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Small cucumber varieties, like Miniature White and Picolino, are my favorite cucumbers to grow. Not only are they quick to mature, the plants are also incredibly productive and the versatile fruits can be enjoyed fresh or pickled. Plant them in garden beds or containers and enjoy weeks of sweet crunchy cucumbers. Plus, there are many types of small cucumbers you can grow including pickling, Persian, and gherkin. In this article you’ll learn when and how to plant miniature cucumbers as well as discover 12 outstanding varieties.
What is a small cucumber?
Small cucumber varieties, also called miniature or mini cucumbers, are those that produce pint-sized fruits. A small cucumber isn’t one that’s picked young, but a variety whose fruits stay small even when fully mature. They’re a fun-to-grow, kid-friendly crop with fruits that are delicious pickled, in salads, or as a snack straight from the garden. Expect a big cucumber crunch with the same great flavor of larger-fruited varieties. Small cucumbers have fruits that grow between 1 and 5 inches long and include different types of cucumbers like pickling and Persian. Many of these varieties also have compact plants which take up less space in the garden. This means they can be grown in raised beds, in-ground gardens, as well as containers.
Cucumbers are a popular garden crop with fruits that are low in calories, but high in health benefits. They contain nutrients like vitamin K and potassium, as well as fiber. Many of these miniature varieties also have very thin skin, so no peeling is necessary. That adds even more nutritional benefits to homegrown cukes!
Types of small cucumber varieties
There are many types of cucumbers you can grow. These include slicer, English (often called seedless), Asian, Armenian, and pickling. Most of these yield fruits in the 8-18 inch range, but there are certain types with fruits that stay quite small.
- Pickling (kirby) – Pickling cucumber fruits are short and squat, with small bumps over the entire surface. They can be eaten fresh from the garden or processed into pickles. Ideally pickling varieties are harvested when 3-4 inches in length, but most grow up to 6 inches if not picked at the right time. Overmature fruits turn yellow and soft and can become bitter. Pickling cucumber plants are high yielding, which is great if you’re making a big batch of dill pickles.
- Gherkin (cornichon) – Gherkin varieties produce the smallest cucumbers with the fruits picked when just 1-3 inches in length. The cucumbers, which are covered in tiny spines, are produced in abundance on the vines. The plants are very early to crop.
- Persian (beit alpha) – Have you ever bought a pack of baby cucumbers from the supermarket? These were likely Persian cucumbers, beloved for their 4-6 inch long smooth skinned fruits. They have very thin skin and few seeds. They can be expensive to buy, but the good news for gardeners is that they’re easy to grow.
Want to learn more about growing small cucumber varieties? Watch this video:
How to plant small cucumber varieties
Like other types of cucumbers, miniature varieties are direct seeded or transplanted into the garden in late spring. The date of direct seeding or transplanting depends on your geographic location. Wait until around a week after the last frost has passed. This helps ensure warm temperatures for heat-loving cucumbers. The ideal soil temperature range is 70 to 85 F (21 to 30 C).
When direct sowing cucumber seeds plant each seed a 1/2 inch deep and 10 inches apart in rows spaced 18-24 inches apart. To grow small cucumber plants in a hill, create a small mound of soil a foot across. Plant 3 seeds in each hill, eventually thinning to the strongest 1-2 plants. Space hills 18 inches apart. The quickest and best germination occurs in warm soil. Expect the seeds to emerge in 7-10 days.
You can give mini cucumber seeds a head start by starting them indoors under grow lights 3-4 weeks before you wish to move them outside. Sow the seeds in cell packs or 4 inch pots, placing them a 1/2 inch deep. Water often keeping the growing mix lightly damp and start to fertilize once the seedlings have their first true leaves. Use a liquid organic fertilizer diluted to one-quarter strength. When it’s time for transplanting, move the seedlings to garden beds or a large pot or planter. Again, the transplant date should be after the danger of frost has passed.
You’ll likely have extra seeds left in the packet. Keep them for next year! Cucumbers have a seed life of about 3 to 5 years when stored in cool dry conditions.
Where to grow mini cucumber plants
Cucumbers are a warm temperature vegetable and need lots of sun to fruit well. Find a site with at least 6-8 hours of direct sun exposure. Also consider the growing medium. Cucumbers do best in fertile, well-drained soil with a slightly acidic to neutral pH. But if you don’t garden in raised beds you can successfully grow mini cucumber plants in both in-ground gardens and containers. Before seeding or transplanting, amend the soil with a shovelful of compost or aged manure.
