Boston Pickling Cucumber

Cucumis sativus

Also known as: Boston Pickler

A classic 19th-century American pickling cucumber: short, blocky, bright to dark green fruit, 12–15cm at full size, with small black spines on the skin. The flesh is crisp and firm and stays crunchy in brine. It's quick to crop and very productive, so a few vines fill a run of preserving jars. It's also good sliced fresh when young. Pick small for gherkins or at full size for dill spears and bread-and-butter slices. Climbing vine — happy on the ground but easier to pick on a trellis.

Days to harvest 50–55 days from sowing

Fruit size Short and blocky; 5–8cm for gherkins, up to 12–15cm for spears and slices

Sowing depth 1–2cm

Germination 6–10 days at soil temperature 21–30°C

Spacing 30–45cm apart on a trellis, or 90cm–1.2m apart if left to sprawl

Aspect Full sun; rich, well-drained soil

Frost tolerance Frost-tender — sow after last frost only

Growing notes

A warm, sunny position with a trellis suits it best. Pickling cucumbers grow fast, so plan to pick every day or two at peak season.

Soil preparation: Dig in well-rotted compost before sowing. Cucumbers do better on a moderate, balanced feed than on heavy nitrogen, which gives you leaves instead of fruit.

Sowing method: Sow direct into warm soil 1–2cm deep. You can also start seed in large pots 3–4 weeks before planting out, then transplant with the root ball intact. Cucumbers have shallow roots and resent disturbance.

Support: Grows on the ground or up a trellis, net or A-frame. Trellised fruit stays clean and straight and is easier to find at the small sizes you want for pickling.

Containers: A pot of 40L or more with a trellis works. Keep water consistent, as pots dry out quickly in summer.

Watering & feeding: Water deeply and consistently at the base. Never water overhead, which invites mildew. Uneven watering makes fruit bitter or misshapen. Once flowering starts, side-dress lightly with a balanced liquid feed.

Harvest: At peak season, pick every one to two days. Take fruit at 5–8cm for whole gherkins, or up to 12–15cm for spears and slices. Cut rather than pull, leaving a short stub of stem. Fruit left to swell and yellow on the vine slows the whole plant down, so keep picking.

Timing: First fruit ready around 50–55 days from sowing.

Key features

Short, blocky fruit, just the right shape for the jar
Crisp, firm flesh that stays crunchy after pickling
Black-spined skin, typical of the old American picklers
Quick to crop and very productive
Pick small for gherkins or larger for spears and slices
An American heirloom in cultivation since before 1880

Short season tips

Direct sow into warm ground once frost risk has passed. In Coonabarabran and similar inland zones, that means mid-November onwards. To start earlier, raise seedlings indoors in large pots 3–4 weeks ahead. Staggered sowings 3–4 weeks apart split the crop into manageable pickling batches instead of one big glut.

Spring
Summer

Annual

Corn, climbing beans, dill, nasturtium, borage, marigold, radish

Potatoes, sage, other cucumber varieties within cross-pollination distance if saving seed

An American heirloom listed in seed catalogues by the late 1870s, when home pickling was a routine summer job in most households. It was bred for the short, blocky, black-spined fruit and heavy crops that made it the standard pickler of its day. It has stayed in gardens for more than a century for the same reasons: it crops fast, it crops heavily, and the pickles stay crunchy.