I just picked my first cucumber, a Delikatesse. These are supposed to be pale green and be 10" long according to Baker Creek where I got the seeds. I had thought you could pick cucumbers any time, as long as you didn't let them get fully ripe and bitter?
This one was 9" long, but the taste is very strong and a bit bitter. Not nice at all. That seems like it would be a sign of waiting too long to pick, but the seeds are barely apparent. Anyone have any info for a noob? :-(
I've never grown that variety but bitterness always means erratic water supply to me. I'd make sure it never experienced any water stress, had plenty of fertilizer and maybe pick them a little smaller. I see a little yellowing in your photo. That may be normal for that variety but for most cukes it means overgrown or slow growth. Cukes are like beans, the more you pick, the faster they make more.
The 10" long is kind of like the days to maturiy - only a guideline. in my experiece, picking them smaller can never hurt, and usually gives you a more delicate flavor. Like Twigs, I've never tried this variety, but I'd go with picking them at maybe 6" and seeing how they taste, they you cna adjust up. The more you pick, the more you get, so there's nothing to lose!
Argh - I hate it when my mouth is watering for something I'm growing, then I harvest - wild with anticipation... Then I slice it - drool running down my chin, then I bite in...then I spit out! Major bummer! But I'm sure the next one will be purrfect!
Thanks for the replies. It was a disappointment, but I'll try picking earlier and hopefully the next will be great!
Let us know about your next one, Desert Jake.
Sequee, that's SO funny! I have a neighbor who planted "Dragon Fruit" and waited SEVEN years for a fruit. Hahahahaha, she invited me over for the big event, the harvesting and tasting of this exotic tropical fruit of a sort of succulent vine.
I already knew, it has zero flavor. Very nice texture, crunchy strawberry crunchy-like seeds, but has as much flavor as,,, water.
Always not a good idea to let oneself get all anticipated.
Uh-Oh. Mola - My Dragonfruit plant is on year 5 and I'm still waiting. Thank you for the warning. I was thinking it would be some kind of exotic flavor!
My friend grows dragonfruit. Some of hers has a subtle watermelon like flavor, some has no flavor. She has several different kinds.
Sequee, I love to grow exotic things too and sometimes they taste terrible!
i have some red cukes growing Paul
Oh, my! And what, pray tell, are they called??? And please Do post a report after you've done the taste-test! I ended up with a very traditional selection after my initial debacle whiped out the PK, Armenians, and Lemon. I ended up with a few Calypso, a couple pf Restina mini's, and a Telegraph. I also had a straggler pop up that's either a seed I planted back in April (Yellow Submarine) or a volunteer. Good thing I love a mystery!
Sequee, the worst tasting thing I've tried was a cherimoya. It was horrible. I love lemon and strawberry guavas, but the large fruited one I tried was horrible. I planted mangoes. I love mangoes, but one kind, I"ll have to look up the name, had small yellowish fruits and it was horrible(and they take a while to bear, then by the time they have fruit, it's a nice tree and you hate to cut it down).
One melon that had no taste was Silver Line oriental melon. If you let it get too ripe (thinking it might be sweeter), then it's really gross. They keep popping up here and there from seeds the birds and animals dropped (threw most in the compost pile last fall).
its called Hmong cucumber Calalily those yellow mangos are called Champagne mangos yuck taste like there over ripe no matter when you pick paul
Thanks Paul.
Question for DesertJake..... and this may be a real dumb question, but in the picture the end is sliced off and nothing in the middle and I have to ask, did you taste the middle? I understand that the cucumber is the origin of the expression "the bitter end" and I actually read a great essay once which I no longer have around, about why that is so, by a vegetable grower who loved to write about those kinds of details....... that the ends of the fruit do tend to be bitter but the body of the fruit is often not so bitter at all.......
??
Kyla
Are you watering like crazy? Cukes get better from more water. It's the opposite of cantaloupe and watermelon where you want to withhold water the week before you pick..
And agree 100% with Kyla. The end of the cucumber is extremely bitter on any cuke variety. If the middle is bitter, then I'd investigate watering.
Nope, only tried the end... didn't know there'd be much difference?
Watering shouldn't be an issue I don't think, since they've received generous daily watering.
