Bitter Burpless Hybrid

I guess for a minute there I thought I still lived in West Virginia and I planted a cucumber vine for summer growing. I read too late that here they should be planted in late summer. The first couple cucs were good but the last several have been so bitter as to be inedible. I suppose it's due to the heat because I think I have watered consistently and the plant looks very healthy. I guess I'll pull it unless somebody has a better suggestion. I have several pickling cuc bushes that are just starting to flower and that have a bit of mid-day shade...sure hope they turn out okay. If not, lesson learned for next year.

I'm growing Satsuki Madori and so far they taste fine. My Northern Pickling are growing well but have the bitterness. I decided to try a baby one and it was great. So today I'm going to try tasting different sizes of them and see if all the small ones taste good. If so, I'll just make baby pickles! I wrote this question to the Plantmaster at Cornelius Nursery this morning. I'll let you know if I get an answer. Janet

My dad used to put some epsom salts around the cukes here in Michigan, his were never bitter. he mixed 4 tbs in gallon of water and watered the plants, once a week. Watering them as needed the rest of the time.
You might give it a try. I do not grow cukes because I can not eat them, but it might work.

Thank you, ladies. I tried picking them really small but they were just as bitter as the full-grown ones.

Mindy

Howdy, folks...
The bitterness in cukes is caused by Cucurbitacin, common in all cukes but much more pronounced in certain varieties. Also, it tends to accumulate most at the stem end of the cuke and just under the skin. You may want to try cutting off the stem end and peeling the skin (good composting!) and some of the "meat" as the cucurbitacin usually doesn't progress deeply into the meaty/juicy part.

Some varieties aren't as susceptible to the bitterness. I'd suggest trying Lemon cuke, Ashley, or Eversweet.

By the way, were the nights fairly cool when your plants were flowering? Often times it's not the heat that causes this malady. Just curious.

Shoe (cucumber freak) *grin

Shoe, how does the pollination temp affect them?

cocoa-lulu, it's not so much pollination temp that contributing to bitterness (as in affecting the pollen itself) but rather the fluctuating temperature going from one extreme to the other. Plants growing/flowering during cool weather then all of a sudden going into hot weather will kick in the production of cucurbitacin. Excessively hot weather will as well. The best overall temps for cukes ranges between 70-85º for the production stage. The plants could grow at lower temps but temperatures lower than 60 will affect plant growth (slow it down) as well as water uptake. Lack of watering at any stage will also contribute to bitterness.

Keep in mind there are some varieties not as susceptible to bitterness so those of you in extreme weather areas may want to look into those. My favorite is Lemon Cuke (aka Lemon Apple) as well as an oriental cuke called Suyo Long. I've also not had bitterness from Little Leaf and those even volunteer in my greenhouse yearly (when bees get to some of the plants and the fruit drops/rots on the floor in there). It's 102º some days but the cukes still keep on kicking out.

Hope this helps.
Shoe

Thanks so much! I'm printing this and paper-clipping to next years cucumber packs.

Thanks from me, too, Shoe...also making note of those varieties for the future. I gave up on this plant and dragged the whole thing to the compost bin. It was pitiful and yet humorous -- all its full-grown cucumbers were dangling attractively, but I was merciless. Can't waste desert water on a failure.

Mindy

This is a trick used by every Asian housewife worth her salt. Cut off the ends of your cucumber, rub it briskly against the cucumber body until it gets kinda foamy. Draws out the bitterness everytime. Honestly, it does.

I had a friend tell me that a long time ago. I forgot about it. I'll try it and see what happens! I have lots of bitter cucs to experiment with.

Try some of the indian or southeast asian cucumbers. They don't get bitter as bad in summer.

I now only grow Orient Express Burpless cucumbers. They are so good. I just about live on Lite Rye Bread and sliced OE cucumber sandwiches. We have received no rain in Aug. and very little in July. I use soaker hose irrigation.

Donna

We have been 100° plus for almost 2 months now. I have grown two cucumbers ~ Little Leaf and Spacemaster which is still going strong. I've not found a bitter cucumber yet this season. Seems I have heard moisture (or lack of) can have an effect on bitterness?