The difference between crisp and pickling cucumber, and how zucchini fits alongside them in Turkey's August vegetable calendar.
Cucumber has been grown in Anatolia's cooler-climate regions for centuries, and modern greenhouse technology now keeps it on tables fresh year-round — but the variety grown for your salad bowl and the variety grown for a pickle jar aren't the same plant at all. Cucumber's pickling type reaches its single peak in August, right alongside zucchini in our August harvest guide.
Crisp cucumber: bred for the salad bowl
Crisp cucumber is grown under greenhouse conditions in Antalya and Mersin, trained vertically up a wire system that keeps fruit evenly shaped and easier to harvest. Its smooth, cylindrical shape and thin, glossy dark green skin are usually eaten unpeeled, and its crisp texture and low seed content make it the standard choice for salads and yogurt-based dips. It's available essentially year-round from greenhouse production, with a spring peak rather than August's.
Kornişon (pickling cucumber): small on purpose
Kornişon, or pickling cucumber, is a completely different growing approach: it's mostly open-field, row-planted, and picked by hand at frequent intervals while still small and firm — the small size isn't immaturity, it's the point. Its bumpy skin and firm structure are exactly what let it hold its shape through fermented or vinegar-based pickle production, and this open-field crop is what peaks in August.
Zucchini: the same summer window, a different plant entirely
Zucchini (summer squash) is one of the oldest vegetables in Anatolian agriculture, grown in both open fields and under cover with a non-vining, semi-bushy habit that allows multiple harvests from a single plant. It's picked young, while the skin is still thin, which benefits both flavor and shelf life; its light green, cylindrical, thin-skinned fruit shows up in squash stews, fritters, and stuffed dishes across Turkish home cooking. Zucchini shares kornişon's August peak, closing out the same open-field summer window.
Antalya's greenhouse scale, and how each crop is sized
Both crops trace back to the same greenhouse belt behind most of Turkey's off-season vegetable supply: Antalya alone accounts for more than 30% of the country's total covered-vegetable production and holds roughly half of Turkey's vegetable greenhouses, across more than 31,600 hectares — part of why Turkey ranks 4th in the world in overall greenhouse production. Crisp cucumber is sized by weight, from a 250-300 g standard caliber (10-12 count per box) up to a 400-500 g large caliber (14 count), with a separate 6-12 cm range for mini and gherkin types; kornişon is judged more on size uniformity than a fixed weight band. Zucchini is sized by length instead — 14-20 cm is the standard export caliber for young fruit, with 20-25 cm covering the medium size. Cucumber typically ships in a 10 kg perforated plastic crate (with individual shrink-wrap available for long types to extend shelf life), while zucchini uses an 8-10 kg perforated plastic crate, both palletized for shipping.
You can visit our Cucumber and Zucchini product pages for full variety, caliber, and packaging detail, and our Turkish vegetable export guide for how these fit alongside tomato, pepper, and eggplant.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Turkish zucchini sized for export?
Zucchini is sized by length: 14-20 cm is the standard export caliber for young fruit, with 20-25 cm covering the medium size range.
What's the difference between crisp cucumber and kornişon?
Crisp cucumber is greenhouse-grown, smooth-skinned, and picked at full size for fresh eating; kornişon (pickling cucumber) is open-field grown and picked small and firm on purpose, specifically for pickle production.
When is Turkish zucchini at its peak?
Zucchini peaks in August, the same open-field summer window as pickling cucumber (kornişon).