When to Harvest Cucumbers

How to tell a cucumber is ready

Cucumbers are picked immature, so ripeness here means the right size and texture, not a color change. The fruit develops quickly once a female flower is pollinated: Utah State puts it at 5 to 7 days from flowering to harvest. The first picking usually arrives 50 to 70 days after sowing, sooner for transplants and later in cool weather. In the Arizona low desert, the University of Arizona’s calendar lists 60 to 90 days.

A ready cucumber is:

• Firm from end to end, with no soft spots.
• Evenly colored, dark green for most slicers and picklers, with no yellow at the blossom end.
• Slender, with straight, parallel sides rather than a swollen middle.
• Seedy only lightly. Seeds in a cut fruit are small, soft and edible.

Size by type

Size is the most practical guide, and it depends on what you grow and what you plan to do with it.

Pickling cucumbers. Clemson recommends picking at 2 to 6 inches; Iowa State prefers 2 to 4 inches. Colorado State’s advice is simply to pick the size that suits the kind of pickle you plan to make.

Slicing cucumbers. Iowa State and Colorado State pick at 6 to 8 inches, and Iowa State adds a diameter of 1 1/2 to 2 inches. Clemson allows up to 10 inches for slicers and burpless types.

Burpless and long types. These are meant to be longer: Utah State notes that most burpless varieties reach 10 to 12 inches. NC State notes that greenhouse varieties can reach 20 inches or more. Go by the length on the seed packet, and pick while the skin is still glossy and the fruit is firm.

‘Lemon’ cucumbers. This heirloom has light yellow skin by nature, as Iowa State describes it, so its color is not a sign of overripeness. Judge it by firmness and size instead.

Signs you waited too long

An overmature cucumber turns yellow and swells in the middle. Utah State notes that as fruit ages the flavor declines, the seeds mature and the skin toughens, and Clemson advises picking before the flesh turns bitter, the seeds harden or the skin starts to yellow. Bitterness gathers at the stem end and just under the skin, so cutting off the end and peeling can salvage a fruit that was picked a little late or grown under drought stress.

Pick often, and why it matters

Check plants every 2 to 3 days once fruit starts coming. This is not just about catching fruit at the right size. Colorado State and Iowa State both explain that cucumbers left to mature on the vine hold back further fruit set until they are picked. Pick every fruit that is ready, plus any that are misshapen, yellow or damaged. NC State says that vines kept picked every couple of days continue to flower and produce for 4 to 6 weeks.

Large cucumbers hide well under leaves, especially on plants that sprawl on the ground. Lift the foliage and look underneath each time. Trellised plants make this much easier, since fruit hangs in plain sight.

Storing the harvest

Handle the fruit carefully, since Utah State notes it bruises easily. Cucumbers keep best at 50 to 55°F with 90 to 95 percent relative humidity, where Iowa State says they last 10 to 14 days. NC State gives the same temperature range and at least a week of storage. The typical home refrigerator runs colder than that, and Utah State warns that fruit breaks down quickly there. If the refrigerator is your only option, plan to use them within about a week, which matches Clemson’s estimate.

Keep cucumbers away from apples and other ripening fruit, which make them turn yellow. Fruit left in warm conditions also yellows quickly, so do not leave the harvest sitting in a hot kitchen or car.