I grow Summer Dance cucumbers from Whitwam Organics all spring, summer, and fall in Florida. Summer Dance is a thin-skinned seedless variety that loves ☀️heat—in fact, the hotter, the better! Summer Dance requires pollinators 🐝 so plant flowers nearby to attract them.
Growing under a pool cage? They grow parthenocarpic, greenhouse types, like Diva and Mini-Me. For a pickling type, Little Leaf is nice. Parthenocarpic types don’t need bees!
Cucumbers can be grown in a Tower Garden or soil-based garden. Make sure to give them a sturdy trellis or two! Plant two seeds per rockwool cube or plant 1-2 seeds directly in soil. For most families, 1-2 cucumbers will provide all the cukes you need.
Choose varieties that are highly disease-resistant!
Slicers
Sweet Success: A seedless variety that can be grown in a garden or greenhouse
Summer Dance: A standout in the heat!
MarketMore 76: A slicer variety recommended for Florida
Straight Eight: A slicer variety recommended for Florida
Space Master: A slicer variety recommended for Florida that is also a bush variety
Sumter: A slicing cucumber that is heat-tolerant and resistant to powdery mildew
Pickling varieties
Eureka: A pickling variety recommended for Florida
Boston Pickling: A pickling variety recommended for Florida
Calypso: A pickling type
Little Leaf: A pickling variety for Florida
Bush varieties
Spacemaster: A bush variety that is also a slicer variety
Bush Champion: A bush variety that is compact and ideal for small spaces
Mini-Me: A bush variety that is compact and ideal for indoors and outdoors
Beware the pickleworms!
In late spring and summer, pickleworms can cause heartbreak for growing cukes and melons. Just when the fruit is ready, the dang worms show up. There are 3 ways to manage these pests:
1) Spray every week or two in late spring & summer. Use organic pest control methods.
2) Plant lots of flowers so you create a good bug garden. Good bugs eat bad bugs!
3) Cover the fruit with these bags as soon as the flower drops and you know pollination has occurred.
3) Soak your cukes and melons in water with a spoonful of salt. The worms will back out. Then cut that area out and enjoy the fruits of your labor!
4) Trellis your cukes for easier management!
Happy Planting!
Feel free to contact me by clicking here with any questions or concerns!
~ Leah Brooks
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