Greenhouse Mini Cucumbers

[Ger-annie-um]

Help please. Last year I grew some mini cucumbers very successfully in the greenhouse, I think they were Cucino but I can only remember that they might have been freebies from a promotion and were advertised as 'Lunchbox' cucs. I've tracked down the seed but it's �3.00 for 4 seeds + pp, out of reach for me as I need to grow about 12 plants (helping out elderly parents and neighbours). Anyone any idea of a good alternative. We liked these because they were quite thin skinned and mum didn't suffer from indigestion after eating them.

[Cutecumber]

If you want really mini ones (length of your middle finger) then try Rocky.

If you want small (i.e. half size) smooth skinned ones, then try Ilas.

Both have been hugely successful for me.

Hope that helps.

(oh, they're just not cheap seeds, I'm afraid)

[momol]

Would you consider heirloom type such as lemon Cuke ? it is small (round cuke, the size of lemon),not bitter, has smooth skin too plus you can save your own seeds for future planting.

Momol

[Cutecumber]

My experience is that lemon/ apple cucumber is very tough skinned - I grew them outdoors, though, not in the greenhouse. I like them, but I think I would peel them in future.

[momol]

CC,

I grew mine outside too but a friend of mine grew hers in greenhouse and the peel is far softer .

Momol

[Cutecumber]

A-ha! That's obviously the secret.

[momol]

If you got green house, give it a go...sadly I don't have one.

Momol

[Alison]

I agree, grow mine in the greenhouse every year and they're very prolific and soft skinned - the skin only goes hard if you leave them on the plant too long when grown inside and then you can use them cooked in a stir fry etc so they are still useful. Also, although the seed takes a bit more hunting down than some convential varieties, you get a proper number of seeds in the packet, this �3 for 4 seed business is ridiculous and totally uncessary for the amateur gardener.

[momol]

Apart from in salad and stir fry, you can use it for pickling too Alison and it looks pretty...

Momol

[Cutecumber]

I saw some Zeina variety for nearly �6 for 5 seeds.

Although these are stupidly expensive, if you try and buy the mini cucumbers they sell in "lunchpacks" (with a dip) they work out at 50p each. When I grew Rocky, three plants gave me over 60-70 of those 50p cucumbers, so I felt I got good value for money in the end. And there were two seeds for the next year left over!

[smallblueplanet]

I don't know what size Cucino grow to, but we grow the sort of small cuke normally seen abroad, 15cm ones. We put one plant in the greenhouse and usually have a glut from it!

Its tasty and relatively 'burpless', anyway if you're interested pm me, I have lots of seeds - one lot from Cyprus that is, I think dated 2004, and some from Turkey that we tried last year but it wasn't as numerous, the weather really didn't help though.

I've never understood why cuke seeds are so expensive here when a pkt abroad is 'pennies'.

Edit - here's a picture of the 'cypriot' cukes, taken towards the end of the season (hence the unripe melon too!). We bought a pkt of seeds with hundreds in for 50p!!! They are a biet alpha type (called Super cucumber) if that helps? The turkish ones were off ebay and were about �1.50 for 50 or more.

[SarzWix]

I've grown 'Superbel F1', seeds from B&Q, for 2 years in a row. They are a 'mini' cucumber, produce loads, and quite disease resistant. I only had 2 plants last year, and we were still getting about 6 - 8 cukes a week from them. �1.49 for 8 seeds

[veg4681]

I haven't grown cucumber before but this would have been my first choice had I not acquired seeds for Marketmore cucumber. It's certainly smallish but it's an outdoor if that's a problem for you.

I think I've sourced the same variety from two different suppliers with different name. T&M calls it Botheby's Blonde (American heirloom variety originating from Maine) and Real Seeds calls it White Miniature Cucumber, could they both be the same cuke? Seeds is reasonably cheap with 20 for �1.19 from T&M. Hopefully someone will come along and give their opinion on this little white cuke (between 2" to 4" long).

Cucumber : Boothby's Blonde

Vegetable Seed : Cucumbers, gherkins and a few other oddities

[grasser]

hi i dont know how to post a thread sorry john [grasser]

[grasser]

could someone tell me how to start