A miniature cucumber variety with cute snack-sized fruits of about 1.5-3 inches long.
Quick Facts
How can you Purchase?: Fruiting Seed Bundle or Fruiting Supplies Box
Days to Transplant: 10-16 Days
Days to Harvest: 50-55 Days
Target Nutrient Level (TDS): Weeks 1-6 (base number + 900) & Weeks 6+ (base number + 1200)
Nutrient Type: Fruiting Nutrient
Target pH Level: 5.5-6.0
Light: 18 hours of light per day
Temperature: 68-80°F
Planting Pattern: 2 per Root Chamber
Harvesting Method: Continuous upon ripening
Dowels Recommended?: Yes
Plant Size: Height: 20-24" & Spread: 15-20"
Plant Guide
🌱 Planting Seeds & Transplanting
Follow our Planting Seeds and Transplanting Guide for general best practices. These cucumber seeds will typically take 2-4 days to sprout and 10+ days till they are ready to transplant. When transplanting, plant two cucumber plants in the top left and right holes of the top panels so that they can use gravity and the dowels to vine down the root chambers. This is the optimal pattern for growing the most cucumbers.
🌿 Maintenance, Pruning, & Trellising
Follow our Maintenance Guide for general best practices. You will maintain a target nutrient level of (base number + 900) for these cucumbers until week 6. After week 6, increase the target nutrient level to (base number + 1200) to help support the plants' nutritional needs for fruit production.
You can use fruiting plant nutrients with your leafy greens (i.e., lettuce). However, you should monitor for tip burn and yellowing of the leaves due to the nutrient levels for fruiting plants being much higher than what leafy greens need.
During the vegetative growth, when the cucumber plants are bulking up with leaves and branches, you may need to prune and remove any yellowing, brown, moldy, or dead leaves. You can usually find these at the base of the stem, by the rockwool, or along the vine itself. Removing these will redirect sugars the plant needs for growth and increase better airflow for the vining stem. Watch out for mold and white growth with cucumbers.
As your cucumber plants grow larger, they will need support around weeks 4-6, right before fruit production. Place one of your food-grade dowels in the small hole under your cucumber plant. The cucumber plant will lean on the dowel for support as it fills in and starts to flower. When the fruits start to come in, the plant will become much heavier, so support from the dowels is necessary.
For cucumbers, we recommend allowing the plant to vine down the sides of the panels and to snake back up the middle of the panels, propping up the vine with dowels as you go. Once the vine is at the top of the root chamber again, direct the vine back down the right side of the panels.
After a plant has been in the Flex Farm for more than 8 weeks, check the roots in the tank and cut back any obstructing the pump or drainage valve. When trimming the roots, never cut more than 1/3rd of the roots at a time, as this will stress the plant.
🥒 Flowers, Fruiting, & Harvesting:
Follow our Harvesting Guide for general best practices. Most varieties of cucumbers self-pollinate, meaning they have both male and female reproductive parts on their flowers that can fertilize their eggs themselves. You will not need to pollinate your cucumber plants! There will be many small, yellow flowers per vine at a time.
This variety of mini cucumber plants takes about 50-55 days to mature and produce ripe fruits. The number of days can vary depending on your growing environment.
Allow the cucumber fruits to ripe to a shiny green and grow to about 1.5-3 inches long for the best flavor. Larger cucumbers tend to be more "woody" in texture and flavor.
To harvest, either use your fingers to pinch or a pair of clean scissors to cut the peduncle (stalk) to which the fruit is attached. Another method of harvesting is to gently twist the cucumber to pop the fruit off the plant. Ideally, this will leave the calyx (leaf at the top) and some of the peduncle (stalk) attached, helping to preserve the cucumber's freshness and flavor.
It is important to avoid pulling on the cucumbers when harvesting. This can damage the fruit or the plant, which may result in a lower-quality harvest. Instead, always twist the cucumber to remove it from the plant.
Harvesting fruits as they become ripe encourages the plant to continue producing flowers and fruits!
