The long English cucumber is long, slim, thin-skinned and nearly seedless. It is one of the main crops in British Columbia's greenhouses.
How it grows
- The plant grows very fast and is trained upwards on strings.
- It produces fruit continuously, so it's harvested very often (almost daily in peak season).
- It needs constant work: training, removing side shoots, de-leafing and removing misshapen fruit.
Harvesting
- Cucumbers are harvested by the length, thickness and colour your supervisor specifies.
- They are cut with a knife or clippers — never pulled or twisted.
- A short, clean stem is left on.
Handling
The long cucumber's skin is very delicate: it scratches and marks easily. Handle it carefully, without throwing or over-stacking, and place it in the container as instructed. It's then graded by size and quality and is usually packed in plastic wrap.
Quality = care. A scratched or bruised cucumber can lose value even when it's perfectly healthy.