Spring planting doesn’t start when the air feels warm, It...Read More
Boston Pickling Cucumber is an heirloom variety dating back to the late 1800s. This is by far the best pickling cucumber since the fruit develops into oblong & blunt, 3 to 6 inch cucumbers that are ideal for canning. Boston Pickling Cucumbers grow quickly and have heavy yields, allowing you to harvest continuously for months. Ready for picking in just 55 days, the flavor is sweet, tender, and crisp with very few seeds. Boston Pickling Cucumber has a vine growth habit that should be trellised. These cucumbers are easy to grow and are a staple in every vegetable garden and farm. If you’ve never had homemade dill pickles with garden-fresh ingredients, this is the year you should try it! Grow your own Bouquet Dill as well and you will never want to buy store-bought pickles again.
NAME: Cucumber (Cucumis sativus)
VARIETY: Boston Pickling
DAYS TO MATURITY: 55 days
POLLINATION: Open Pollinated
TYPE: Annual
HARDINESS ZONE: Zones 4 – 12
SUNLIGHT: Full sun needed
SOIL: Fertile, loose soil with a pH 6.0 – 6.8
PLANT HEIGHT: 3 – 6 feet tall inches
SPACING: 18 – 24 inches apart
TEMP: 50 – 90 °F
These seeds do not required stratification.
To learn more about Stratification, click here!
Start seeds in large cell trays or small pots with seed starting mix 2 weeks before your last local spring frost.
Plant 1 to 3 seed per cell 1/2 inch deep.
Water-in adequately, germination should occur in 6 to 11 days.
After the seedlings emerge, provide a fluorescent or LED grow light 3 inches above the seedlings turned on for 12 hours, off for 12 hours.
Remove all but 1 seedling per cell tray or pot.
Before transplanting outdoors, harden off seedlings for several days. Do this by taking them outside during the day and bringing them in at night. Outside temps should be above 50°F when you start this process.
Plant 3 to 4 seeds spaced 1 foot apart, with 3 feet between the rows.
Keep the soil moist until germination occurs, at which point you can remove all but 1 seedling every two feet, which will prevent overcrowding and enough space for the plants to mature.
As the plants grow, assist them to start climbing the trellis.
Locate a garden bed that has loose, fertile soil, free of rocks and weeds with ample compost laid on top of the soil prior to planting. Your bed should receive full sun throughout the day. Make sure the bed can support a trellis system for the cucumbers to grow up and out; you can use a cage, wire mesh, netting, cattle panel or any other stable structure as a trellis.
Adding mulch around the base of the plant will help retain moisture.
Moisture is the key to growing excellent cucumbers; inadequate or inconsistent moisture causes oddly shaped or poor-tasting fruit.
Try to avoid watering the foliage as it can promote mildew and fungus problems.
When the vines have developed, apply mulch or straw to conserve moisture and control weeds.
Watch out for cucumber beetles, and remove them immediately to prevent damage.
If picked consistently all season, the yield will be extremely high.
Smaller cucumbers (4 – 6 inches) are best for pickling, mid-sized (5 – 8 inch) for slicing and oversized ones (9 inches +) are typically bitter.
Cucumbers left on the vine too long will get tough skin and lower the rest of the plants flower production, so pick often to promote more growth and cucumbers.
Use a knife or clippers to cut the cucumbers free, yanking or pulling off the fruit from the vine can cause damage to the vine.
For best shelf life, store cucumbers in the refrigerator wrapped in plastic to retain moisture.
