Cucumber varieties usually are categorized two ways: as slicers and picklers. Slicers are long, smooth-skinned cucumbers that tend to be larger, a darker shade of green, and have thicker skin with fewer bumps (spines) than pickling varieties, which are short and prickly. You can use picklers the same way as slicers, but if you do want to make pickles, the pickling varieties have better textures for it. Regular production of cucumbers is about 12 pounds per 10-foot row (about 10 cucumbers per plant). Choose varieties based on disease-resistance, size, productivity, and adaptability.

Take a look at a few varieties worth trying in your garden. Most of these varieties vine 4 to 5 feet (10 to 13 cm) unless otherwise noted. The days to maturity are from seeding in the ground until first harvest:

• ‘Aria’: Hybrid parthenocarpic variety has good disease resistance and thin skin. Matures in 52 days.

• ‘Marketmore 86’: Widely adapted slicing variety has good disease resistance and produces lots of fruits. Matures in 68 days.

• ‘Suyo Long’: Unusual Oriental-type slicing cucumber is also burpless (which means this type of cucumber doesn’t cause burping in people, a common reaction after eating cucumbers) and produces 15-inch fruits. Matures in 61 days.

• ‘Wisconsin SMR-18’: Highly productive and disease resistant pickling cucumber. Matures in 56 days.

Cucumbers are best when harvested small: slicers when they’re 6-inches (15-cm) long and picklers when they’re 4-inches (10-cm) long. If they grow too large and begin to turn yellow, the seeds inside the cucumber are maturing, and the plant will stop producing flowers and fruits. Pick off and throw away any large fruits that you missed so that you can keep the young ones coming.