What can I do so that my cucumbers are not bitter when I harvest them?

Question

8 out of ten cucumber are bitter. Is this my soil or variety of cukes?

Answer 1

I've been gardening since I was a kid in high school. To grow good cucumbers you have to be sure they get adequate moisture. The bitterness occurs when they are not growing steadily with the ideal conditions they need. Watering too much on the plants themselves, however, usually leads to mildew on the leaves. It is best to grow them on trelisses or a fence so that you have the leaves, blooms, and fruits away from the ground so that the watering will not get on the leaves (of couse rain will wet the leaves, but it's best to try to limit the amount of water that gets on them, so don't spray water from a hose over the area you have cucumbers growing in). I have the same problem growing squash (mildew), so I water by just letting the water run from the hose placed near their roots. Also, mulch over the roots with grass clippings, so the soil doesn't dry out too much after watering. Apply compost periodically during the growth of the plants, especially during the production phase.
(Hey, have y'all noticed there is no spell-checker anymore on here?)

Answer 2

My mother (who would have been over 80 years old now if she were alive), use to cut off 1/2 to 1 inch at the OPPOSITE end (NOT the stem end & not far enough down to be into the seeds) & she would gently squeeze the cucumber as she rubbed that cut piece around the cut area, both pieces flush again each other until a white foamy substance would form around the diameter of the whole part of the cucumber (not the little cut end piece). I do this every time I use a cucumber & probably 99% of the time I never have a problem with bitterness. It's funny how things your taught as a child remain a mainstay all thru your life!

Answer 3

Cucumber have a bitter taste will be natural,it depends on the way you prepared it so that it won't taste so bitter.Cut both ends of the cucumber and use the part that being cut to rub in circular till some white substances being produced,then the cucumber will not be so bitter......

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
What can I do so that my cucumbers are not bitter when I harvest them?
8 out of ten cucumber are bitter. Is this my soil or variety of cukes?

Answer 5

Some varieties of cucumbers will turn bitter when they take too long to grow for lack of mositure. To avoid bitterness, plant burpless cucumbers. They are never bitter.

Answer 6

On a lot of variety of cucumbers it's actually the skin that is bitter. Peel them so there is no green left and wash them good. Otherwise you can cut them and soak them in saltwater and that'll take the bitterness away also.

Answer 7

My dad harvests cucumbers and other vegetables and green. He has been doing this for years. The way we take the bitterness out of the cucumbers is when you go cut them out of the garden, where the cucumber is hooked to the plant (stem that hooks it to the plant). From there we slice a piece off with a knife and then take the piece that we sliced of and rub it from where we sliced it off (rub back and forth to produce a white foam and that helps to get the bitter out. Try it. It works. E mail me see what you think!

Answer 8

cucumbers bitter harvest

Answer 9

We've had vegetable garden since I was little.
Cucumbers are very demanding on water. You need to water them every day, or twice a day if it's really hot.
When they lack water they become bitter.

Answer 10

If it hot or dry out you must mist them lightly, otherwise they will not be pollenated and thus be less sweet. Otherwise it was probably too cold for your cucumbers. This site has information about the causes and prevention of cucumber bitterness.
http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/eb1250/eb1250.html