It’s also a good idea to set up any trellising structures before planting. If you wait until the seedlings are growing well you may damage them by inserting their supports. I like A-frame or vertical trellises for cucumbers in garden beds and tomato cages for bush varieties growing in containers. As for interplanting, you can tuck small cucumbers in a leek bed, or between onions, cabbage, broccoli, and other vegetables. If your growing season is long enough you could even succession plant a crop of mini cukes after your garlic comes out in early summer.
You can protect cucumber plants from cold dips in the weather by covering them with mini hoop tunnels, row covers, Kozy-coats, plastic cloches, or even Victorian bell cloches which are functional and stylish.
Growing small cucumber varieties
Encourage healthy plants and large harvests by providing miniature cucumbers with plenty of moisture. Deep water the bed once or twice a week depending on the weather. Consistent moisture is key to preventing bitterness. When watering try to water the base of the plant and avoid the leaves. I use a long-handled watering wand. This is an important step in disease prevention. Mulch around your cucumber plants with straw, shredded leaves, or even plastic mulch. This helps the soil retain moisture and also reduces weed growth.
Fertilizing is another summer task and I feed my garden and potted cucumber plants every 2 to 3 weeks with a liquid organic fertilizer. You can use a fish emulsion, liquid kelp, or other natural product.
Cucumbers have separate male and female flowers. For most garden types of cucumbers pollen must be transferred from the male anthers to the female reproductive parts of the female flowers for pollination and fruit development to occur. You can hand pollinate to ensure good pollination.
I’d also recommend keeping an eye out for common pests like aphids, squash bugs, stink bugs, and cucumber beetles. I combine a 3-4 year crop rotation with a row cover early in the season, removing the cover once the plants begin to bloom. This allows bees to pollinate the flowers. If you need a pest control product, apply an insecticidal soap or natural pyrethrin spray. Be sure to follow the package instructions.Learn more about cucumber plant problems.
When to harvest small cucumber fruits?
Start to pick small cucumber fruits as soon as they reach the desired size, typically 1-4 inches in diameter. If you’re not sure when to start harvesting, check the ideal fruit size range listed on the seed packet. Use garden snips to clip the fruits from the plant. Don’t tug or pull them off the vines as they can damage the plant or break its stems. Pick often as this encourages the plants to keep producing new flowers and fruits. If harvesting mini cucumbers for pickling, collect them in a basket or bowl to ensure they don’t get bruised or damaged.
If you’re not eating or processing your cucumbers right away, you’ll want to put them in storage. Keeping homegrown cucumbers in the refrigerator for 10 to 14 days is possible if you prep them first. Start by washing and thoroughly drying the fruits. Then wrap them in paper towel or plastic wrap and place them in the crisper drawer of fridge where the relative humidity is high.
The best small cucumber varieties to grow
As you flip through the spring seed catalogs you’ll see that there are various types of small cucumbers like pickling, Persian, and gherkins. You’ll also see descriptions like hybrids, heirlooms, and open-pollinated varieties. All of these make great garden plants.
Pickling type small cucumber varieties
As noted above, pickling cucumbers are the best type to grow if you want to make homegrown pickles. These mini cucumber plants are early and high yielding, with many also resistant to common cucumber diseases.
Bush Pickle (48 days)
Want a mini cucumber variety that keeps chugging along for weeks and weeks? Plant Bush Pickle, a bush variety with vines that grow just 30 inches long. I pick the fruits when they’re 3-4 inches long using them to make refrigerator pickles or dill pickles. The plants aren’t just prolific they’re also disease resistant and reliable. Great for garden beds and containers.
Salt and Pepper (50 days)
Salt and Pepper is an award-winning pickling cucumber with 3-5 inch long cream colored fruits covered in tiny black spines. Don’t worry though, the spines rub off easily, and it’s their appearance against the pale skin that gives this variety it’s name. Salt and Pepper plants have high resistance to diseases and are resistant to powdery mildew. They yield a bumper crop of the pint-sized cucumbers with incredible crunch and a mild, sweet flavor.
