Until now, I’ve always bought seeded cucumbers. On my latest trip to Aldi’s I thought I’d try their seedless kind. I’m wondering:

If seedless cucumbers don’t contain any seeds, then how can any new seedless cucumber plants be grown?

Why is each seedless cucumber always shrink wrapped in plastic but not seeded cucumbers?

Seedless cucumbers actually do have seeds but they’re really small. You can grow more cucumbers from them but it’s tricky.

They get wrapped in plastic because the skin is very thin. Nice because you don’t have to peel them.

Seeded cucumbers are dipped in wax, which prevents them from getting wilted but renders the peel inedible.

Fresh pickles are neither waxed nor shrink-wrapped, and as a result have a pretty short shelf life.

People peel cucumbers?? I know about the wax and do my best to wash it off.

I’ve seen cucumbers peeled partially for a striped effect.

I’ve also noticed cucumbers don’t keep well in the fridge. Is that because I remove the wax?

I just use 2-3 slices on sandwiches so it takes me a while to use a whole one.

Cukes are delicate creatures.

I think that washing off the wax results in two things. First, they will tend to get wilted and wrinkly because the protective wax is gone, and second, just the process of removing the wax increases the chances of bruising the skin, which makes the cucumber go slimy more quickly.

I just about never buy the waxed ones anymore. We prefer the shrink-wrapped seedless ("English" or "burpless"). We lop off as much as we need from the still shrink-wrapped cuke and wrap a piece of plastic wrap around the cut end. They're good for a week to 10 days.

In the store or at farmers markets fresh pickles tend to get bruised and wilted pretty quickly. For the ones I grow in my garden, we wrap each one in plastic wrap and they'll easily keep a couple of weeks in the frig.

quote:

I just about never buy the waxed ones anymore. We prefer the shrink-wrapped seedless ("English" or "burpless"). We lop off as much as we need from the still shrink-wrapped cuke and wrap a piece of plastic wrap around the cut end. They're good for a week to 10 days.

It's not easy to "wash" the wax off of a regular American cucumber unless you scrub, or use pretty hot water. I peel them instead. The idea of eating the skin of those waxed ones (even the artfully striped partially peeled ones) is pretty disgusting.

Thank you, everyone. Now that I’ve sampled seedless cukes, I like them better. So for me, it’s forget about the seeded kind.

I’ve seen cucumbers partially peeled to make them appear to have stripes in Las Vegas casino restaurants. I think they do it for two reasons. One, to make cucumbers look more appetizing. Two, take a close look at a casino gambling chip. By partially peeling cucumbers so that the skin is on alternates with the skin is off on the long side of the cuke, they look just like a casino gambling chip.

Seedless, aka English cukes are the only cukes I eat most of the time. I buy them in three-packs at Costco and go through two or three three-packs a week. They are about $2 a cuke.