Complete Shopping Guide to the Different Types of Cucumbers

Cucumbers come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and purposes! Before learning how to grow cucumbers or how to make a DIY cucumber trellis, you first need to pick the right cucumber seed for your preferences.

You may be wondering what’s the difference between varieties? Which are the best to pickle and which are the easiest to plant and grow? Or you may want to know if the same variety of cucumbers can be used for pickles and fresh eating? You’re not alone.

I’m here to shine a light on the amazing biodiversity that can be found in the world of cucumbers and guide you through the nuances of different types of cucumbers to discover the ones that you will love!

Complete Seed Shopping Guides 

This blog post on types of cucumbers is the latest in our series of MIgardener complete seed shopping guides. The goal behind this series is to help you understand not only what you are shopping for, but also to help you find varieties that work best for your tastes and your garden! 

I hope you will use some of our other complete shopping guides too, such as types of lettuce, types of tomatoes, types of peas, types of corn, types of garlic, types of summer squash, and types of winter squash. 

The Different Types of Cucumbers

There are five main regions that cucumbers come from: Europe, India, Asia, Africa, and Mexico/Central America. Of those, European cucumbers make up the largest group around the world. They are what we think of as “regular” cucumbers: elongated, green in color, and either smooth-skinned or spine-skinned.

Within those five regions, cucumber categories can be further broken down into the four main types of cucumbers: slicing, pickling, wild, and region-specific. Combine that with the fact that cucumber plants can have bush or vining growth habits, and you have a lot of different options to pick from!

Types of Slicing Cucumbers

Slilcing cucumbers are typically smooth-skinned cucumbers that are eaten fresh as snacks, or in salads and in sandwiches.

Slicing cucumbers include some varieties of European, Asian, and Indian cucumbers, but Indian cucumbers are quite a lot different than European cucumbers! They are usually white, yellow, or brown in color. 

Slicing varieties of cucumbers include:

• Spacemaster 80 Cucumber - This slender, dark green cucumber is a bushy variety. With fruit reaching a standard 7-8" in length, they grow perfectly in smaller spaces. 

• Beit Alpha Cucumber - Also known as the Middle Eastern cucumber, this variety was cultivated in Israel and produces sweet, flavorful, spineless fruits. They have smooth skin, making them enjoyable for eating and harvesting. 

• Muncher Cucumber - The muncher cucumber is one of our favorite cucumbers when it comes to a slicing or pickling cucumber! The skin is tender and burpless. 

• Tendergreen Cucumber - The seed on this variety is cold-tolerant, making it ideal for spring planting and the deep green skin is tender and flavorful.

• Straight 8 Cucumber - This popular heirloom variety is known for its straight, uniform shape, prolific production, and exceptional flavor.  

• Ashley Cucumber - This variety is intended to be eaten immature. It has rapidly become the go-to cucumber for gardeners as well as market gardeners. Disease-resistant, heat-tolerant, and less susceptible to powdery mildew, this variety is a great one to grow!

• Lemon Cucumber - A variety of Indian cucumber that is delicious, sweet, and looks like a large lemon. Pick young for fresh eating or pickling, or use older lemon cucumbers for juicing.

• White Wonder Cucumber - One of the most beautiful cucumbers in the world! These ivory cucumbers grow in abundance on short vining plants and are wonderfully crisp, best for fresh eating. 

Varieties of Pickling Cucumbers

Pickling cucumbers may have spines and are usually smaller in size. Pickling cucumbers have more enzymes that help them not become soft during pickling and give them a longer shelf life. 

These varieties are pickling cucumbers:

• Sumter Cucumber - These English cucumbers are renowned for their exceptional productivity, producing straight, symmetrical cucumbers with vibrant green color and tender, firm flesh. 

• Wisconsin SMR Pickling Cucumber - A highly prized heirloom variety that has a uniform shape, excellent taste, and a perfect balance of sweetness and acidity.

• Homemade Pickles Cucumber - Having a compact growing habit perfect for smaller garden spaces and container gardening, these are excellent for pickling but also for fresh eating.

• Rhinish Pickle Cucumber - The Rhinish Pickle Cucumber, or cornichon, is a cherished heirloom variety from Germany, prized for its role in traditional pickling recipes. They are known for their robust, crisp texture and refreshing flavor. 

• Boston Pickling Cucumber - An American 1880s heirloom favorite that is an ideal pickling variety with its thin skin and solid flesh. Perfect for any pickling recipe, it will absorb the flavors around it. 

• National Pickling Cucumber - This variety was made to fit perfectly into a pickle jar! It produces an abundance of 5-7 inch cucumbers. 

Wild Cucumbers & Region-Specific Cucumbers

There are some really amazing and surprising types of wild and region-specific cucumbers. Aside from purchasing seeds and planting them in a garden, you won't find these region-specific cucumbers in other parts of the world.

• Armenian Yard-Long Cucumber - A favorite Asian cucumber among kids, and kids at heart, for its fun snake-like shape. As the name suggests, these grow really long! Slice these up and eat them fresh instead of pickling.
• Mexican Sour Gherkin - Also known as a cucamelon, this wild cucumber grows on vines that can overtake a whole trellis and produce a ton of itty bitty watermelon-looking fruits! These can be eaten fresh or pickled.

• Kiwano Cucumber - Also known as the African horned melon, but it is in fact a cucumber! This cucumber tolerates really really dry climates and very hot weather, growing sharp spines on its skin. In Africa, it is used in a lot of different dishes; they will even juice it for drinks and eat the seeds almost like pumpkin seeds.

• Poona Kheera Cucumber - An Indian cucumber that turns yellow-brown when fully ripe. It is used for juicing or eaten more like a melon. 
• Little Potato Cucumber - Another variety of Indian cucumber that looks like a cute little potato that has netting on its skin, kind of like a muskmelon.

You won’t truly know if you like something until you try it, so try them all! There are so many really cool cucumbers out there that all have their own unique flavors and growth habits.

I hope you learned something new and this helps you find the types of cucumbers that will work best in your garden and for your tastes!