Miniature White (50 days)
Like Salt and Pepper this novel small cuke has pale, almost white skin. It’s also early to crop and continues to produce new fruits for 6 to 8 weeks! The vines grow about 4 to 5 feet long and can be trellised or left to sprawl in the garden. Keep an eye on the plants as once the flowers form it doesn’t take long for the harvest to begin. The fruits reach maturity about 50 days from planting. Pick when the cucumbers are 2 1/2-3 inches long.
Boston Pickling (60 days)
This classic variety dates back to 1880 and continues to be a favorite in gardens far and wide. Why? It’s reliable, long-producing, and flavorful. Once the harvest begins it keeps on going for most of the summer! Pick the smooth skinned cucumbers when they’re 2-4 inches long.
National Pickling (55 days)
National Pickling is an heirloom variety introduced in 1934 and makes a delicious batch of dill pickles. Expect each plant to pump out 12-15 compact fruits that should be harvested when they’re between 2-5 inches in length. Their crisp flesh and great taste has made them a favorite for home gardeners.
Persian type small cucumber varieties
If you’re a big fan of the smooth shiny fruits of supermarket miniature cucumbers, you’ll want to plant these Persian varieties.
Green Fingers (60 days)
This Persian type is the one to grow if you are longing for gourmet baby cucumbers. Its key features include 3-5 inch long fruits that have smooth skin, thin enough you don’t need to peel them. And the mildly sweet flavor and satisfying crunch of the cukes will have you sneaking these while still in the garden. Disease-resistant Green Fingers vines have intermediate resistance to powdery mildew and start to crop just 2 months from seeding.
Picolino (50 days)
This is a go-to small cucumber variety in my garden and boasts high-yielding, vigorous plants that start to fruit just 50 days from seeding. The glossy cucumbers have very smooth skin and an excellent texture and flavor. Picolino’s plants have amazing cucumber disease resistance to many common issues including powdery mildew, scab, and cucumber mosaic virus (cmv).
Beit Alpha (55 days)
Beit Alpha is a Mediterranean variety that offers the best characteristics of Persian cucumbers; sweet flavor, thin skin, high productivity, disease-resistance, and bitter-free burpless fruits. It’s an all-around winner! Harvest when the cucumbers are 4-5 inches long by clipping them from the vines.
Gherkin type small cucumber varieties
These adorable pint-sized cucumbers are one bite wonders! I love to eat them straight from the garden but you can also turn them into delicious pints of pickles.
Adam (50 days)
Adam is a hybrid gherkin cucumber that sets fruits very early and in abundance on robust vines. I’ve found that harvesting often encourages more flowers and fruits to form. This is a true gherkin type with deep green spiny fruits that are fun to munch in the garden or as sweet or savory pickles.
Petite Pickles (55 days)
Love gherkins? Plant Petite pickles, a French cornichon type with fruits you can pick when just 1-3 inches long. Use them to make gherkin pickles or gobble them up from the garden. The bite-sized cucumbers are a crisp and sweet garden treat. They’re also a top pick with kids!
Novelty type small cucumber varieties
Add some fun and whimsy to your vegetable garden by planting these curious cucumbers.
Lemon (65 days)
I’ve been growing Lemon cucumbers for over 30 years and love the unusual fruit shape, great sweet flavor, and high plant productivity. This popular heirloom cucumber has a rounded shape and pale green to yellow skin. The plants grow 6-8 feet long so give it space to run or grow it up a trellis or other support system. Pick Lemon cucumbers when the fruits are 1 1/2 -2 1/2 inches in diameter and still light green. Once they turn bright yellow they’re overmature and seedy and best tossed on your compost pile.
Dragon’s Egg (60 days)
It was the name that initially attracted me to this unusual heirloom cucumber. And after growing it every year for the past decade, I’ve become a huge fan of the smooth, egg-shaped, pale colored fruits. I aim to pick them when they’re just 2-3 inches long, about the size of a duck egg. But, if you are a bit neglectful of harvesting, they can grow 7-8 inches long. At that size, however, they become bitter and seedy. Give the vines space to wander as they grow 6-8 feet in length, or grow them up a trellis.
Other outstanding small cucumber varieties include Moringa Pickling, Parisienne Cornichon de Bourbonne, Party Time, Pick a Bushel, Lunchbox, Mini Munch, and Little Leaf cucumber.
Become a cucumber growing pro by checking out these awesome articles:
- How to grow cucumbers in containers
- Cucumber plant spacing
- When to plant cucumbers
- How to grow Armenian cucumbers
