Bitter Cucumbers? Big Disappointment

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Jun 17, 2010 - GrowOrganic

I am one of those people who will not purchase out of season vegetables and fruits. Did you know that our food (if not grown locally) travels an average of 1500 miles, before reaching our tables? So my first cucumbers of the season are often from my own garden. After you’ve sown the seeds and nurtured the seedlings, dug in the cover crop, amended the soil with its annual meal of compost and nutritional goodies, watered, protected from bugs & disease and weeded…........ It is truly a special moment when you finally begin to harvest your cucumbers.

The first cucumbers are usually very tasty, but sometimes, a month or so into cuke season, you’ll begin to harvest some that have a slightly bitter to mouth-puckering taste. What’s really frustrating is you don’t know which ones will be bitter. You can’t safely offer your neighbors a bag without fear of embarrassment.

How does that happen, and more importantly, what can you do about it? If you follow these tips to minimize a cucumber’s greatest enemy—stress—you’ll prevent bitterness, and pests and diseases while you’re at it.

Stress in a plant is most often caused by insufficient and uneven moisture, but temperature extremes and poor nutrition can also play a part.

To Avoid Cucumber Stress:

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