Marketmore Cucumber

Cucumis sativus

Also known as: Marketmore 76

The benchmark open-pollinated slicing cucumber — long, straight, dark green fruit up to 20–25cm, borne prolifically on a vigorous vine that keeps setting for weeks. Skin is thin and dark, flesh is crisp, cool, and never bitter, and the shape is uniform enough that a single row will fill a market bench without effort. Bred at Cornell University in the 1970s with strong resistance to the main cucumber diseases — mosaic virus, scab, and both mildews — which makes it one of the most dependable slicing varieties for home gardens. Vigorous climbing vine — best on a trellis for straight fruit and clean picking.

Days to harvest 55–68 days from sowing

Fruit size Long, straight fruit, best picked at 20–25cm

Sowing depth 1cm

Germination 6–10 days at soil temperature 16–35°C; best around 21–30°C

Spacing 30–45cm between plants, rows 90–150cm apart

Aspect Full sun; rich, well-drained soil around pH 6.5

Frost tolerance Sensitive to frost — sow after last frost only

Growing notes

A warm, sunny position with a trellis suits it best. Marketmore rewards steady moisture and a light hand with the fertiliser — its disease resistance takes care of most of the rest.

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

Sowing method: Sow direct into warm soil at 1cm deep, or start in large pots and transplant with care — cucumbers have shallow roots that resent disturbance, so use larger pots and handle the root ball intact.

Support: A sturdy trellis, netting, or A-frame is strongly preferred. Trellised fruit hangs straight and long, keeps clean, and is easy to spot and pick before it goes past its prime.

Containers: Suits a large pot of 40L or more with a sturdy 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. Side-dress lightly with a balanced liquid feed once flowering starts, but avoid heavy nitrogen. Marketmore's disease tolerance is strong, but airflow and dry foliage still make a difference in humid weather.

Harvest: Pick every two to three days once fruiting begins, cutting fruit at 20–25cm for the best texture and flavour. Fruit left on the vine past prime turn yellow and slow the whole plant down, so pick even the ones you don't need. Fresh use only.

Timing: First fruit ready 55–68 days from sowing.

Key features

Long, straight dark-green slicing fruit
Non-bitter, crisp, cool flesh
Strong disease resistance — mosaic, scab, and both mildews
Prolific and long-cropping
Uniform enough for market sales
The benchmark against which most modern slicing cucumbers are compared

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

Bred at Cornell University in the 1970s by Dr Henry Munger, who spent much of his career developing disease-resistant open-pollinated cucumbers for home gardens and market growers. Marketmore 76 — the strain most widely traded today — became the standard slicing cucumber for the North American organic and small-farm trade almost immediately after release, and travelled outward through heirloom seed networks to become one of the most widely grown open-pollinated cucumbers in the world. Kept in circulation today for the same reason it earned its place fifty years ago: it just works.