Cucumber ‘Telegraph English’

We recommend training these long, thin cukes on a trellis

We now offer six varieties of cucumbers, with our newest being ‘Telegraph English’.  It has long, thin fruits that average about 15–18 inches in length. To keep them growing straight instead of curling we recommend growing the plant vertically and training it on a trellis or netting.

Slender dark green fruits have crisp, mild flesh

This heirloom from the 1800s is the latest in our line of cucumbers, covering a range of culinary uses from slicing to pickling. ‘Telegraph’ is mild in flavor with crisp white flesh and very few seeds—the few seeds it does have are very small and soft, which makes it extremely popular for salads and snacking. 

Thin skin and very few seeds make these slices great for snacking

Note that the dark green skin on ’Telegraph’ is very thin as well, so it requires no peeling. We like to swap out sturdy slices of English cucumber for crackers, to scoop up hummus or salsa at summer picnics. If you want to be fancy you can run the tines of a fork lengthwise down the skin before slicing—a quick trick for creating showy edges.

In addition to ‘Telegraph’ we have the following varieties:

‘Burpless’

‘Burpless’ is very similar to the English cucumber, with long, thin-skinned fruits that have a refreshing, sweet flavor. In the cucumber world burpless means a variety contains low or no cucurbitacin, the compound that causes bitterness and increases the eater’s chance of burping. ‘Telegraph’ is burpless as well.

‘Fanfare’

‘Fanfare’ is a semi-dwarf with short 2-1/2 foot vines, so plants can be placed closer together. It produces an abundance of dark green, 8–9 inch slicing cucumbers that are mild and tasty.

‘Marketmore’

‘Marketmore’ is one of the best varieties for slicing and pickling. Deep green, 8–9 inch cucumbers are uniform in color with nice smooth skin and creamy white flesh.

‘Pickling’

‘Pickling’ proves that beauty is not skin-deep. Short, squat fruits have thin, bumpy skin that soaks up pickling brine better than other varieties—for some extra delicious dills!

‘Spacemaster’

‘Spacemaster’ was developed specifically for gardens with limited space. It’s compact with short, sturdy vines of 3 feet or less that still put out a large crop of cucumbers. Fruits are normal sized: 7–8 inch nice, crisp slicers.

It’s best not to let the fruits get too big so harvest continually. If there are too many mature cucumbers on the vine the plant will stop producing. Also, remember to cut fruits off at the stem rather than pulling and twisting—treating them kindly maintains good cucumber karma.

‘Telegraph English’ is available in the 4.5-inch pot. Our other cucumber varieties come in the 1801 flat.