This is my 2nd season with a vegetable garden. Last year I planted pickle cucumbers they only did ok. I planted without enough space since I thought they would climb a wood lattice trellis- silly me! I learned my lesson.
This year I have a ramped WIRE trellis with plenty of space. I planted a full sized variety of cucumbers and the vine is doing tremendously well. I'm getting plenty of fruits, but they taste HORRIBLE!! Very sour/bitter. They also are curling in half? I've never seen anything like this before- sour C shaped cucumbers.
Thoughts/tips/suggestions?
On the bright side, I've made several pints of refrigerator pickles with the ones I've picked so far and they taste super yummy after that. So worst case scenario I'm going to have a TON of pickles!
Its been hot. It would help if you put your location and zone in your profile so we can answer your questions better.
Bitterness in cucumbers
1. Some varieties are bitter. I like the burpless ones, they are less bitter. When you read the seed attributes if they are less bitter they will tell you.
2. Stress can make cucumbers bitter. Overwatering and drought both will do it as will keeping the cucumbers on the vine too long. Uneven watering causes all kinds of problems.
3. The curling can be from a few problems
a. uneven moisture. Cucumbers like to be evenly moist not drying out and not waterlogged either. Adding mulch will help retain water and check frequently especially when it is hot, you may have to water more than once a day.
b. Temperatures need to be more than 60 degrees F.
c. Poor pollination can cause deformed fruit, crooking and the flower end bigger than the stem end. Parthenocarpic fruit will have larger than normal seeds and deformed fruit if they get pollinated.
d. cucumbers touching the ground
e. Sucking pests, aphids, whiteflies, thrips, mealy bugs, mites
f. Inadequate nutrition either from a problem with the roots not being able to take up the nutrients to not having enough in the soil available.
3.
Bitterness in cucumbers
1. Some varieties are bitter. I like the burpless ones, they are less bitter. When you read the seed attributes if they are less bitter they will tell you.
2. Stress can make cucumbers bitter. Overwatering and drought both will do it as will keeping the cucumbers on the vine too long. Uneven watering causes all kinds of problems.
3. The curling can be from a few problems
a. uneven moisture. Cucumbers like to be evenly moist not drying out and not waterlogged either. Adding mulch will help retain water and check frequently especially when it is hot, you may have to water more than once a day.
b. Temperatures need to be more than 60 degrees F.
c. Poor pollination can cause deformed fruit, crooking and the flower end bigger than the stem end. Parthenocarpic fruit will have larger than normal seeds and deformed fruit if they get pollinated.
d. cucumbers touching the ground
e. Sucking pests, aphids, whiteflies, thrips, mealy bugs, mites
f. Inadequate nutrition either from a problem with the roots not being able to take up the nutrients to not having enough in the soil available.
3.
I had the same problem. The first 8 or 9 fruits were fine, and then all of the sudden they were disgustingly bitter. Like, I had to spit it out. I've never tasted anything so bitter. Maybe chomping a pill that you're not supposed to chew.
One of my favorite things to do with cucumbers is dehydrate them into chips, and that worked quite well to get rid of the bitterness. It was still there a little, but just barely. I drowned them in salsa to kill it a bit more. I hope your pickles work out. Your early ones might have been nicer-tasting like mine; and all of mine afterward were bitter.
One of my favorite things to do with cucumbers is dehydrate them into chips, and that worked quite well to get rid of the bitterness. It was still there a little, but just barely. I drowned them in salsa to kill it a bit more. I hope your pickles work out. Your early ones might have been nicer-tasting like mine; and all of mine afterward were bitter.
What cultivar did you plant? I find marketmore and poinsett to have a sour bite to them. I switched to Diva which is delicious and crisp and not bitter and Japanese cucumbers which are thin skinned and not bitter. Suyo Long is a Chinese variety that is crisp but has grooved skin. Shiyo kyuri translates to pickle cucumber and it is crisp and not bitter.
I have grown spacemaster, but it needs to be eaten the same way or it loses its crispness very fast.
Tasty Jade is another Japanese type cucumber.
General Lee is a widely variety with good disease resistance and wide adaptability.
Johnny seeds usually carries good quality cultivars.
Cucumbers like heat, but they like a lot of water too. Keeping the vines happy and growing will do a lot toward getting a tasty harvest.
I have grown spacemaster, but it needs to be eaten the same way or it loses its crispness very fast.
Tasty Jade is another Japanese type cucumber.
General Lee is a widely variety with good disease resistance and wide adaptability.
Johnny seeds usually carries good quality cultivars.
Cucumbers like heat, but they like a lot of water too. Keeping the vines happy and growing will do a lot toward getting a tasty harvest.
Last edited by imafan26 on Mon Aug 17, 2015 7:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
The cucumber house at work is having problems too. Mainly with the pest load. Aphids and mites are stunting and drying up the vines. There are a few cucumbers but most of them are curled and deformed. It is a problem with closed houses. Once the pests get in they are hard to get out since the predators are outside.
How did you solve the bitterness problem, did it solve itself, or did you just find that pickling them did the trick?
My Persians are still hanging on and making a few fruits per week. Some of the vines are green and some clearly diseased, but all producing healthy fruit. I predict they'll be done soon.
If you like soft skinned, mild cukes, I recommend you look into the variety "Tender Green." I grew it last summer, but couldn't find any starts this last year. I've got seeds for next year. It's the best I've ever tasted.
My Persians are still hanging on and making a few fruits per week. Some of the vines are green and some clearly diseased, but all producing healthy fruit. I predict they'll be done soon.
If you like soft skinned, mild cukes, I recommend you look into the variety "Tender Green." I grew it last summer, but couldn't find any starts this last year. I've got seeds for next year. It's the best I've ever tasted.
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In the first year or two I lived down in Tucson, I initially had a lot of trouble with sour/bitter cucumbers. I knew that Persians do well in the heat, but all the Persian varieties I have ever had gave me indigestion. Later, I discovered that cucumber-melons such as the Armenian and Carosello cucumber varieties did much better in the heat. They are always bitter-free, burpless (don't cause indigestion) and only grow faster as the summer heat really sets in. After growing these a few years, I had a hard time going back to regular cucumber varieties.
Some of the cucumber-melon varieties I have found have stripes and vary in shape, color and length - depending upon the variety - and boast names such as "Carosello Massafra" and "Carosello Polignano". However, the dark green Armenian and the Painted Serpent are still some of my favorite.
Some of the cucumber-melon varieties I have found have stripes and vary in shape, color and length - depending upon the variety - and boast names such as "Carosello Massafra" and "Carosello Polignano". However, the dark green Armenian and the Painted Serpent are still some of my favorite.