I didn’t much like cucumbers until I grew ‘Green Finger.’ I didn’t love to eat them, and I was frustrated while growing them.
From my garden, too often they were bitter, and I never could figure out how to consistently prevent that. Insufficient or uneven watering wasn’t the problem, as some suggested. The weather conditions didn’t seem to correlate with bitterness either. At last I realized that the key to growing the consistently crisp and sweet cucumbers that I desired was growing the right variety.
‘Green Finger’ cucumber variety
‘Green Finger’ was bred by Margaret Jahn and George Moriarity at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Nevertheless, the variety grows wonderfully in our drier and hotter climate of Southern California.
In addition to never being bitter, what I like about ‘Green Finger’ is that its skin is thin, tender, and smooth. Some cucumber varieties are so spiny that you want gloves when harvesting, and then the skin is so thick that you want to peel them before eating. Not ‘Green Finger,’ which are perfectly suited for picking and snacking on right in the garden next to the plant.
‘Green Finger’ can also be harvested when the cukes are the actual size of your finger up to the size of a Cavendish banana, and they taste great at either extreme.
The seed cavity in the center of a ‘Green Finger’ cucumber is small so the cucumber is crisp through and through.
The plants are highly productive too, setting fruit immediately upon planting and never slowing down. Last year, our ‘Green Finger’ cucumber plants astonished me by how long they thrived and produced, and this year they’re astonishing me by how early they are producing. We’ve started eating them only three weeks after planting.
How I grow ‘Green Finger’ and other cucumbers
I know people who grow great cucumbers by allowing them to sprawl in their vegetable gardens.
And I know people who grow great cucumbers by training them up a tomato cage or some type of trellis. But for the last few years I’ve grown most of my cucumbers by planting them near the southern edge of a fruit tree’s canopy.
Usually, it’s a citrus tree or an avocado tree because I water these trees about as often as I water my vegetables. I don’t find pests to be a significant problem even as the cucumbers develop while lying on the ground, but sometimes pill bugs do munch the skin a bit. It doesn’t affect the taste so I don’t mind.
(See more about this way of growing in my post, “Growing vegetables under fruit trees.”)
The cucumbers might also grow less straight this way. But who said cukes are supposed to be straight?
This year (2020), I sowed my cucumber seeds on March 3, and I planted the seedlings out in the garden on April 26. These are normal dates for my first cucumber sowings and plantings of the warm season, and they’ve been successful year after year. These dates should work well for all areas of Southern California. You can continue sowing cucumbers through June, and you can continue planting cucumber seedlings through July.
Currently, I have four plants in the ground to provide fresh cucumbers to my family of five. This should be enough. Last year, I only had two ‘Green Finger’ plants growing at any one time, in addition to a couple of other varieties of cucumbers, and it wasn’t sufficient because we all wanted more ‘Green Finger’. This year, I’ve sown more ‘Green Finger’ and forgotten the other varieties, except that I will plant some ‘National Pickling’ for making pickles.
Where to buy ‘Green Finger’ cucumber seeds
I have bought seeds for ‘Green Finger’ cucumbers from Renee’s.
I hope you sow some and get to harvest a few before the kids pick them all!
A list with links to all of my Yard Posts is HERE.
I love Persian cucumbers! Do you preserve them? My intuition says they won’t hold up to pickling, but maybe a lacto ferment?
Hi Deb,
I don’t recall trying to pickle them last summer. I think I only pickled other varieties. But I do read that Green Fingers holds up well (and doesn’t need wrapping for market) considering its thin skin so who knows? I’ll try it this year.
Thanks for the recommendation. I’ve been looking for a good cucumber. I ordered a quarter oz of seeds through your link.
I planted these this year based on an earlier recommendation of yours. I have baby cucumbers already growing. Do you think this variety would not be good for pickling? This is the only type of cucumber I planted and I was hoping to eat and pickle some.
Hi Emily,
See my reply to Deb above. If you want a sure bet for pickles, get some ‘National Pickling’ cucumbers going too. We had great results with pickling them last summer.
https://www.highmowingseeds.com/organic-non-gmo-national-pickler-cucumber.html
Greg: I must be weird, because I like to munch on those National Pickles
skin and all, in the morning for breakfast. I grow them on 4 x 8 ft. sections of
cattle fencing staked about 1 ft. above the ground
Greg, My second comment on a National Pickling cucumber:
Fry up a ground pork meat patty.
