A white cucumber that makes an impression on the plate. White Wonder (Italian name: Mezzo lungo bianco) is an early outdoor variety with light greenish-white, well-shaped fruits and few warts. Picked at 8–10 cm long, they make picture-perfect gherkins – crisp, delicate in flavor, and noticeably different from everything in the neighbors’ jars. An old American variety from the late 19th century that performs surprisingly well in Polish outdoor conditions.

In brief

• Fruit: light greenish-white, 8–10 cm, with few warts
• Type: outdoor cucumber, early
• Sowing outdoors: May (second half), at a depth of 2–3 cm
• Sowing under cover: late April (seedlings in pots)
• Harvest: July–September
• Position: sunny and sheltered, fertile, moist soil
• Difficulty: easy – requires only warmth and water
• Number of seeds per packet: approx. 70 seeds (2 g)

What makes this variety special

White Wonder is a heritage variety – introduced for sale in the United States as early as 1893 and still valued for its unusual fruit color. The skin is creamy white with a light greenish tint, smooth, and marked with occasional warts, while the flesh is light-colored, crisp, and free from bitterness. The fruits are very well-shaped and uniform, which matters when you want to arrange them evenly in a jar.

In this version, Legutko recommends it as a pickling cucumber: harvested at 8–10 cm, it produces classic gherkins. If allowed to grow further, the fruits reach a dozen or so centimeters and are excellent eaten fresh. The variety is early, so the first fruits can be harvested as early as July, and productive – with regular harvesting, it continues to yield until September.

Growing step by step

Sowing outdoors (second half of May): cucumber is sensitive to cold, so sow only once the soil has warmed to 12–15°C. Place the seeds 2–3 cm deep, in rows 80–100 cm apart, singly or in groups of 2–3 seeds spaced 15 cm apart. Germination occurs after 6–10 days.

Thinning: after emergence, leave the strongest seedling in each group. To speed up the harvest, you can sow the seeds into 8–9 cm pots in late April (2 seeds per pot) and plant out the seedlings with 2–3 leaves after 20 May – cucumber does not tolerate transplanting well, so empty the pots gently without disturbing the root ball.

Training (from June): the plants can be trained flat on straw mulch or grown against supports – the fruits will then be cleaner and harvesting more convenient. Final spacing: 80–100 × 15–20 cm. The soil should be heavily enriched with compost or well-rotted manure and kept constantly moist.

Care: water generously, but avoid wetting the leaves, preferably in the morning and with warm water – cold water and drying out are the most common causes of bitterness. Mulching the soil reduces evaporation and weeds. Harvest the fruits every 2–3 days – the more frequently you pick, the more new fruit sets will develop.

Uses

Primarily for pickling and preserving – small white gherkins in vinegar brine or fermented with dill and garlic look impressive and have a delicate, crisp texture. Larger fruits are suitable for eating fresh: in salads, cucumber salad, and sandwiches. Thanks to its unusual color, it is also a display variety – it is worth sowing it next to green cucumbers to see the difference in a single bed. It grows well alongside beans, peas, dill, and onions, but does not like growing near potatoes.

Gardener’s tip

Specifications