Cucumber (Marketmore)

📖 About This Plant

Cucumber (Marketmore) is the standard-bearer of American slicing cucumbers, bred at Cornell University in the 1960s and still preferred by generations of home gardeners for its consistently straight, dark-green fruits and exceptional disease resistance. Marketmore fruits average 8–9 inches in length with a smooth skin, crisp, white flesh, and a mild sweetness that is never bitter — a trait coded into its genetics. The vines are vigorous and heavy-yielding, performing especially well on a trellis where air circulation reduces fungal problems. Marketmore carries resistance to cucumber mosaic virus and scab, making it a reliable performer even in wet summers when disease pressure is high.

📊 Quick Facts

📅 When to Plant in Your Area

🌱 Care Tips

Start Marketmore cucumbers indoors 3–4 weeks before last frost, or direct sow in warm soil (above 60°F). Train vines onto a trellis or wire fence — vertical growing improves air circulation, reduces fungal disease, and makes harvesting dramatically easier. Keep soil evenly moist, particularly while fruits are sizing up; uneven watering causes bitter cucumbers. Feed every 2–3 weeks with a balanced vegetable fertilizer once plants begin vining. Watch for cucumber beetles (yellow-black striped or spotted), which spread bacterial wilt disease; row covers over young plants until flowering provide excellent protection. Harvest at 8–9 inches for best flavor — skins thin, flesh crisp, and seeds small. Never let any fruit fully yellow on the vine or the plant will stop producing. A well-maintained trellis-grown Marketmore plant can produce 10–15 cucumbers per season.

🤝 Companion Plants

These plants grow well alongside Cucumber:

🌿 Related Vegetable

More vegetable that grow in similar conditions:

❓ Frequently Asked Questions