Cucumis sativus.
The very archetype of the long English cucumber — the one you find at the grocery store wrapped in plastic film, which takes nothing away from its true beauty in the garden. The original Telegraph variety was released in 1897 by the famous Carter's Tested Seeds house of London, in the golden age of English Victorian greenhouses, where high society grew luxury vegetables year-round in heated glasshouses. It's precisely the variety that made possible the success of the English cucumber sandwich — those fine slices of buttered white bread garnished with ultra-thin rounds of cucumber, served at tea time in Edwardian drawing rooms, and become the very symbol of English refinement between 1880 and 1920.
Long, slim fruits 35 to 45 cm, nearly cylindrical, glossy dark green, with smooth thin skin that never needs peeling, and pale, dense, crunchy flesh with almost no visible seeds — of a very mild, fresh flavour, without any bitterness. Precious genetic particularity: the variety is parthenocarpic, which means it produces its fruits without needing to be pollinated — this is the variety that popularized that trait in modern cucumbers. Practical advantage: no bitterness caused by accidental crossings, and the possibility of growing in a closed greenhouse where bees don't enter. Ideal for all fresh uses — classic English sandwich, Greek salad, tzatziki, herb gazpacho, infused summer water, or simply crunched in sticks. Its thin skin and rarity of seeds also make it an excellent candidate for homemade maki sushi.
Grower's tip: Telegraph is primarily a greenhouse variety, but it does reasonably well in an unheated tunnel or outdoors in a warm sheltered spot. Under cover, maximum productivity and long, straight fruits; outdoors, the fruits may be a little shorter and twisted, but the flavour stays excellent. Indoor start 3 to 4 weeks before transplanting (never more), in biodegradable pots to avoid root shock. Solid trellis mandatory — the vines run 2-3 metres and the long fruits must hang freely to stay straight. Pick early and often — one harvested fruit stimulates several more, and gustatory quality is better on young specimens.
- Open-pollinated. Largely parthenocarpic, produces fruits without need of pollination. If pollinated by bees near other cucumbers, the fruits remain edible but may develop seeds.
- Height: climbing stems 2 to 3 m, to be sturdily trellised.
- Maturity: 60 to 70 days after transplant.
- Exposure: full sun. Ideal under glass or tunnel; possible outdoors in a very warm spot.
- Rich, deep, well-drained soil, kept cool with good mulching. Space plants 40 to 50 cm apart on the trellis.
- Indoor start 3 to 4 weeks before last frost in biodegradable pots, or direct-sow in early June once the soil is at 18 °C minimum. Under glass, sow 4 to 6 weeks earlier for an early harvest.
