Bitter cucumbers - grown outdoors - Hokus (variety)

[Forage420]

I've harvested the first cucumber this year only to find it is extremely bitter. Research suggests that this could be caused from :-

1)Extreme heat
2)Uneven watering
3)Temperature fluctuations
4)Heredity

Sadly the research also suggests that once a cucumber plant starts producing bitter cucumbers it won't stop, and there is not much one can do other than start again.

I should note this is extremely bitter and a very offensive taste, sad really as I had high hopes and had plans to pickle the cucumbers.


Does anyone have any tips or experience they can share?

[veggiechicken]

How big was it?
Its a gherkin, best picked at about 4", apparently.

[Forage420]

I picked it at about 4 inch as per the growing instructions but I did leave them to go fat. This one is about 2 inches or more in diameter.

I'll pick the next ones before they fatten up and see how they taste...

[Atta]

I pickle mine in brine and even if they bitter it goes away.

[MelanieSW]

I've heard that cross pollination between different outdoor varieties can also sometimes result in bitter cucumbers.
Are other varieties being grown nearby?

[Forage420]

I've heard that cross pollination between different outdoor varieties can also sometimes result in bitter cucumbers.
Are other varieties being grown nearby?

Not that I'm aware of. All of mine are the same variety.

Growing proximity is not something I properly understand... how close is too close ?

[Forage420]

I pickle mine in brine and even if they bitter it goes away.

I picked one or two at a fraction of the size of the others and the bitterness is not there.

I'd be hesitant about pickling the bitter ones as they seem to have a chemical in them which is poisonous in larger quantities.. ?

[Atta]

I picked one or two at a fraction of the size of the others and the bitterness is not there.

I'd be hesitant about pickling the bitter ones as they seem to have a chemical in them which is poisonous in larger quantities.. ?

I can imagine that you would have to eat a tone of poisonus cucumbers to get effect Altough I do not support myself with any scientific evidence.

[Forage420]

Hi, just an update, I seem to have had a reversal of fortune here. I picked a cucumber today with view to chopping it up for the compost heap, and doing the same for the rest.
I stopped short of cutting more than one just to tempt fate and tasted it to find quite a mellow sweetness. I tried another cucumber from a different plant, and again the bitterness has gone, to my delight.
I'm not at all sure why this has happened but I suspect it may have something to do with the age of the plant, the canopy of leaves above the cucumbers covering them which they weren't before, or the amount of rainfall there has been recently. Perhaps a combination of many factors.
I certainly would not bother training these to climb as they are quite happy crawling along the soil, and there is a substantial nest of cucumbers now sitting under the canopy of leaves.
The only problem I have now is the bulbous size of them, but I'm glad they've turned out alright in the end.