The Real Reason Your Home-Grown Cucumbers Taste So Bitter
Cucumbers are easy to grow, so they're a popular choice in the summer and a fresh and hydrating addition to salads. They make a great tzatziki too. Beginner gardeners can run into some trouble, though, because cucumbers have a tendency to turn bitter, which would ruin a perfectly good side salad! Anyone can make mistakes when planting cucumbers – if yours are inedible, or this is something you're worried about, you'll want to know the real reason your home-grown cucumbers taste so bitter. It all comes down to how much environmental stress the plant is exposed to while it's growing.
A chemical compound called cucurbitacin is produced by cucumbers and other members of this family of veggies — like courgettes, pumpkin, and melon — as a bitter-tasting deterrent to ward away pests. It's usually found in the leaves and stems, but it can also move into the fruit, especially if the plant is growing in very stressful conditions.
Plant stress can come from a number of different sources, but the problem is that there's no way of telling whether your cucumbers are going to turn out bitter while they're growing. You'll only know when your guests start pulling a funny face. It can feel like a bit of a guessing game or down to luck, but this isn't necessarily the case. The key to reducing the chance of your cucumbers tasting bitter is prevention. Let's look at some of the various conditions that could be stressing out your growing vegetables.
How to avoid growing bitter cucumbers at home
Providing a healthy and stress-free growing environment for your cucumbers to avoid them tasting bitter comes down to preventing the effects of weather stress and poor growing conditions. Under or overwatering should be avoided, extreme temperatures are a definite no-no, and the plant needs to have enough access to nutrients and sunlight.
Remember also that cucumbers love humidity, so you should make sure the soil is kept moist. Do this by watering the soil often. Use a small amount of water each time to prevent the soil from drying out completely and avoid it from becoming waterlogged. If you're worried about over- or under-watering, an easy and effective solution involves installing drip irrigation for a steady supply of water or mulch to help the soil retain moisture and prevent weeds. Ensure that enough air can circulate to aid the evaporation of excess water too.
Fluctuating temperatures are also a problem. If you're growing your cucumbers in a greenhouse, keep in mind that it can be very hot! Keeping temperatures between 65 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal. When planting your cucumbers outside in hot climates, be mindful of how much direct sunlight they are getting in that spot. It might be better to plant them in a more shaded area. Alternatively, in cooler climates, it can be advantageous to plant your cucumbers where they can get full sun for longer periods. The best time to plant cucumbers is in early spring.
What to do with bitter cucumbers
If you have found that your crop of cucumbers tastes bitter, don't be too disappointed. There are a few nifty hacks to help make them more edible, so they don't necessarily have to go to waste. Bitter cucumbers are unlikely to cause food poisoning unless they're extremely bitter, in which case it's doubtful you'd want to eat them anyway.
Firstly, you can peel the skin off the fruit before consuming the cucumber, as this is where the most concentrated levels of cucurbitacin gather. The same goes for cutting off the ends, as this is where the chemical begins to enter the fruit from the stem. There is an old wives' tale that says rubbing together the ends of the cucumber can encourage the bitter-tasting element to rise up into the skin. You could also try the fork furrow method — after peeling the skin and chopping off the ends, simply run the tip of a fork up and down the length a few times to create "furrows." It's meant to release the bitter chemicals, which you can then rinse off before slicing and adding to your salad.
Another easy way of counteracting any bitterness is to add salt — find out how adding epsom salt whilst growing can help your cucumbers to thrive. Alternatively, make a cucumber pickle! However, Agronomist Ian Beger says, "To avoid this problem entirely, plant bitter-free cucumber cultivars such as 'Sweet Slice' and 'Sweet Success'" (via Martha Stewart).