Cucumber Seeds – Boston Pickling

How to Grow Cucumber Seeds – Boston Pickling from Seed

Cucumbers are a warm-weather crop best started indoors 4-6 weeks before the final spring frost. Plant 3-4 seeds 1 inch deep per individual cell in loamy, sandy, well-drained soil with a pH of 6.0-6.5. Seeds germinate in 3-10 days, and the strongest starts should be transplanted 36-48 inches apart in the garden once true leaves establish. Cucumbers perform best when grown on 8-inch tall mounds and provided with a trellis to minimize crowding. Shallow roots will benefit from regular watering and a top layer of mulch. Bush varieties perform well in pots and containers.

Boston Pickling Cucumber in the Vegetable Garden

Cucumbers usually have both male and female flowers. It is the female flower that produces fruit, while the male flower produces primarily pollen. Sow seeds between March and April. Plant this heirloom next to corn or radish and avoid planting it near potatoes, cauliflower, and basil.

Boston Pickling has a vining growth habit that spreads across the soil. Harvest between July and August when the fruit is 3 inches long. If cucumbers turn yellow, it’s too late. Pick fruit early in the morning and refrigerate for the best flavor. This variety produces bright green 3-inch fruits with dark spines and smoother skin than other pickling cucumbers, yielding very high quantities.

Harvesting Boston Pickling Cucumbers

Many cucumber varieties are ready for harvest about 60 days from sowing, while smaller pickling varieties may be ready sooner. Ripe cucumbers are solid green and firm, becoming bitter and yellow if left on the vine too long. Classic slicing cucumbers are sweetest when 7-9 inches long, becoming starchy and grainy when reaching 12 inches or more. Remove fruits with scissors or a knife rather than twisting or plucking to avoid damaging the vine.

The Boston Pickling cucumber is an early variety that is sweet, tender, and nearly seedless. It is large and smooth with a soft outer layer. Since this variety matures in just 52 days, a steady harvest can be achieved by planting regularly throughout the season.

About Boston Pickling Cucumber Garden Seeds

Also known as “Green Prolific,” the Boston Pickling Cucumber is a very old (first documented in 1877) reliable pickling cucumber that was “improved” sometime in the 1950s, giving it resistance to cucumber mosaic virus and cucumber scale. This variety has been a favorite for homemade pickles for a long time for a good reason: it produces heavy yields of small, 6-inch cucumbers perfect for pickling. It is best to harvest Boston pickling cucumbers when they are 2-6 inches long to fit perfectly in jars.

Cucumber is one of the easiest and most productive summertime favorites suited for just about any home garden. Grown similarly to summer melons, cucumbers are heat and drought tolerant and, once matured, will produce vigorously well into fall. Whether small pickling cucumbers or larger slicing varieties, cucumbers are available as either short, convenient bush types or long, vining climbers that will produce well into fall.

Historical Notes

1883 Joseph Breck & Son seed company of Boston says about Boston Pickling Cucumber:

“Extensively grown by the market gardeners in the vicinity of Boston. It is very productive and of superior color and quality.”

1924 Portland Seed Company catalog says about Boston Pickling Cucumber:

“Color, bright green, and a great producer. The fruits average 4 to 5 inches in length when large enough for slicing and are of excellent quality, but it is for producing medium-sized pickles that this variety is so highly esteemed.”

Vegetables to Grow in Zone 5