cucumber dummy

12 years ago

so i have been a container veggie gardener for a while but never tried cucumbers until this year. we planted a Japaneses type a pickler and lemon. the first ones were good, but in the last two months the Japanese and the pickler have all turned out to be super bitter. im not sure if this is something ive done or not. our summers are hot, it gets above 120, we water sometimes 3 times a day with a dipper system. i was wondering is it has anything to do with water or the heat. im disparaging the space that could have been used for something else at the moment.

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Comments (4)

nc_crn
12 years ago
It could be the type of cuke you're growing, but a lot of people report bitterness when the heat/dryness gets high and consistent.

Though it's technically not a cuke, you might want to check out "Armenian cucumbers." They grow/taste similar to cukes, but they are extremely heat tolerant...plus they can grow long lengths before getting into the inedible stage. They do tend to curl a bit once they get really long, though.
jean001a
12 years ago
Ran short of water.
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another_buffalo
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It was an incredibly hot, dry summer. The first cucumbers I planted this year in raised beds did not last long. The raised beds just dried out really fast and I have to haul water to the garden. At the recommendation of a friend, I planted more in self watering containers with a twist. I just poked extra holes in the bottom and lower sides of the containers. Then I built a 'mote' with 1by6 that was 8 foot long and two foot wide. Then lined the inside with plastic. A bambo trells over the top with strings tied for them to climb up finised the setup.

The results were incredible. In four totes I managed to have all the cucs I could eat and put up 22 quarts of pickles. The steady source of water just kept the plants growing. Unfortunately the chickens figured out how to jump into the containers and eat the lowest fruits - but I had more than needed and they help with the bugs.

I also let the 'mote' go completely dry every couple of days just to kill off misquitos. I enjoyed the cute frogs living in the cucumber forest so much, I quickly planted cucumbers in the new greenhouse. I'm having to hand pollinate and only managed to find one late frog to bring inside - but I'll soon have cucumbers big enough to eat again. And I made a mimi-mote for under a 5 gallon bucket in the greenhouse.

There was no problem with bitterness and I was even putting the cucs in omlets.
catherinet
12 years ago
I had problems with my cucs being super bitter at the stem end this year. Just be sure to taste from the middle too, since they may not be bitter through the whole cuc.
I started just cutting off about 1" from the stem end, and they were fine.
We had almost a drought, but I watered them about every other day. But they truly know the difference between rain water and ground water. They are the most happy with rain water.

cucumber dummy

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nc_crn

jean001a

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