Midi Cucumbers — DutchGreenhouses

Shorter than a long cucumber, and a category that has moved

Midi cucumber is a shorter, lighter fruit than the wrapped long standard, sold into retail formats that suit a smaller household portion. It occupies the middle of the cucumber range, and its commercial appeal is that it fits a pack size the long fruit cannot without being cut.

What the crop needs

The crop is grown on substrate and carried on a high wire, sharing the species climate recipe with the other cucumber types. The differences that matter commercially are fruit count and harvest interval rather than climate: a smaller fruit means more picks for the same tonnage, and the labour and pack line have to be planned for the count rather than the weight.

What the greenhouse has to do

Midi is a pack-format crop, and the house is specified for the count the line expects rather than for tonnage. The species climate envelope is shared with long cucumber; what changes is how often the crop is picked and how much fruit crosses the building each week. Internal transport, path width and the size of the pack area follow from that.

Everything underneath is cucumber. Transpiration is high, the crop reacts within days, and irrigation and humidity control are sized for the peak. What the pack format adds is a tight size window, and even climate across the whole floor is what holds it: a section running warm or dry delivers fruit outside the window rather than fruit that is simply smaller.

DutchGreenhouses® specifies the structure, climate, screening and irrigation around the cucumber type, its pack format and the local climate, so the fruit count the pack line expects is what the house delivers. Get in touch to plan a cucumber greenhouse.

Long cucumbers

The wrapped Dutch standard, and the fastest crop in the house.

Mini cucumbers

A label that has drifted further than any other in the crop.

Snack cucumbers

The smallest format, sold to be eaten whole.

Climate

Heating, cooling, humidity control and carbon dioxide dosing.

Hydroponics

Substrate growing with drip supply and drain recirculation.

Questions

Midi cucumber, asked and answered

Is midi cucumber just a shorter long cucumber?

Commercially no. It is a separate pack format with its own cultivars, fruit count and picking labour, even though it shares the species climate recipe.

What does the pack format change in the greenhouse?

The handling. Fruit count per square metre is higher than for long cucumber, so picking frequency, internal transport and the pack area are dimensioned for the count rather than for the weight.

Does midi need its own compartment?

Not for the climate — the envelope is shared with long cucumber. The reason to split is the pick interval and the pack line, which run on different rhythms and get in each other’s way inside one space.

Crop data

Midi cucumbers — reference values

Reference values from the DutchGreenhouses crop model, each traced to its Dutch source below. Ranges describe published practice across systems and seasons; a project setpoint is calculated for the actual greenhouse, crop and climate.

Day climateMedium confidence¹²³

Air temperature: 24–24.8 °C
Relative humidity: 73–79 %
Vapour-pressure deficit: 0.62–0.86 kPa
Daily light integral: 16–20 mol/m²/d
Photoperiod: 16–18.5 h
CO₂ concentration: 600–800 ppm

Night climateMedium confidence¹⁴⁵

Air temperature: 21–22.4 °C
Relative humidity: 86–95 %
Vapour-pressure deficit: 0.19–0.35 kPa

Irrigation and root zoneMedium confidence¹²⁶

Supply EC: 2.8–3.5 mS/cm
Supply pH: 5.4–5.8 pH

Where these come from

WUR / Carpineti et al., 2024, WPR-1343 — Long-cucumber night transpiration. WUR report · High confidence · E035Controlled daylightless cells, cultivar Dee Flexion; strong treatment evidence but not a universal commercial recipe.
Kas als Energiebron / Botany & Plant Lighting, 2025, project 24019 — Lit high-wire cucumber 2024–2025. Public Dutch trial · High confidence · E036One 24-week winter crop and cultivar; capacity and source–sink strategy are system-specific.
Kas als Energiebron / Botany & Plant Lighting, 2025, project 23011 — Lit high-wire cucumber 2023–2024. Public Dutch trial · High confidence · E037One winter crop with three cultivars; observed settings are not universal optima.
WUR / de Gelder, 2016, GTB-1408 — High humidity and minimal moisture removal. WUR report · High confidence · E038Specific double-glazed greenhouse with film screen; demonstrates system dependence, not a humidity optimum.
WUR / de Zwart et al., 2017, GTB-1444 — Screens, humidity and dehumidification. WUR report · High confidence · E039System-energy relationship; crop risk still depends on dew, uniformity, air movement and disease pressure.
WUR, 2026, WPR-1263 — Cucumber substrate/fertigation context. WUR report · Medium confidence · E043Pathogen/root-environment experiment, not a commercial production optimum; retained only as supporting context.

These are reference values, not a specification. DutchGreenhouses does not publish project setpoints; those are calculated per greenhouse, crop and location.

From the knowledge base