prickly cucumbers??

robnye

Travelqueen wrote: »

I have no cucumbers yet, even though I'm feeding them with tomato food, whats wrong?

how often are you feeding them.....?

i do mine every 7/10 days

parsonswife8

We've got one plant growing in a mini greenhouse, with the shelves taken out.

The plant shoots have fastened around the poles which normally hold the shelves.

There is one cucumber that is about 8 inches long, which I will pick soon and about 6 smaller ones.

It's the first time we have ever grown cucumbers and we are well pleased with the plant.

robnye

its taken a while, but ive got a 2nd cucumber..... all the others seem to whither away - i presume cos they didnt get fertilised/polonated.....

will have to pick it soon...... yum yum, if the last one was anything to go by

rosie383

Can I just bump this thread? Our cucumbers are very prickly also, they are literally like cacti!!!!!
No problem with that, I just peel them. My problem is that they are incredibly bitter1 You seriously couldn't eat them at all. I have lots more baby ones growing, will I be able to do anything to rescue them? I read on a gardening site that stress causes bitterness, so just like humans then! I have been guilty of sporadic watering, concentrating more on some of my other plants. Is it too late to remedy this? My DD2 loves cucumbers so much so I would love to rescue them. I picked the first one at about 3" long as I couldn't wait.
And I have no idea of the variety as I was gifted them as seedlings from Freecycle.

Lotus-eater

I had this problem and was told to take off the skin, it worked for me. They also said something about cutting one end off and that may help.

ixwood

Not removing male flowers can make them bitter.

rosie383

How do i know which are male and which are female flowers? Is it the same as on courgettes? And if I remove the male flowers, how does it pollinate?
I have taken the skin off, and cut off the ends, but you still couldn't eat them, and I will try anything.

rosie383

Since it seems I have only bitter cucumbers this year, even if I am a good girl and water them regularly, can I pickle them?

chrisbur

rosie383 wrote: »

How do i know which are male and which are female flowers? Is it the same as on courgettes? And if I remove the male flowers, how does it pollinate?
I have taken the skin off, and cut off the ends, but you still couldn't eat them, and I will try anything.

The male flowers have a thin stalk behind the flower, the female flower has a tiny cucumber behind it. With cucumbers you do not want the flower pollinating this is what causes the bitterness, cucumbers will grow from unpollinated female flowers.

Lotus-eater

I've only ever grown outside cucumbers, I think greenhouse cucs are the ones that you have to remove the male flowers more on.
But it depends on the variety IIRC.