Fothergill's Cucumber Marketmore Seeds

Details:

• Botanical Name: Cucumis sativus 'Marketmore', a time-tested, premium outdoor heirloom cultivar within the Cucumber genus.
• Plant Class: Half Hardy Annual, establishing with excellent vigor in the spring to deliver heavy, kitchen-ready harvests all summer long.
• The Ultimate Outdoor Ridge Type: Unlike finicky greenhouse varieties, Marketmore is bred specifically to thrive in the cooler, open air of British gardens, requiring absolutely no indoor glass protection to yield heavily.
• Crisp Slicing Fruits: Bears beautifully uniform, straight, and cylindrical dark green fruits roughly 20cm (8in) in length. The thick skin helps protect the fruit outdoors, while the white flesh is remarkably crisp, juicy, and bitter-free.
• Outstanding Disease Resistance: Armed with strong natural genetic defense against both Powdery Mildew and Downy Mildew. This keeps the foliage exceptionally healthy, green, and productive deep into autumn when other varieties succumb to damp weather.
• Superb Growing Flexibility: Naturally forms a vigorous, multi-branched vining habit that can trail across the ground or be trained up a trellis. Its reliable nature makes it absolutely ideal for growing in large patio pots, raised beds, or traditional grow bags.
• Kitchen Staple: The classic summer salad cucumber; perfect for slicing thickly into fresh green salads, layering into afternoon sandwiches, or chunking into refreshing pitchers of summer drinks.

Care Instructions:

• Sowing Position: Start seeds early indoors from April to May by sowing individual seeds on their edges 1.5cm deep in small pots of moist compost. Alternatively, sow directly outdoors in late May or June once all danger of spring frost has fully passed. Position in a warm, sheltered spot in full sun.
• Outdoor Ridge Note: Unlike greenhouse cucumbers, outdoor ridge varieties require pollination by bees to set fruit. Do not remove any male flowers from this plant, as both male and female blooms are essential for a successful crop.
• Moisture & Nutrition: Keep the soil consistently moist by watering regularly and deeply around the base line—uneven watering can cause outdoor cucumbers to become misshapen. Feed with a high-potash liquid tomato fertilizer every two weeks once the first small fruits begin to form.
• Harvesting Tip: Use a sharp knife or garden snips to harvest the cucumbers when they are firm, heavy, and roughly 20cm long. Frequent, consistent picking is vital to stimulate the plant into pushing out a non-stop supply of new fruits until autumn.