Easy to Grow from Seed Favorites: Miniature White Cucumbers

Pin It

I love these crunchy little things.

Realization of the Day:
I can't let another year go by without telling you about my new favorite cucumbers—and for once I'm actually telling you about something in plenty of time to plant!

If I had to choose between growing lemon cucumbers (which I wrote about here) and these mini white cucumbers, it wouldn't be an easy decision.

What are the advantages to growing this open pollinated variety (which is really more very pale green than white)? First of all, just like with cherry tomatoes, smaller cucumbers mature more quickly than their larger counterparts—49 days versus an average of 55 to 72 days. They can be picked and eaten when they're even smaller than the ones in this photo (and I don't have very big hands).


This can be helpful if you have a short growing season, are usually plagued by cucumber loving insects and/or disease (the less time they're growing means the less time there is to attack), if you want to squeeze in two crops during one growing season, or if, like me, you always seem to be planting everything late and are racing your first frost date.

Other advantages? I've found them to be very easy to grow when direct seeded in the garden once the soil has completely warmed up (cucumber plants are not cold tolerant). In fact, these cucumbers are so easy to grow, last summer I harvested quite a few from healthy volunteer plants that sprouted up in our kitchen grey water runoff ditch—from seeds that had gone down the drain and weren't even fully mature.

For the 'real' plantings in the garden, I put four or five seeds about an inch deep in little hills a few feet apart and simply let the plants sprawl. Since this is a long vined variety, you could save space by planting your hills next to a trellis or fence and the vines should climb right up it.

I used to start all my cucumber seeds in containers in early spring, keep them indoors, and then transplant the little seedlings into the garden once the weather warmed up. But delicate cucumber plants can be temperamental, and I've found that the direct seeded plants grew so much faster out in the garden that I didn't end up gaining anything except extra work by starting them indoors.

All ease of cultivating aside, what's really important when growing anything of course is flavor, and miniature white cucumbers have a very nice one. They're mild and sweet, with a pleasant thin skin that never needs peeling. I bought some larger green cucumbers from our Amish neighbors last summer to supplement my garden bounty, and I remember being surprised at how thick and slightly bitter the skins seemed compared to these minis.

And, last but not least, they're adorable.

I ordered my miniature white cucumber seeds from Pinetree Garden Seeds in Maine, and their catalog says this small white, black spined pickling cucumber is a very heavy yielder (which always wins points with me) and is never bitter.

I've also grown Boothby's Blonde cucumbers, a long vined Maine heirloom which Pinetree describes as 'a crisp, medium sized slicer, 6—8" long, with a very pleasant flavor and texture,' and while I liked them, I like these minis better. I often found myself simply slicing them up and munching on them plain as a snack, or on a plate with cheese and crackers.

One of my kitchen garden goals this year is to keep a jar or two of refrigerator pickles (you can pickle almost anything!) on hand during the summer, and I think these little cucumbers would make nice ones.

At $1.35 for a packet of 10 seeds, the were a little more expensive than the other varieties Pinetree sells, but still a great deal. And once you've grown them in your garden, you can simply save some seeds from your best specimens to plant the following year.

If you don't have a magical kitchen grey water runoff, be sure to let the cucumbers fully mature on the vine before you harvest the seeds you want to save, which for this variety means the cucs will get much bigger and much darker in color. I know I have some pictures of what they should look like, but unfortunately I have no idea where they are. If I come across them, I'll post them.

In the meantime, what are your favorite kinds of cucumbers to grow?

More posts about some of my favorite things to grow:
Favorite Heirloom Tomatoes to Grow—Mine and Yours
Growing Onions in the Garden
Growing Onions from Purchased Plants—Ordering and Planning
Growing Short Day Onion Varieties from Purchased Plants
Harvesting Spring Onions Grown from Purchased Plants
Endive and Escarole in the Kitchen and Garden
Growing Lemon Cucumbers from Seed

How to Grow Beets from Seed (and here's my favorite beet recipe)
How To Grow Swiss Chard from Seed and Why You Should (and recipes)
How To Grow Your Own Gourmet Lettuce from Seed (It's easy!)
How To Grow Arugula from Seed in Less than a Month
How To Grow Nero di Toscana Cabbage (also called Tuscan Kale, Cavalo Nero, Lacinato Kale, Dinosaur Kale) from Seed and What to Do with It
How To Grow Asian Greens for Fall by Direct Seeding
My Favorite Heirloom Carrots (so far) to Grow from Seed: Parisienne
Tips for Growing & Using Rosemary Year Round

© FarmgirlFare.com, the snow is finally gone (for the time being) foodie farm blog where now I'm suffering some serious cucumber withdrawals. I knew I should have put up a few jars of pickles last year.