Cucumber varieties?

Hello all.
I'm looking for some advice about cucumbers. Last year I planted some plants I bought at Lowe's. I paid no attention to the variety. They grew fine, but tasted awful! Bitter. Maybe they were a variety good for pickling?
I want sweet cucumbers that would be good in salad or just to eat. So can anyone tell me which variety will live up to my expectations? Thanks in advance!

You may have picked them too late. They should be picked young to have the best flavor.
I like the Northern Pickling even for salads. I'm sure others can chime in with their favorites.

These are Diament Pickling and they were tasty as well.

Remember, pick them small and pick them often to keep the plant producing and the flavor best.

Why don't you try growing some of the "Armenian" type cucumbers? They're more like the "English" cucumbers you find in the grocery store and also mention being 'burpless'. Also, there are other types which appear to be crosses of the Armenians, like Sweet Success, Sweetest Yet. Or, go for the unusual: White Wonder, Lemon cucumber (yellow and round like a lemon, but all cucumber) or, my favorite, Green Apple cucumber. Let us know what you find.

Last year I grew Dragon's Egg cukes and Lemon cukes...both were lovely.

I have 5 different kinds on the agenda this year.

missmarie wrote:Hello all.
I'm looking for some advice about cucumbers. Last year I planted some plants I bought at Lowe's. I paid no attention to the variety. They grew fine, but tasted awful! Bitter. Maybe they were a variety good for pickling?
I want sweet cucumbers that would be good in salad or just to eat. So can anyone tell me which variety will live up to my expectations? Thanks in advance!

Lowe's stock is typically "Burpless" variety, which is typically a slicing cuke (aka salad cuke). Some other slicers are Sweet Slice Burpless, Salad Bush, Straight 8, Burpee Hybrid, Sweet Success, Poinsett, Indio, and Dasher II

You can pickle with the slicers, but most folks prefer one of the more traditional pickling varieties like Pioneer, National Pickling, Saladin, Bush Pickling, County Fair Hybrid, Liberty Hybrid, Ballerina, Boston Pickling, and Eureka Hybrid.

Coventional wisdom is that the thinner skin of the pickling types and the smaller size/lower number of seeds makes them better canidates for pickling.

Personally I get the same results from the slicers, just by not letting them get too big on the plant before harvesting (seed count, seed size and bitterness are a function of age/size on most of the slicers). However, I generally spear my cukes for pickling (vs doing whole pickles), and I only do cold pack/hot pack dills, kosher dills and garlic dills ...... there may be a huge difference in varieties for brine cured, sweet pickles, etc.

Also, my opinion is based on being a "pickling assistant" (to grandma) for a decade, then a 10 year vacation, then just getting back into it last season on my own..... so I'm not speaking from a whole lot of relevant experience on making pickles

My favorite right now are Poona Kheera cucumbers. I've read over and over that they don't get bitter, but I must admit that I think the skin is bitter and I peel them. Other than the skin, they are nice and sweet and we're already in the 90s, so they can handle the heat!

I grow pickling cuks every year, with little success of them getting to the kitchen My kids pick them, wipe them off w/their shirts and eat them, right there in my garden.... the nerve! Well, anyway, I've had great luck with the little cuks in my SFG's, with the except of continued powdery mildew, just about every year. I still get cuks, but the plants slow down once the PM gets serious.

This year I'm going with County Fair from Park Seed. I've heard great things about them and they're supposed to be disease resistant to many of the "common" cuk diseases.

Best of luc choosing your variety! Lettuce (let us) know what you decide to go with and how things are going for you!


My cuks growing crazy up the trellis support last year!


Jenny

Jenny your cukes look great! I love the trellises too, by the way. Are the frames made of PVC ? I've been looking at different options for my new garden, but because of HOA, I have to also think about appearance along with practicality. Easy to execute would be nice too!

I'm not sure what cukes I'm growing I just grabed what they had at Lowes.
I did find this info on another web site.

"Like many vegetables, the more cucumbers you pick, the more you get.
Never let cukes get big and seedy or the plant will assume that its work is
done. Although there are varieties listed as pickling cukes and
others called slicers, either kind can be pickled or eaten fresh in
salads. Be sure the soil stays consistently moist or your cucumbers will
be tough and bitter."

Here is the link. Cucumbers

Like the marketmore 76 here for everyday eating and are nice for either dills or sliced pickles, they definitely are not baby gerkin candidates.

Gorgeous cucumber plants, Jennie. I just picked some transplants up from Lowes when I planted my cukes - as Acara points out, they usually have the Burpless variety. I apparently missed the "fine print" - that's happening more and more as I'm getting older - and accidentally picked up the pickling kind - Boston Pickling. I googled it and some say they're good for salads, too. I sure hope so. I'm not sure I have enough ambition to actually pickle them!

I like the Japanese Cucumber. They are long and skinny. I got my seeds from Botanical Interests.