Which cucumbers are best for making pickles?

12 years ago

I am trying to find the most productive and best pickling cucumber. I am considering Miss Pickler, County Fair, Boston Pickling and Eureka. If there are others I should consider, I would appreciate recommendations. I have grown Eureka and really like the shape, flavor and pickling quality, but it hasn't been that productive for me. I grow my pickling cucmbers on a trellis and they get around 8-9 hours of sun a day. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Brett

Featured Answer

david52 Zone 6

12 years ago

I tried all kinds of different pickling cucumbers, and finally realized that it has more to do with my pickling technique than the variety of cucumber. So for several years now, I grow 8 - 12 plants of "Diva" - a seedless, burpless, spinless parthenogenic variety that tastes great fresh, and when the fruit is still small its long and slender, perfect for quart jars.

The only issue I've found is that if the garden soil is too high in nitrogen, the plant foliage is so intense/thick that it hides the blossoms from pollinators - this past summer I had to go out with a tiny paint brush and intervene. But I imagine that it would be the same with any cucumber in too rich soil.

Another advantage of Diva is that even when the things get enormous, they still taste great, what with being seedless - small barely formed easily edible 'seeds'. I've made some great Bread and Butter pickles with the big ones as well.

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Comments (10)

digdirt2
12 years ago
My personal favorites are National Pickling and Boston Pickling. Both are productive but it still takes several hills of plants to produce enough cukes for a full batch at one time.

Dave
tatton95
Original Author
12 years ago
Dave, thanks for the recommendations. I was wondering if you have grown Eureka and if you have, how did you like it and how did it compare to National Pickling and Boston Pickling in regards to productivity. Thanks again.

Brett
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digdirt2
12 years ago
I have never tried Eureka mostly because I had read about low production problems with it. So I have just stuck to my tried and true varieties. Did try Miss Pickler and County Fair a couple of time. Miss Pickler didn't impress me. County Fair was ok - nice shape and flavor but again not the production I get with the other two.

Dave
tatton95
Original Author
12 years ago
Is National Pickling or Boston Pickling more Powdery Mildew resistant? Do you prefer one over the other, or do you recommend growing two varieties? Thanks.

Brett
tracydr
12 years ago
I'm going to try cucumbers again, for the third year. I'm going to try planting indoors under lights to get outdoors while soil is still too cool for good germination but so that I can beat the heat.
I've also had aphid problems. Would a row cover help?
I have diva and Beit alpha seeds. Good to hear they make good pickles. For the heat of the summer I'll plant Armenian cukes and lemon cukes. I've had success with aremnians but my lemon cukes got terrible aphids this year. I've changed my soil a bit, hopefully that will help.
I also think my Armenians got a virus common in AZ that causes yellowing and stunting. It's passed by whiteflies, which I had just a few of.
karin_mt
12 years ago
David,

Thanks for your tip of pickling the Diva cucumbers. I saw that you had posted on this subject earlier, so that cleared the way for me to try making pickles with my Diva cukes. I am a big fan of that variety and I have continually struck out with the pickling varieties. I made bread and butter pickles with the Divas, but haven't opened any jars yet. The ones that I stuck in the fridge seem good so far.

I agree that you cannot beat Diva for a fresh cucumber - so sweet and tasty!

thanks,
Karin
tatton95
Original Author
12 years ago
Dave,
Is National Pickling or Boston Pickling more Powdery Mildew resistant? Do you prefer one over the other, or do you recommend growing two varieties? Thanks.

Brett
kiddo_1
12 years ago
This year I enjoyed a bumper crop of Sweet Success & Diva cukes (both all female, self-pollinating varieties). These long seedless English-style cukes made some of the best refrigerator bread-n-butter pickles I've ever made. I also had a few National Pickling cukes to add to the mix, but I didn't like their texture/color in the final result. They tended to turn a bit greyish and were softer while the SS & D's kept green and crisp. I also used pickle crisp for the first time and was wow'd by the result, even now after 4 months (some had even been frozen)pickles are crunchy. Here's link to my blog post.

B&B pickles
amysrq
12 years ago
I had good success with Little Leaf this year. I have big beetle problems and the parthenocarpic Little Leaf allows me to keep them under netting all summer.

We have started fermenting our pickles. This does not provide a winter supply, but it does allow for smaller batches.