Cucumbers are an excellent plant to grow, and there are tons of varieties that will suit whatever you’re looking for.
Unfortunately, in certain areas, pests and other local conditions can make it possible to grow cucumbers outdoors. When this happens, you need a small variety of cucumber that can be grown indoors or on a screened in patio or balcony.
(Though if you’re growing indoors, you’ll want to look for a parthenocarpic variety as well, otherwise you’ll have to hand pollinate.)
Here are a number of varieties that are great for tiny gardens.
Patio Snacker
Width: 24″; Vine Length: 3-5′
Patio snacker is a space saving cultivar that produces 6-8″ cucumbers. While not as compact as some of the bush varieties that only produce 2′ vines, this is still a great option for space constrained gardeners.
This variety does require bug or hand pollination, so if you’re growing indoors, keep that in mind.
Spacemaster
Width: 26″
The spacemaster cucumber is a small cucumber variety designed to be grown in hanging baskets – elliminating the need for trellising and support. Spacemaster produces 7.5″ cucumbers perfect for snacking or adding to salads.
This variety does require pollination and is disease resistant.
Itachi
Vine Length: 4-5′
The itachi cucumber produces long, white cucumbers that can get up to 11″ in length. It can be trellised to save space and keep the cucumbers off of the ground and does well in the heat. Itachi cucumbers are supposed to have no issues with bitterness and an excellent flavor.
What’s even better is that these cucumbers require no pollination whatsoever (they are parthenocarpic), so they’re the perfect variety for growing indoors under a grow light. They will set plenty of seedless cucumbers without any help.
H-19 Little Leaf
Vine Length: 36″
Little leaf is a compact cucumber plant with vines that are shorter than average, making them great for small spaces. This plant produces 3-5″ pickling cucumbers and is even said to be somewhat disease resistant against mosaic virus, downy mildew, and powdery mildew.
This is another parthenocarpic variety that needs no pollination, so if you want to grow your own pickles indoors, this is an excellent variety to spring for.
Bush Crop
Width: 24-36″; Vine Length: 1-2′
Bush crop – as its name implies – maintains a nice, compact bushy growth habit that doesn’t require trellising. If you’re looking for 6-8″ slicing cucumbers, this may be a good choice for you.
This is an open pollinated cucumber variety.
Salad Bush
Width: 26″
This is another compact bush type cucumber that produces 6-8″ slicing cucumbers that are great for snacking or salads. What makes this variety notable is its high disease resistance. Even if it gets powdery mildew (or other) diseases, it will still keep producing cucumbers like a champ.
I believe this variety requires pollination, but I wasn’t able to locate that information for sure.
Bush Slicer
Width: 36″
Bush slicer – as its name implies – is a compact cucumber variety that produces slicing cucumbers. The cucumbers get up to 8″ long with a sweet flavor and no bitterness. This is a disease resistant variety as well.
This cucumber requires insect or hand pollination.
Burpless Bush Hybrid
Vine Length: 24″
The burpless bush hybrid is a small bush variety cucumber that produces slicing cucumbers that get up to 10″ long, which is slightly longer than the average cucumber on this list.
This cucumber variety requires insect or hand pollination. As a side note, burpless cucumbers are ones that were selected to minimize a compound that causes bitterness in the cucumber and can cause indigestion when eaten.
Bush Champion
Width: 24″
Bush champion is a cucumber variety that definitely earns its name. Even though it is a small, bush variety, it still produces a large number of huge, 12″ cucumbers. It also is resistant to mosaic virus.
This cucumber variety does require insect or hand pollination.
Saladmore Bush
Width: 24″
Saladmore is a cucumber variety that is perfect for warm climates. It produces around a dozen 8-10″ slicing cucumbers per plant. Its resistance to mildew diseases means that it’s perfect for growing in wet, humid weather.
This variety does require insect or hand pollination.
Pick a Bushel Hybrid
Width: 24″
Pick a bushel is a semi-bush cucumber that will produce up to 20 cucumbers per plant. These cucumbers get to be around 6″ long at harvest time, but can be picked and eaten as small as 3″.
This variety I believe needs insect or hand pollination and may be a good choice for a hanging basket.
