Why are cucumbers bitter and what to do so that they do not taste bitter?

Despite the correct choice of cucumber variety, they can disappoint gardeners in the harvest season with their bitter taste. And this feature is observed not only at the tips, where the formation of bitterness is most likely, but also along the entire length and thickness of the fruit.

The bitter enzyme formed in the cucumber (and not in other plants of the pumpkin family) is inherent only in this genus of this family. It is formed at the earliest opportunity. The less moisture, nutrition, light the fruits receive, the more it is in each of them. Hybrids bred from wild varieties of cucumber species did not get rid of it completely: simple selection was not so effective. Perhaps this substance would disappear, for example, when any of the modern varieties of cucumber was crossed with a pumpkin. However, so far such experiments are carried out only in laboratories.

Genetic engineering will also serve as an assistant in the fight against cucumber bitterness - a method where not crossing, but transplanting certain genes is used.

Bitter cucumbers are the result of insufficient feeding, watering, lighting and proximity to other garden crops that are undesirable (hostile) to them. They do not get along with weeds - they are a haven for all kinds of pests, carriers of diseases, from which they themselves generally do not suffer in any way.

The soil itself does not have to be anything. The composition ideal for a cucumber is black soil with peat and humus.... If you plant cucumber plants in podzolic or clay-sandy soil, in which there is initially little humus, then even in conditions of regular watering and loosening, pickling of the territory from pathogens of all kinds of diseases and pests, seedlings will not appear.

Cucumber is a culture that will not grow on any soil: he will need an extremely fertile soil, perhaps a little oily to the touch, but rich in organic matter and minerals, from which any plant is built. Attempts to grow a cucumber in permafrost conditions (subsoil) will also give nothing: in the tundra, organic matter obtained from moss and lichen is preserved in this layer, which, most likely, will be inaccessible to plant roots.

In the north, the cultivation of any heat-loving crops is possible only exclusively in greenhouse and apartment conditions, or in a heated area where there is a bulk garden isolated from the local soil, or heated (for example, with a heating cable dug into the soil). Also, the soil should not be acidified.

Greenhouse conditions in relation to the soil allotted for the cultivation of cucumbers are not much different from open-ground conditions. All the same requirements for the temperature + 17 ... +32, the fertility of the land in which the seeds or seedlings are planted, the need for one or two seasonal feeding, spraying with folk remedies against pests.

A greenhouse saves you from excessive heat in the summer in the southern regions of Russia - its walls are made of matte material that scatters direct sunlight, for example, polycarbonate.If you live in the central or northern part of the country, then a greenhouse for your crops is vital to extend the growing season by artificial means.

Only a lazy person, who himself is not fully aware of what he expects from his plot and beds, on which cucumber plants are planted, will become to make conditions on the verge of unbearable for a given culture. The solution to the problem lies in this case in changing the microclimate, observing the optimal irrigation regime, organizing the schedule for adequate feeding and preventive measures against pests and diseases, as well as in the timely removal of weeds and loosening the soil around the plants up to 10 cm deep.

Cucumber "drinks" a lot of water - like any pumpkin crop. He is 90% of it. Watering and loosening the land around the plants is the first step. The water temperature should not be below +18. In the south of Russia, for example, water comes from wells with a temperature of about +16: the constancy of this temperature is ensured due to the significant deepening of the aquifer (16 ... 39 m, depending on the presence of hills, the dominant height at which the country house with a plot is located) ...

Overheating in hot weather should not be more than +30 in the shade: if this happens, a greenhouse will also be required, in the worst case, growing cucumbers on a plot half shaded by the crowns of fruit trees and berry bushes is also suitable. For example, vines on trellises will serve as a natural tent. The temperature of water and air, in other words, should be within the range of + 18 ... +30, providing such conditions in a greenhouse or greenhouse is much easier than in an open-air area.

Irrigation is associated with the timely irrigation of the garden part of the suburban area. The land should not be unnecessarily swampy. You should not open the water for several days, constantly flooding the area in the area where your crops grow. Most garden plants, including cucumber, although they welcome an abundance of moisture, imply that it must saturate the soil in this place in a limited time, reaching all the tips of the roots, and then flooding the plantings with water should be stopped immediately: the soil should be moist, but not flooded to the state of dusty mud. The rules for the cultivation of all crops state that the soil granule should be the size of a seed or a pea, and not be in a state of a finely dispersed medium, resembling soggy clay.

