What to do so that cucumbers are not bitter

Cucumber is the most common vegetable in the world. They are grown all year round and everywhere: in hotbeds and small-sized film shelters, in winter and spring greenhouses, in open ground. It often happens that even the most beautiful bitter cucumber is inside. Let's take a closer look at the reasons for the appearance of bitterness, what to do so that bitter cucumbers do not grow and what to do with them.

Causes of bitterness in cucumbers

Bitterness in vegetables gives substance cucurbitacin, consider what it is. This substance is located in the skin of the vegetable, mainly in the stem. It is able to produce vegetables of the pumpkin family.

When figuring out why cucumbers are bitter, you should know that root cause of bitterness - It is cucurbitacin, which is produced in vegetables under certain conditions:

• watering plants is carried out with cold water;
• a small amount of moisture in the soil, little watering;
• the cold weather lasted a long time;
• excess sunlight;
• clay soil;
• there is little nitrogen and potassium in the soil, not fertilized soil;
• too fresh horse manure was used for fertilizer;
• bitter taste is inherited;
• green cucumber varieties are considered the most bitter.

Based on this, we conclude that a vegetable that grows in conditions unfamiliar to it is under stress and as a means of protection produces cucurbitacin, which gives us the answer to the question why the cucumber is bitter.

How to prevent bitterness in cucumbers and save the crop

In order to learn how to remove the bitterness from cucumbers, you need to create a comfortable environment for growing vegetables and follow certain rules. Let's start with the fact that plants should be watered warm water only and it is advisable to water the bush under the root. If the weather conditions are quite dry and hot, then watering should be at least twice a day at a time of day when the sun is not scorching.

Cucumbers - gentle plants. Enough five hot and sunny days in a row to increase the amount of bitter fruit in the crop. During the sun the plants should be covered with a special agrofibre or spunbond.

If this is not possible, then it is recommended to plant the seedlings in shaded areas, for example, alternate a row of cucumbers with corn row. There are also such cases when cold weather lasts a long period. Then the beds are covered with foil, thus protecting them from the cold weather.

Be sure to pay attention to the soil on which the seedlings will be planted. Clay soil contributes to the production of cucurbitacin in vegetables.Therefore, it is necessary to enrich the soil with nitrogen-potassium fertilizers.

Such a popular fertilizer, like fresh horse manure, in this case is not suitable.

Can I remove or reduce the bitterness in cucumbers

If, after all, we got the harvest bitterly, there are several ways how to get rid of bitterness in cucumbers. The easiest way is dunk the harvest in waterafter cutting the edges on both sides of the vegetable. Soaking process should last 12 hoursif soaked in plain water. Another crop can be soaked in salted water. In this case, they do not need to be kept in salt water. 12 hours, 6 o'clock will be quite enough.

Kukurbititsin mainly concentrated in the peel of the vegetable and the attachment of the stem to the vegetable. There is another way to get rid of bitterness.

To do this, cut off the stem and rub it with a slice of pulp. In the process of rubbing, we see how a white foam is formed on the cut of the vegetable. In this foam is the cucurbitacin itself. Thus, we can reduce the level of this substance in vegetables.

What to do with bitter cucumbers

There are cases when it is not possible to get rid of bitterness. If the picked cucumbers are bitter, you need to know what to do to reduce bitterness. To do this, we cut the peel, as cucurbitacin is directly in it, and we can eat cucumbers in this form.

During heat treatment cucurbitacin disappears. Therefore, the bitter harvest can be safely used for pickling, pickling or preserving.

Hybrids of cucumbers without bitterness

In the process of long-term selection, agronomists tried to bring out hybrid varieties in which the cucurbitacin substance accumulates in a minimum amount. When buying seeds for seedlings you need to pay attention to the packaging, since such varieties are marked with a special marking. Usually the manufacturer indicates the quality and characteristics of the grown products.

But you need to pay attention to the fact that hybrid varieties do not give a quality crop or do not give a crop at all.

The above recommendations will help you decide on what varieties of cucumbers are not bitter, and what to do if cucumbers are bitter. Thanks to these tips you can grow a large crop of vegetables with good taste.