Well, in spite of only getting three of the five varieties to produce, it was actually a very productive year.

I started Lemon, and Diva, in containers, since the peas were taking so long to grow, and both died when I transplanted them. Then, I direct sowed them both, but neither one had time to actually produce before the end of the season.

So I'll just evaluate the other three.

Spacemaster - My biggest, and earliest producer. These tasted better than last years, no bitterness all season, and if you picked them when they were about 6" there weren't many seeds, and the skins were fairly tender. If you let them go longer than that, they got pretty fat, and the skins were tougher. They are not listed as burpless, but I did not have any issue with them at all. The only issue I had with them is the vines were covered with what I assume was powdery mildew towards the end of the summer.

The other two I grew were Homemade Pickles, and Little Dillicious. To be honest I don't know which was which, since the vines were all intertwined. They were used primarily for pickles, so I can't really evaluate their taste anyway. The pickles turned out fine though.

I'd like to find one that would be a good multi-purpose cucumber, good for fresh eating or pickles, so that I don't have to grow as many plants. We had six plants (two of each), and it was probably two too many. I gave away bags of cukes to at least half a dozen neighbors and friends. I've heard that County Fair would fit the description of a multi-purpose cuke, so I may try purchase some seeds for that one.

Hopefully some more experienced cucumber growers will give their input.

Bonnie

Gosh, it was a terrible cucumber year. With such a cloudy, wet and cold Spring, the vines hardly had a chance.

I was so looking forward to trying a Beit Alpha type cucumber. Diva seemed like the safest bet.

The fruit had a singular appearance - small, dark green, and smooth. The flavor was unique and eating one was a singular experience.

That's right; a single fruit on the vines and then its neighbor overran it. The neighbor had precious few cukes, also.

digitS'

I grew Green Dragon Burpless, an Asian cuke, and was happy with them. The package says it's a spineless variety. They will get bitter though if the plants dry out too much. I don't know how seedy they get if they grow big, they didn't stand much chance of that. I was watching and waiting for them to get big enough to pick! They do have some seeds, but they aren't big at all, nothing like grocery cuke seeds. The taste is somewhat like the english cukes at the store - of course, I have very rarely purchased those, so my recollection may not be the most accurate.

Japanese varieties are a source for lots of those "English" cukes in the stores. (Just sayin' ;o)

d'S'

Ok, maybe I'll call them "those plastic wrapped cukes at the store". Are they actually referred to as English cukes? I had it in my head that's what they were. Maybe they're just called hothouse cucumbers now??

Of course, sounds like you knew what I was talking about, so I can't be too far off : )
Maybe I ought to look next time I'm at the store!

The poor English must have pretty bad cucumber growing weather. Something like digitS' 'o8 garden. Still, they are resourceful with their greenhouses. And, when those fine cukes showed up stateside, we called 'em English here.

Some of that English resourcefulness meant aquiring varieties from outside the UK. There's a guy at NC State who has a real interest in cucumbers (and maybe that evolved into other commercial veggie variety interests). The link below takes you there - can you imagine growing 10%!! We can also look at (& share) some other gardeners' experiences here. But, nothing compares with over the RMGarden fence.

OT - With all the borrowing, I wonder why it is that the English seem to insist on an "English" pronunciation for borrowed foreign words while some of their American cousins make such idiots out of themselves trying to pronounce things as a native speaker . . . oh, I guess that could be it.

S'

Here is a link that might be useful: Index of /cucurbit/wehner/vegcult

I've had great success over the years with Sweet Success trained to go up a trellis or fence. Production has been great especially in the heat and I had quite a few which exceeded 14 inches. Seed is a bit pricey but the dividends well justified the cost. Sweet Slice was also good.

My favorite cukes are Suyo Long. I bought seed from a local grower this year and they didn't germinate. I'm trying again and hoping they take this time. I also am planting Green Dragons, but was irritated to read after buying them that they are sterile and don't produce seed (reminds me of Monsanto and corporate desire to control the food market). Had I read the packet first, I would NOT have bought them. I am also trying the Armenian cukes, which are suppose to actually be a melon. I'm curious to try those.

I'm an Asian guy and growing up, my mom always made an Asian salad with various leaf lettuces and thick cucumber slices from these little mini Asian cucumbers. She served the salad with a soy, red chili, sesame seed, green onion and garlic dressing.

So when I got into gardening, the quest began to find those little suckers. Mom couldn't tell me the variety since she always just bought them at the Korean store. After much research, I discovered they are an Asian Malai Hybrid. They're best when their pickle size. Great for thick slices to put into salad, nice crispy texture, not bitter at all, thin skinned, no pricklies, easy to peel.

If you try, I hope you enjoy!

I'm stuck on Diva for the past several seasons. Its seedless, burpless (pretty much - but certainly far less burpy than anything else I've tried) pathogenetic, tender skin, makes great pickles and is great eaten fresh. One big advantage is that even if you miss one and find it when its the size of a football, they're still mild and sweet.

Drawbacks - thing is covered in flowers, but the fruit set is minimal. Using a paint brush helps considerably.

David, it's a good thing I didn't discourage you . . . what was that . . . 3.5 years ago, on the Diva. Paint brush?? I never thought of that.

Still trying for a Beit Alpha type - I got Muncher seed last year. Hey! That one worked just fine in 2011! I am really looking forward to having Muncher back this year.

Right at the moment, I'm not sure that I have a favorite cucumber. Tasty Green has always done fairly well for me and Tasty King had better looking cukes when I've grown it. (I really should trellis these long cucumbers.) Turbo may be my favorite American slicer. Actually, I had such a good experience with Muncher - my favorite might be that one!

Steve