Published: December 15, 2024 Last Updated: December 30, 2024
I pickled all of my cucumber varieties, slicing, pickling cucumbers, and burpless, and they all pickled well. But if you’re looking for a good crunch after they’ve been pickled, there are a ton of good varieties to choose from. These are the top 10 best cucumbers for making pickles. We’ve grown some of these varieties before and they made good pickles.
Table of Contents
Best Cucumbers For Pickling
Early Fortune
The first best cucumber for pickling is the Early Fortune Cucumber. It is described as the earliest heirloom cucumber. The fruit is dark green, with a little yellow at the bottom, and grows to 7 inches (17.78 cm) to 8 inches (20.32 cm) long and 2 inches (5.08 cm) in diameter. If you want to use it for pickling, pick them at a smaller size so they will have more crunch. The cucumber plant starts producing fruits in 55 days and it’s super dependable and productive. They taste great in pickles and also excellent for slicing.
Wisconsin SMR-58
The second-best cucumber for pickling is the Wisconsin SMR-58. This is a pickling cucumber developed at the University of Wisconsin in 1959. The variety produces loads of small, crunchy cucumbers with tiny spines along the fruit in around 50–60 days. This variety is resistant to scab and the Mosaic Virus. For pickling, pick them around 4-6” long and regular, so they can produce tons of fruits. This variety is very popular with commercial growers and backyard gardeners.
Beit Alpha F1
The beit alpha is one of my favourite varieties to grow every year. The plants produce small, sweet, and crunchy fruits. The fruits are thin-skinned so they can absorb the brine. The Beit Alpha was developed in Israel in the 1930s and is now very popular not for only it’s taste and size, but also because they’re burpless, parthenocarpic and mainly gynoecious.
Burpless means the fruit won’t be bitter, parthenocarpic means the female flowers don’t need a male flower to pollinate it, and gynoecious means the plant produces only female flowers. It may sound a little complicated, but to sum it all up, this cucumber will produce a ton of fruit, and you don’t have to do any pollination. Note, F1 means that it’s a hybrid, so you wouldn’t be able to save seeds.
Boston Pickling
This heirloom cucumber is an old one but still many gardeners’ favourite. Released in 1880, this variety produces fruit over a long period of time with continual harvesting. The fruits are 3-7” in length, straight, thin-skinned and smooth without any spikes make it ideal to make pickles. These cucumbers are also awesome in salads.
Parisian Gherkin Pickling, F1
The fifth-best cucumber for pickling is the Parisian Pickling Cucumber. This cucumber is derived from an old French heirloom (1892) variety of gherkin cucumber, that’s known for its crisp texture and sweet flavour. The fruits have more flesh and few seeds. They’re best picked when 2–4 inches long, so they won’t become bitter, and great for making tiny sweet pickles or dill pickles.
Calypso F1
A very heavy yielding gynoecious pickling variety that also is great as a slicing cucumber when allowed to grow bigger. This cucumber produces lots of fruits in 50 days. The fruit is medium to dark green with a firm interior, and it’s prized for its resistance to a number of diseases, including powdery mildew, cucumber mosaic virus, anthracnose, angular leaf spot and scab.
Little Leaf H-19
The seventh-best cucumber for pickling is the Little Leaf H-19, developed at the University of Arkansas in 1991. The plants produce fruits well under stress and doesn’t need you to pollinate the flowers, because it’s parthenocarpic. This variety is very compact, and produces smaller than normal leaves, making it perfect for growing in containers. You’ll get 3-5” fruits, which makes this variety ideal for pickling.
National Pickling
The eight best cucumber for pickling is the National Pickling Cucumber. It’s an heirloom cucumber, introduced in 1929 and was developed for the pickle industry. It’s known for its ability to fit into the jars when picked at 2-3” in size. But you can also harvest when it’s bigger to use in salads. This variety is a very dependable, prolific crop that boasts disease resistance to powdery mildew and mosaic viruses. When picked frequently, you’ll for sure get a lot of cucumbers.
Spacemaster
This variety produces loads of uniform, smooth, dark green cucumbers that grow to 7-9” long, and small growing areas. This cucumber is a slicing cucumber but can be picked young when they have the best crunch. But even when picked at the mature size, these cucumbers are still crisp, sweet and not bitter. These cucumbers were developed at Cornell University, New York. It’s also disease resistant to numerous diseases. This is a great all round cucumber to grow in your backyard gardenhome garden A designated area around a residential property where individuals cultivate plants, fruits, vegetables, or ornamental plants for personal use. It comprises a farming system that combines physical, social, and economic functions on the area of land around a family home, providing a sustainable source of food and other benefits for the household, extended family, and friends..
China Jade
The tenth-best cucumber for pickling is the China Jade Cucumber. It is a popular cucumber that came from northern China. Cucumbers in China have always been selected and perfected in China for sweet and nutty flavour. This cucumber is burpless and parthenocarpic making it perfect for growing in a greenhouse or outdoors. It’s very common for the fruit to get to 12 inches (30.48 cm) long, making it perfect to make a ton of pickles. Another great benefit from this variety is that it’s thin-skinned and very crunchy.
Final Thoughts
Whether you’re a seasoned pickler or a first-time gardener, these ten cucumber varieties are sure to elevate your pickling game. My personal favourite is the Beit Alpha because it requires little work. By choosing the right variety, you can create delicious pickles that will impress your family and friends. Happy pickling!
