Lebanese Cucumber

Cucumis sativus

Also known as: Persian Cucumber, Beit Alpha type


The everyday Australian salad cucumber, small and slender with thin pale-green skin, sweet crisp flesh, and the burpless, non-bitter flavour that made it a fixture in supermarket crispers and home gardens alike. Best picked young at 10cm, when the whole fruit slices cleanly or eats out of hand — skin, few seeds, and all. Plants stay compact at 30–45cm and set fruit generously through the warm months, making this one of the easiest cucumbers for a small garden or a large pot. Compact vine — smaller than a standard slicing cucumber and well suited to a modest trellis.

Days to harvest 50–60 days from sowing
Fruit size Slender, best picked young at 10cm (up to 15cm still tender)
Sowing depth 1–2cm
Germination 7–10 days at soil temperature 18–25°C
Spacing 30cm between plants, rows 45–60cm apart
Aspect Full sun (six hours minimum); well-drained fertile soil rich in organic matter, pH 6.0–7.0
Frost tolerance Frost-tender — sow after last frost only

Growing notes

A warm, sunny position suits it best. Lebanese cucumbers are compact and undemanding but reward steady moisture and gentle handling — as with most cucumbers, they dislike heavy nitrogen and root disturbance.

Soil preparation: Rich, well-drained soil worked with well-rotted compost before sowing. Cucumbers respond better to a moderate, well-balanced feed than to a heavy compost hit.

Sowing method: Soak seeds in warm water for a few hours before sowing to speed germination. Sow direct into warm soil at 1–2cm deep — two to three seeds per station 30cm apart — then thin to the two strongest seedlings. Alternatively, start in large pots and transplant with care, handling the root ball intact.

Support: A small trellis or netting is strongly preferred — the plant is compact enough that even a modest support keeps fruit clean and easy to spot at picking size.

Containers: Suits a 40L+ pot with a small trellis. Keep water consistent, as pots dry out faster than beds and cucumbers need steady moisture through fruit set.

Watering & feeding: Deep, consistent watering at the base — never overhead, which invites mildew. Apply a balanced liquid feed every three to four weeks once flowering starts, avoiding heavy nitrogen. Pinch out the growing tip once the plant has 5–6 true leaves to encourage bushy side shoots and heavier cropping.

Harvest: Pick every two to three days once fruiting begins, cutting fruit at 10cm for the tenderest eating. Regular picking keeps the plant productive. Fruit will hold in the fridge for around two weeks. Fresh use only — this is a salad cucumber, not a keeper.

Timing: First fruit ready 50–60 days from sowing.

Key features

  • Small, thin-skinned, burpless fruit
  • Sweet and mild — no bitterness, no peeling required
  • Compact plant, well suited to small gardens and containers
  • Prolific through the warm months
  • The classic Middle Eastern salad cucumber
  • Best eaten fresh, whole or sliced with the skin on

Short season tips


Direct sow into warm ground from mid-spring to early summer once frost risk has passed. In Coonabarabran and similar inland zones, that means mid-November onwards. If time is tight, start seed indoors in large pots 3–5 weeks before transplanting — cucumbers resent root disturbance, so handle carefully and move on with the root ball intact. Staggered sowings three to four weeks apart extend the picking window into autumn.

  • Spring
  • Summer

Annual

  • Corn, climbing beans, nasturtium, borage, marigold, dill, radish
  • Potatoes, sage, other cucumber varieties within cross-pollination distance if saving seed


A small, thin-skinned cucumber in the long tradition of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean gardens, where cucumbers were bred for eating fresh in salads rather than pickling. The named Beit Alpha strain that underlies most modern Lebanese cucumbers was developed at Kibbutz Beit Alpha in Israel in the 1930s and spread outward through the mid-twentieth century, becoming the standard shape and eating quality that Australian shoppers now recognise on sight as a "Lebanese cucumber". Kept in wide cultivation today for the qualities it was originally bred for — sweet, tender, and made for the salad bowl.