Cucumber: Slicing vs Pickling

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Lt.Dan

Lt.Dan

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Hixson, TN
Help a guy out here. I go to the grocery store and buy cucumbers. They slice up and taste great. People give me cucumbers they grow in their garden and they are awful. I'm guessing they are totally different types of cucumbers.

So is there a difference? And if so, what are the slicing kind? Where can I get the seeds? I am going to try a little garden this year and I love cucumbers.
 
I really like the burpless cucumbers. I have been planting one called Tendergreen. Also have grown Straight 8 which is a good tasting slicing cucumber. You can buy the seeds off eBay.
 
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Chapman said:
Not bitter if grown with adequate moisture. Don't let them stay on the vine too long and get over mature. If they start turning yellow toss them.
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yeah i know. just asking if his were. you cannget the bitter somewhat out by rubbing the ends and peeling them a little deeper as well:
 
WTM said:
yeah i know. just asking if his were. you cannget the bitter somewhat out by rubbing the ends and peeling them a little deeper as well:
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An old man showed me the rubbing the ends trick. I don't know if it works but maybe it does.
 
Chapman said:
I really like the burpless cucumbers. I have been planting one called Tendergreen. Also have grown Straight 8 which is a good tasting slicing cucumber. You can buy the seeds off eBay.
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Both of these are good varieties and don't need peeled, the skin isn't bitter and is thin. I love cucumbers quartered into a bowl of ice water and salted.
Armenian cucumbers are another good variety and they will get huge.
All cucumbers should be on a trellis. This will keep them straight and clean.
 
This is a cucumber trellis from a man's garden I met
Cucumbers.webp
. Pretty impressive. I grow mine on a section of mesh field wire. 4 or 5 plants is all I need. Try to grow a Spring and Fall crop.
 
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WTM said:
yeah i know. just asking if his were. you cannget the bitter somewhat out by rubbing the ends and peeling them a little deeper as well:
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They weren't turning yellow. And I did not grow them. These are ones that are given to me. They just do not taste good. The texture is all wrong compared to store bought cukes. That's why I was thinking there were different kinds.
 
Shag said:
No such thing as a good cucumber unless it's pickled. Raw cucumber tastes like eating a watermelon rind.

But to each their own. My wife and daughter love them. I can't even stand the smell of them.
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I make sandwiches with them 😋
 
I did Boston pickling and straight 8s last year on a trellis (best way to grow cukes off the ground). Had way to many, this year I think I will do Boston pickling only about 4-5plants, we liked them for slicing and great for pickling.
 
Lt.Dan said:
They weren't turning yellow. And I did not grow them. These are ones that are given to me. They just do not taste good. The texture is all wrong compared to store bought cukes. That's why I was thinking there were different kinds.
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yeah not enough deep watering and hot weather will turn them bitter and soft and spongy instead of crisp texture. burpless arent as bad sometimes but ive grown those as well and in extreme drought they are terrible too.

and fyi, if you get one cuke to start turning yellow you might as well pull the plant because it wont produce any more fruits.
 
We've grow straight 8 and boston pickler...keep even moisture and pick them young...no issues with bitterness.

I'm wanting to try and grow english cucumbers....wife buys them in the winter months and they have a thin skin and a great fresh flavor.
 
Lt.Dan said:
Help a guy out here. I go to the grocery store and buy cucumbers. They slice up and taste great. People give me cucumbers they grow in their garden and they are awful. I'm guessing they are totally different types of cucumbers.

So is there a difference? And if so, what are the slicing kind? Where can I get the seeds? I am going to try a little garden this year and I love cucumbers.
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Keep your cucumbers picked, they come fast but if your vine gets loaded with mature cucumbers it will dramatically reduce production. Keeping them picked will keep the vine producing blooms into the summer.
Squash are like this but much worse.
 
Lt.Dan said:
They weren't turning yellow. And I did not grow them. These are ones that are given to me. They just do not taste good. The texture is all wrong compared to store bought cukes. That's why I was thinking there were different kinds.
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Cucumbers seem to pick up flavor from the soil...like some tomatoes, some onions.

A lot of seed packets will say something like Slicer or delicious sliced.

Store bought are, generally, grown in very controlled environments.
 

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