Toast lightly & slather a bun or any kind of bread slices, w/ mayo.
Slice a National Pickle length ways into fourths, skin an all.
Slice a long French Breakfast radish the same way.
Add two slices of each, to to each burger
Add some home grown sliced tomato.
You have a “Crunchy Burger” made in heaven.
That sounds amazing. Will definitely try it.
Great article Greg. I love cucumbers but have stopped buying them because of the large seeds and thick skin. I’ve never heard of Green Finger cucumbers before but now I will look for them and try my luck growing some…next year maybe if I can purchase them somewhere.
On another note, my sister told me years ago in order to avoid bitter cucumbers you need to pick them in the morning. She’s never had a bitter one and neither did I when I grew them, no matter what variety, none were bitter if picked before 9 AM.
Oh I was wondering one more thing, it’s about avocados. Will the gypsy moths damage the fruit in any way? Thanks again for your posts. Always informative and entertaining with your pictures and sense of humor.
Hi Debbie,
Wow, does that really work? I’ll have to try that.
Funny you should mention gypsy moths as I was watering a young avocado tree today and noticed a caterpillar on a leaf. My watering knocked it off. I remember thinking, Oh, a tussock moth caterpillar. But I didn’t look closely, and the leaves of that little tree have been getting munched by someone.
Anyway, I’ve never noticed or heard of gypsy moth caterpillars damaging avocado fruit, but next time I see a caterpillar on an avocado tree I’m going to slow down and identify it, and I’ll also note whether it’s eating the leaves.
Hi Greg! I saw your post about these cucumbers and planted some. They seem to be starting to show signs of powdery mildew. (As do my zucchini and melons- so frustrating!)
Any advice for dealing with it?
Hi Lindsay,
Bummer. It’s that time of year. My own cucumbers don’t have powdery mildew but they did receive quite the attack from flea beetles. As for powdery mildew, unfortunately, there’s no simple solution that I’m aware of. See this post for my experience dealing with powdery mildew: https://gregalder.com/yardposts/southern-california-garden-july/
Ive been pickling the green finger all year and they came out great! Renes seeds are really strong and vibrant seeds. Thanks for your website Greg, very helpful!
Last year I grew some Asian cucumbers that just didn’t thrive in the Lake Mathews area. This year, after reading your article, I bought Renee’s Green Fingers seeds. I now have thriving plants and just harvested my first three cucumbers. Best of all, the plants are self-pollinating so I don’t have to worry about the bees getting through my shade cloth. My sister says they are the best cucumbers she has ever tasted. Thank you!
Awesome to hear this, Sheila! You’re ahead of me this year. My Green Fingers are just now making their first baby cukes, and you’ve made me even more excited to taste them soon.
Hi Emily,
I would like to send you some seeds to try. They are bitter-free, don’t cause indigestion, love the heat, will look better than green finger and will taste a lot better too. They are called the Striped Carosello Leccese and they are an ancient cucumber variety from Southern Italy. If you let me know where to send them to, I’ll send you a packet to try out.
Oops. I meant the last message for Greg Alder! (=
I planted a Green Finger cucumber a month ago in my raised bed. It is growing fast, but no flowers and no signs of cukes as yet. I live in Napa valley and wonder about the zone for these. In the past, I’ve had great luck with Persian cucumbers in this same spot.
I water every morning and fertilize them weekly. Any thoughts?
Hi Sharon,
Where did you get your seed?
Thanks for your prompt reply, Greg!
I purchased an organic small plant at a local nursery.
Hmmm. Assuming it’s really a Green Finger plant, maybe it just needs a bit more growth. Or another possibility is that it’s not getting quite enough sun, as cucumber plants will flower less if they’re growing in less sun.
I have had other cucumber plants in this same spot – and they did really well – so I’m just assuming that it needs more growth. It came from the best nursery in Napa Valley and I am sure it is a Green Finger.
I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my question! Here’s to a good growing season.