Boston Pickling Cucumber Seeds

Boston Cucumber Heirloom Vegetable Seeds
Cucumis sativus
Listing is for 1 packet of 15 seeds

This is my favorite variety of cucumber if you want to make pickles. Let me just start by saying, I have never liked pickles.  I grew these to make pickles for my husband and other family members that love eating them straight out of the jar. When I made my own pickles with these, my mind was blown LOL. They were super crunchy and absorbed flavor so well. Therefore, its the only pickle I will eat. Check out my quick, no canning, refrigerator pickle recipe below.  Anyways, Boston Pickling is a very old American heirloom variety. It is best to harvest them when they are no more than 6 inches long. Frequent harvesting promotes more production. On average produces harvestable cucumbers 2.5 months from transplanting or direct sowing into the garden. 

Quick Refrigerator Pickles

Ingredients
Freshly harvested cucumbers, quartered long ways/horizontally. Place the cucumbers in glass jars. If you have sprigs of fresh dill, slide them into the jars along side the cucumbers. 

4 cups of water
2 cups of white vinegar
2 TBS salt
1 TSP sugar

Bring the water, vinegar, salt, and sugar to a boil. Once it starts to boil, remove from the heat. Add the below seasonings:

If you did not have fresh dill to slide into the jars, then add 1 TBS dried dill into the pickling solution.
10 whole peppercorns
10 whole coriander seeds

Let the pickling solution cool down to room temperature before pouring it over the cucumbers in the jar. Place in the fridge. It is ready to be eaten in 3 days. It can store in the fridge for up to 2 months. 

Ideal Growing Conditions

Sun: Full Sun

Water: Keep soil consistenly moist but not waterlogged

Fertilizer: Cucumbers benefit from regular fertilizer. Use an all purpose organic granular fertilizer like Espoma Garden Tone, so you can fertilize in small amounts, about 1/4 cup every 7 to 10 days. You can easily burn plants if fertilizing this often with a synthetic fertilizer, thus why I recommend organic. Keeping nutrients consistent, makes the plant grow lots of new healthy green growth to outpace all the growth that is catching diseases.

When & How To Sow Seeds: For a spring crop: direct sow seeds after your last spring frost date. For a fall crop: direct sow seeds at the end of summer. Use square foot gardening guidelines to grow 2 cucumber plants per square foot. Or dig a shallow trench right under a vertical trellis structure, sprinkle in the seeds, and cover with about 1/2 inch of soil. You can sow cucumber seeds pretty densely. Keep the soil moist for better germination. If you have multiple rows, space them with 3-4FT in-between for better airflow. Or you can sow seeds indoors, 6-8 weeks before your target date of transplanting into the garden. Use a 4inch pot or a solo cup with holes cut out of the bottom for drainage. Fill with seed starting mix. Sow 2-3 seeds per container.

Germination: 7-14 days

Days To Maturity: 55 days after direct sowing the seed

How & When To Harvest: Harvest when cucumbers are still all green and plump, before they start turning yellow. 

Common Diseases: Cucumbers get a lot of leaf diseases caused by pathogens like molds, fungus spores, bacteria etc.... It is very common, so dont worry. Spray with 1 cup of hydrogen peroxide per gallon of water to clean and disinfect. Repeat every 5 days or so as a preventative, or until you notice the spread of the disease has stopped. 

Common Pests: Critters like rabbits love to munch on newly germinated seedlings, so protection from small animals might be required. If you notice the leaves are chewed up and there are small black, green, or orange balls, worms/caterpillars are chewing up the plants. Spray with BT or spinosad to treat for the worms.    

Do I have a YouTube video tutorial on how to grow this? YES

Watch it here: https://youtu.be/_aj19Mv2Lsg

Additional Tips/Information: N/A