Hey everyone growing cucumbers!!! Does anyone know if it is possible to "sweeten" up cukes? I find that mine have a bit of a bitter taste to them this year. Could this be a nutrient deficiency or some other technical issue?
Once the cukes are bitter they can't be sweetened. Sometimes peeling off some of the fruit along with the skin, especially near the stem end, will remove the bitterness tho. And if you are making pickles with them, the bitterness won't affect the taste of the pickles at all. The most common cause of bitter cukes is heat, with too little water, too little fertilizer and some sort of foliage disease being possible causes too. And it could be the variety of cuke you are growing, some have a higher probability of producing bitter fruit than others. Also, cukes harvested later in the growing season will more likely be bitter than those harvested earlier....larger cukes too. If the bitter cukes are on just one plant and it is making them inedible then pull that plant up cause the cukes from it won't get any better over time.
Hiyah Daisy. Toni may well be right about there not being anything that you can do about the taste of your cues now at this stage. Just a few comments: * The sweetness of your cues may be pre-determined by the type seed that you chose to plant, if you know what I mean. There are many different types of cucumbers that you can choose from. There are also cue types that are ment to be grown indoors (in a greenhouse-type situation) and cues that are ment to be grown outdoors. * It has been long established that cues are 'sweeter' when picked small/young--(±8 inches long). * The hole that you prepared to plant the cues in could also have an influence upon your fruit. They like a rich, free-draining and non-acidic pH. * They like frequent watering, for if they are too often too dry ther fruit flavour will be altered. I know that alot of this may not be of a great help to you now, but come next season, you should be prepared now with the advice that you get on here. One final thing--I would recommend a specific type that I have personal experience with: The Sweet-slice Burpless Cucumber. http://gurneys.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_14519 I have grown this cue in my greenhouse, as well as outside and had excellent harvests. I believe that the ones grown undercover did somewhat better than those grown out of doors, but they were both very tasty. This could just be my taste buds. If all else fails, why not water them with a liter of D5W every few days? chuckle
Thanks, you guys. It's not that the cucumbers are inedible... just not sweet. I paid no attention to the type that they are, but will next year. They got plenty of water, in well drained soil... However, they are in an area dominated by a large pine tree. I trimmed the tree so there is enough sun, but so much for non-acidic soil! I'll bet that had something to do with it. ha ha D5W.... but seriously, I wonder if it would make any differences?
--chuckle-- Well, I don't know, but when you think of the way inwhich plants take up minerals and other things in the soil that they need, it seems plausible that they could take up some of dextrose. It's far-fetched but if you had access to D5W, why not try usiong a few bottles for a laugh. If the taste of your cues are not what you want, it might be fun to try. When I was a younger, I had a friend that used to put a bottle on the soil at the base of his hennep plants and swore that it gave them a sweetish taste when he smoked it. Personally, I believe that that was impossible. Anyone knows that when sugar is intensely heated it caramelizes and eventually chars--and that is not very sweet to my buds. If you do try the D5W, I would like to know about it and the results of your investigation.
