for half an hour each so they suck up the water from the bottom. 

Some sorting of the Micro Toms so they are in the tray near the eaves of the Norfolk Space Savet Greenhouse and the taller tomatoes will go in the middle bays where the door is.  

Radish really need to go in down the allotment 

Beetroots on the left and short Tomato seedlings on the right 

Aubergines Long Purple way behind the other varieties 

Spring onions taking their time 

Cucumbers, Gherkins and Courgettes need potting on to their own vending machine cups. 

During the evening rather than watch TV I potted on half of the plants in self watering pop bottles.

Sowing Courgettes & Gherkin

 

Seeds placed equally as far as possible at 12, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 o'clock as indicated in the photo before the seeds were helped into the compost, watered in and then the reservoir filled with water and the Pop Bottle Propagator lids were placed on top of the handles.     

Hit and miss on the sunshine and rain front today, plus after over a year of not being able to work I have three enquiries to process today.  

Early morning I made another four Pop Bottle Propagators and have sown the following between showers:

5 x Courgettes Thompson & Morgan Midnight F1 Hybrid as there are 10 seeds in the pack and the sow by was 2020 so I've sown half of them

6 x Courgettes Romenesco - Johnsons Sarah Raven Collection These have been in the seed box for some time and were sow by 2017 so it will be interesting to see if they germinate or not!. If not I have the Midnight F1 as back up. 

6 x Gherkin National from Seedmegastore bought to grow in 2020. Sowing Time Feb to April so a little late but I'm sure they will catch up and perform.

Sowing Cucumbers & Gherkins

 

In between rain showers in a sunny interval I have sown 6 of the following in self watering pop bottle propagators today:

Cucumber - Burpless Tasty Green F1 - Seed Parade 

Cucumber - Miniature White - Self saved 

Cucumber - Swing F1 - Mr Fothergill's  

Gherkin - Cornichon de Paris - Mr Fothergill's

Rain stopped play and Marrows and Courgettes will follow at the next sunny or dry period. 

 

In My Seed Box for 2021 - Gherkin

 

GHERKIN - The last time I tried growing Gherkins was in 2018 and only because my sister loved the ones I pickled for her in 2017.  The plan was to have another bash at them in 2020 and I bought some seed. Gherkin seeds if kept in ideal conditions should last between 10 - 15 years the same as cucumbers. 

The seeds came from Seed Megastore and are called Gherkin - National and cost me 59p for 25 seeds 

Very quick growing and prolific in habit. Produces a mass of small prickly fruit for pickling.

Sowing Time: February to April.

Germination: Germinates at 20°C.

Sowing Instructions: 

Sow seeds in 1cm (½in) deep in 8cm (3in) pots of moist compost. Germination usually takes 10-12 days.

Growing Instructions: 

Acclimatise the plants to outdoor conditions before planting outdoors after all risk of frost has passed 60cm (24in) apart. Plant in a sunny sheltered spot, in fertile moist but well drained soil and keep well watered.

After Care: 

Harvest the fruits before they reach full size for improved quality and better cropping.

Thumbing through the Mr Forthgill's Catalogue I completely forgot I had bought more Gherkin Seeds in 2019, and I selected Cornichon de Paris - 20 Seeds - £2.15 - Sow by 2024 because they are a small variety and can be harvested at about an inch 25mm long 

This is a French heirloom variety which has long been sold in the markets of Paris and used to produce small, crisp pickled 'cornichon' gherkin. Each plant produces numerous fruits that are harvested at approx. 2.5cm(1in) long.

Sow & Grow 

Sow: Indoors, March-April, for surest results, 0.5cm (¼") deep, on edge, in small pots of compost. Water well and place in a warm position. A temperature of 21-24°C (70-75°F) is ideal. Keep moist. Seedlings usually appear in 7-14 days. 

When plants have developed 3 or 4 leaves, transplant to 12cm (5”) pots and grow on in cooler, but not cold conditions. Gradually accustom young plants to outside conditions (avoid frosts), before planting out 60cm (2') apart, during May-June, into fertile, well-drained soil. 

Sow: outdoors May-June, for ease, where they are to crop. Sow two seeds per position, 0.5cm (¼") deep, directly into finely-prepared, fertile, well-drained soil, which has already been watered. Allow 60cm (2') between rows. When large enough, thin to leave the stronger plant. Harvest: July-October.

Sowing/Planting and Flowering/Harvesting Guide

JAN	FEB	MAR	APR	MAY	JUN	JUL	AUG	SEP	OCT	NOV	DEC

---

Key       Sow Indoors       Sow/Plant Outside       Flowers/Harvest

Additional Guidance 

Pick fruits when up to 5cm (2") long for sweetest flavour. Left to grow on, the fruits can be used as slicing 'cues.

Pinch out the growing tip when six leaves have formed to encourage side shoots to form.  

In My Seed Box For 2021 - Index

In My Seed Box for 2020 - Gherkin

GHERKIN - The last time I tried growing Gherkins was in 2018 and only because my sister loves she liked the ones I pickled for her in 2017 but I have bought some new seed and I'm having another bash in 2020.

The seeds came from Seed Megastore and are called Gherkin - National and cost me 59p for 25 seeds 

Very quick growing and prolific in habit. Produces a mass of small prickly fruit for pickling.

Sowing Time: February to April.

Germination: Germinates at 20°C.

Sowing Instructions: Sow seeds in 1cm (½in) deep in 8cm (3in) pots of moist compost. Germination usually takes 10-12 days.

Growing Instructions: Acclimatise the plants to outdoor conditions before planting outdoors after all risk of frost has passed 60cm (24in) apart. Plant in a sunny sheltered spot, in fertile moist but well drained soil and keep well watered.

After Care: Harvest the fruits before they reach full size for improved quality and better cropping.