Desert Jake you might want to try growing any of the Japanese cucumbers. They are long, sweet and pickle well. They only time they don't taste great is when it starts to get cold in the fall. Them don't have a lot of seeds. Really excellent cukes! Good luck.
Oh, Jake there is a huge difference. Try the middle! Let us know! Seriously. It has to do with the way the process of setting fruit makes use of available sugar, or something like that..........
The stem is usually the most bitter. I always cut off both ends from any cucumber. I don't know this variety, but if it is anything other than an English cucumber which tends to have ridges, you'll note little bumps all over where the prickles grow, just like cactus. The smoother these bumps are, the older the cucumber is. If you let the fruit grow till the bumps are gone, you have picked it much too late. Same is true if you are buying in the market: the bigger the bumps, the fresher the cuke. The smoother the skin, the bigger the seeds, etc.
P.S. On Thursday we had 2 inches of rain. My cucumbers are drinking it in.
Ditto on tasting more than just the ends of the cuke, especially stay away from the stem end.
And also take into consideration the temperature factor, which increases cucurbitacin in the fruit, which means more bitterness.
Lastly, some varieties are known to contain more cucurbitacin than others. I hope you will dig into the fleshy part and see what it tastes like there, jake. I bet you'll find a big difference!
Shoe (who's been having cucumber sandwiches lately every day!)
I love cucumber sandwiches and can't wait. Probably won't get one until late July here.
Jake - I ususally have the best luck here in the desert in the summer with the Armenian cukes. We've been picking them like crazy and they are delicious - no bitterness... First time I grew them I was a little skeptical 'cuz they don't look like your typical cuke, but boy are they good!
Kelly
No wonder my Armenian didn't do well here on the cool Ore. coast. I get great cucs, but that one just pouted for me.
Hmmm, maybe I'll have to try some Armenian cukes. I had 4-5 cukes growing, but I went on vacation for a week. They were on automatic watering, but I came back and they've disappeared! No sign of them ever being on the vine. I'm not sure what could have happened to them inside our pool fence, unless the cats have developed a taste for cucumbers. :-)
Them derned felines!
Maybe some really big ants carried them off?!?!
Seriously, though, the Armenian cucumbers handle the heat much better than regular cukes. Mine are under a 40% Aluminet shade cloth, well most of them are. Several of the vines have found their way out into the full sun and they are still thriving.
beebonnet - I can't seem to grow any cukes other than the Armenian to save my life... I have trouble getting them to germinate in the ground and haven't had too much luck with transplanting the ones I've started inside. Oh, well... One of these days I'll get it figured out. My thumb is pretty green except when it comes to cukes - lol.
Kelly
So far I can't grow regular cukes either, only Armenians. The regular ones sprouted and crawled up the string I provided, flowered profusely but never set on one single cuke. I came back from California to find mine dead as well. Gonna try again for the fall season. Armenians are good but they are not Straight 8's. They aren't even cukes, they are melons.
Thanks for the tip on the Armenians--I'll have to give them a try too! I planted cukes twice this spring, and not a single one even sprouted. Guess it just wasn't meant to be this year, but I'll try again next year with something new!
Nearly all my cucumbers this year are bitter, despite regular rains. I threw one out as inedible, then fortunately, discovered by accident what Kyla and Feldon, and Cathy and Shoe, said above: that they aren't bitter all the way through. When I cut off the stem end (sometimes as much as nearly half the cucumber), the other end is sweet and good.
Tina
Good to know!
Has anyone tried Boothsby's Blond cuc? It's an OP heirloom originally from Maine. I just Love it. It's sweet and crunchy and also makes wonderful pickles. It's blond or creamy colored. My vines are looking great and can't wait for the first one. At least we'll have something. The beans are doing poorly. I am going to replant some today.
I planted the Boothby's Blonde last year and was very happy with it. I liked the small size and it produced fairly quickly too. I have planted it again this season and still waiting... I can't wait to try an Armenian type next year.
I tried armenian once and it was a complete flop for me. Only got 1 cuke all season and I can't say it was that great tasting. I just think it's very fussy about climate, soil, etc.
That is very weird about the sweet and bitter areas, girl. Maybe they will get better later on in the season.
I find the Boothsby's to be great picklers, too.
