Cucumis sativus “Lemon”
Lemon cucumber, apple cucumber, Crystal Apple: don’t be misled by the name—it doesn’t taste anything like lemon. This heirloom variety gets its nickname from its round, pale-yellow fruits, about the size of a tennis ball. Its flesh is mild, barely bitter, and easier to digest than that of long cucumbers—a further reason to bring it back to the vegetable garden.
Characteristics:
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Round, yellow fruits: approximately 6 to 8 cm, very original for serving.
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Mild flesh: barely bitter and easy to digest, with a thin skin that does not need peeling.
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Heirloom variety: seed-saving, highly productive, and hardy for a cucumber.
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Individual size: one fruit equals one serving, ideal for avoiding leftovers.
Sowing advice:
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Exposure: warm, sunny, and sheltered from the wind.
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Soil: rich in humus, deep, moist, and well drained. Like all cucumbers, it is very demanding in terms of water and organic matter: a generous application of well-matured compost is essential.
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Method: sow in pots under cover from April at 20–22 °C, or sow directly after the frosts, 2 cm deep, placing the seed on its edge. See how to sow your seeds.
Planting advice:
- Transplant after the frosts, spacing plants 60 cm apart. Train it on a trellis: its round fruits hang attractively, stay clean, and the foliage dries faster, which helps limit disease.
Care advice:
- Water generously and regularly at the base, without wetting the foliage. Water stress produces bitter fruits.
- Mulch generously to maintain soil moisture.
Harvesting advice:
- Harvest when the fruits are still pale yellow, before they turn bright yellow: at this late stage, the skin hardens and the seeds develop. This is the main pitfall of this variety.
- Pick very regularly to maintain production.
Beneficial companion plants:
Benefits for biodiversity:
- Its yellow flowers are heavily visited by bees, on which fruit production entirely depends.
- Trained vertically, it forms a plant curtain that shelters beneficial insects and shades more delicate crops.
Uses:
- Raw in salads without peeling, hollowed out and stuffed like a small container, or made into pickles. Its round shape makes it a highly decorative vegetable to serve whole.
Saving your own seeds:
Leave one fruit to turn completely yellow and soften on the plant. Remove the seeds, let them ferment for two days in a little water, then rinse and dry them. It can cross with other cucumbers, but not with melons or squash. See how to save your seeds.
Commitment to Quality: at SemiSauvage - Permaculture, we grow and select our seeds with respect for all living things as our guiding principle. Based near the Auvergne Volcanoes, we choose open-pollinated, non-hybrid varieties, test them for germination rates, and carefully sort and package them without any chemical treatment. Our belief is that gardeners should regain the ability to resow, year after year, seeds that truly belong to them.
A round, golden cucumber that always surprises at the table.
