A reader writes in with a question about bitter cucumbers:
why are the cucumbers i grow here in so. alabama bitter?
what will make them sweet?
thank you for your time.
Some cucumber types are naturally more bitter than others, but bitterness in general is often due to a few common factors.
Cucumber plants under high amounts of stress often make for bitter cucumbers.
And what causes plant stress? It could be poor soil quality, extreme temperatures, or not enough moisture. Uneven watering — going from too wet to too dry, can also be a culprit.
If you have poor quality soil that isn’t suited well to cucumbers, try raised bed gardening, or lasagna gardening, so that you can make your own soil.
Organic Gardening magazine has a great article about cucumbers that mentions some specific varieties that are usually less bitter, because they container fewer cucurbitacin compounds.
Photo courtesy of Creative Commons Attribution Alexa627 on Flickr.
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
hi there,
here in india, before using cucumbers in salads, we cut a piece about one inch from the end of the cucumber and rub the cut side to the cucumber till we get a white soapy foam from the cucumber. then we repeat the process on the other side. we can then discard the cut pieces and use the remaining cucumber. this reduces the bitterness of the cucumber. hope this helps.
lars Reply:
March 19th, 2010 at 2:32 pm
@annie,
Thanks for the terrific tip! I was not aware of that method.