And the only prerequisite for this is the same respiration of the roots: air, in particular nitrogen and oxygen, must be supplied to the roots in moderate amounts, since the underground part of the plant is not engaged in photosynthesis (the production of free oxygen from carbon dioxide), because it is in total darkness. In soil in which water has completely displaced air, the plant has nothing to breathe with the roots, therefore, when the earth dries up, it is loosened so that oxygen and nitrogen pass to the roots freely - in the amount necessary for the life of the plant. Watering is carried out at least once a day - it should be abundant enough. So that the earth does not dry out - that is, a crust does not form, which contributes to the rapid evaporation of moisture - it is loosened every few days.

Top dressing of cucumber plants is carried out without waiting until the time for the main flowering of this culture has passed... Basically, the use of folk remedies is considered safe: manure or dung, ash, mulching (sprinkling with chopped grass and cucumber greens cut off during sanitary and forming cuttings), the use of yeast. Potassium, phosphate and nitrogen salts are used as additional mineral fertilizers. Lack of potassium and phosphorus threatens with insufficient growth of the main lash and lateral branches, a small number of formed ovaries; a similar function is performed by nitrogen and phosphorus introduced as compounds. Pure potassium and phosphorus are extremely reluctant to assimilate by plants.

Together with feeding, farmers and gardeners carry out prophylaxis against parasites and diseases. Iron and copper sulfate, iodine, potassium permanganate and boric acid are used as the simplest remedies. From natural remedies - watering plants with a weak solution of a decoction of onion husks, wormwood and other raw materials obtained from bitter plants. It is undesirable to use malofos and more dangerous pesticides, herbicides - their residues get into food and can cause cancer in people who constantly consume vegetables processed by them, and also lead to enlargement of the liver.

Overripe fruit - delayed harvest - also leads to the accumulation of a bitter enzyme in cucumbers. The introduction of a small amount of slaked lime reduces acidity: lime is alkaline, it easily reacts with acids, creating salts based on them, and a salty medium for cucumbers is safer than acidic. The above folk remedies will help protect cucumbers from aphids, bears, spider mites and ants. An active option is to plant around cucumber beds. drought-resistant siderates, as well as onions, garlic, radishes, dill, parsley and other crops with a bitter, spicy taste.

However, you cannot plant blackberries and pumpkins nearby. For example, pumpkin, despite the fact that the cucumber belongs to the pumpkin family, can cause stress in cucumber plants. The danger of a pumpkin lies in its ability to curl and sprout tens of meters, creating long lashes, at the first opportunity to start up a "mustache", clinging to the ground and immediately releasing adventitious roots. If you do not provide the pumpkin with formative pruning, it will "strangle" the cucumber shoots - it will break off the trellis under the weight of its thick stems and leaves. The blackberry is a similar danger: like a weed, it grows everywhere. If you do not cut the bushes, do not destroy the numerous "daughter" shoots, then blackberries, like raspberries, will capture all living space with their roots and shoots, and cucumber plants will die without having time to give a good harvest.

When purchasing seeds for sowing, it is recommended to choose those that have a mark on the genetic absence of bitterness. A cucumber sprouting from seeds obtained from bitter varieties cannot be completely eliminated from bitterness even if the above rules are followed. Such are, for example, the varieties Vyaznikovsky, Muromsky and Nezhinsky. On the contrary, the non-bitter ones include Athena, Grasshopper, Annushka. Not all varieties of hybrids produce viable seeds - some of them are initially non-viable. The varieties Zyatek, Egoza, Benefis, Masha, Chistye Prudy, Kadril are also initially devoid of bitterness. The varieties that have the F1 postscript are not initially capable of producing "offspring" - to avoid unnecessary spending, use "self-replicating" samples.

Having found your favorite strain without bitterness, capable of producing viable seeds, you will have the opportunity to receive seeds over and over again throughout your future life.... In greenhouse conditions, where a comfortable temperature is created even in winter, it is possible to get up to several harvests per year, constantly restarting the reproduction cycle of new plants.Growing in greenhouse conditions, where the climate, regardless of the weather around, is kept constant (warm), allows you to put the production of cucumbers on stream. After harvesting, do not rush to get rid of suspicious cucumbers. If a sample of their tips showed the presence of bitterness, or you did not like any of the fruits, preserve all these fruits. Take a couple of the best (large, ripe) fruits for seeds - subject the rest to heat treatment: under the influence of 100-degree temperature, the bitter enzyme will completely collapse.