Pickling cucumber

The gherkin is an annual and dies with the first frosts. There is nothing to overwinter; the harvested plant goes on the compost. Start it on a bright windowsill from April and plant it in the bed only after the Ice Saints in mid-May, when frost is no longer a threat.

You propagate gherkins only by sowing; they are annual and cannot be propagated by cuttings, division or grafting. For an early crop, sow the seeds individually in 7 to 9 cm pots from mid-April, about 1 to 2 cm deep, and put them somewhere bright and warm; they germinate best at a soil temperature of around 25 °C, with germination starting from about 10 °C. Germination usually takes place within 7 to 10 days. Since cucumbers need only three to four weeks of early growing, you do not have to start before mid-April; with little light in March the seedlings quickly become too long and unstable. From mid-May, after the Ice Saints and when the soil is at least 15 °C, you plant outdoors. Alternatively you can sow directly into the bed: for this, 2 to 3 seeds per spot, later thinned to the strongest plant. If you want to save your own seed, choose only open-pollinated varieties (no hybrids/F1). For this, leave one especially healthy fruit hanging on the plant until it is overripe; the skin turns yellowish and hard. Remove the seeds from the flesh, rinse off the gel, dry them well and store them dry and cool. Note: different cucumber varieties (all Cucumis sativus, so slicing cucumbers and gherkins too) cross easily with one another; cucumbers do not cross with pumpkin, courgette or melon, however. If varietal purity is important, keep your distance from other cucumber varieties or pollinate the flowers by hand, protected.