Plant Care: How to Avoid Bitter Cucumbers

Why is a gardener who has grown cucumbers successfully for many years suddenly faced with bitter fruit? The answer is not easy but here are a few possibilities. Wild cucumbers contain a number of compounds in them which make them extremely bitter. These materials are called cucurbitacins which occur in the leaves, stems and roots in varying amounts. These materials may or may not occur in the fruit. If they do, they are more likely concentrated at the stem end of the fruit than at the blossom end. If bitterness is present in a cucumber, it is found in the skin or directly beneath the skin, and not deep in the fleshy portion around the seeds.

The amount of bitterness that develops in a particular variety of cucumber may vary from year to year even though grown in the same location. Temperature appears to be one factor that can influence its development. Generally, conditions that allow slow development of the fruits may lead to bitterness. We are not normally exposed to cool weather - during cucumber development, but if cool weather develops during fruit enlargement bitterness may arise. Drought conditions during fruit development with inadequate or no irrigation can also lead to bitterness.

Low fertility or damage by insects or disease may also result in bitterness in some varieties. There is no way to determine whether or not a variety will develop bitterness under fluctuating conditions. Yet, some varieties seem to have a greater tendency than others. If bitterness has been a problem in the past, consider using some of the newer long cucumbers, sometimes called "burpless cucumbers." Such varieties as Sweet Slice and Sweet Success seem to have much less tendency to this problem than old standards such as Straight 8.

If bitterness has been a persistent problem in your garden, and a change of variety does not do the job, consider a change in location or of cultural practices. Cucumbers like warm temperatures and plenty of sunlight. They should receive no less than six hours of full sunlight each day and preferably more. Cucumbers also need plenty of moisture or the misshapen fruit, called nubbins, which are often associated with dry conditions will be bitter. Uniform moisture is important, not only, for good production, but for good form and lack of bitterness.

Thorough watering may be needed every two to three days during extremely hot and dry periods to keep the plants growing well and have fruit development normal. After cucumbers begin to flower and set fruit a side dressing of a garden fertilizer around the hills is also beneficial to keeping plants growing and producing actively. The control of cucumber beetles is also important to prevent introduction of bacterial wilt, a disease that causes not only poorly developed fruit but collapse and death of the vines by midsummer. These small beetles, yellow with black spots, can be quite destructive even though not very obvious. Good garden insecticides can help control them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cucumber