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 causes 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 in the vegetable skin, mainly in the stem. It is able to produce pumpkin family vegetables.
Did you know? Cucurbitacin is a substance that causes bitterness in vegetables, it is health benefits and absolutely no harm. It improves the functioning of the liver and pancreas, and also helps to fight against malignant tumors. Cucumbers with such specific taste are specially grown in some countries for medicinal purposes.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, watered a little;
- the cold weather lasted a long time;
- excess sunlight;
- clay soil;
- the soil contains little nitrogen and potassium, not fertilized soil;
- too fresh horse manure was used for fertilizer;
- bitter taste is inherited;
- It is believed that green cucumber varieties are the most bitter.
Did you know? Thanks to research scientists found that the degree of bitterness is directly proportional to the amount of sunlight and weather conditions in general. This is explained by the fact that the homeland of cucumbers is the Asian continent, the tropical forests of India. There, this vegetable grows in the shade of trees and is not exposed to direct sunlight, in humid conditions, without sudden changes in temperature.Proceeding from 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 only warm water and it is advisable to water the bush under the root. If the weather conditions are sufficiently dry and hot, then watering should be at least twice a day at a time of day when the sun is not scorching.
Good "neighbors" for cucumbers are: broccoli, Peking cabbage, beans, dill, celery, radishes, asparagus, spinach, lettuce, onions and beets.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 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.
To fertilize the soil for your plants, try using: potash fertilizers, wood ash, peat, mineral fertilizers, superphosphate, potassium humate, as well as organic fertilizers.Such a popular fertilizer, like fresh horse manure, in this case is not suitable.
Important! Experienced agronomists suggest using seeds for planting only from the first third of the fruit. Because the seeds that are closer to the cucumber stalk give bitter offspring.
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 harvest 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 located directly in it, and we can eat cucumbers in this form.
During heat treatment cucurbitacin disappears. Consequently, the bitter harvest can be safely used for pickling, salting or preservation.
Hybrids of cucumbers without bitterness
In the process of long-term selection, the agronomists tried to bring out hybrid varieties in which the cucurbitacin substance accumulates in a minimum amount. 
When buying seeds for seedlings need to pay attention to the packaging, as 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.
Important! There are several hybrid varieties of cucumbers without bitterness. Such varieties include Garland, Round Dance, Hotel, Doc, Picnic, Herman, Red Mullet, Courage, Bendendy and some others. In such species, there is a gene that makes it difficult to accumulate cucurbitacin, even if the vegetable grows in adverse conditions.The above recommendations will help you determine 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.
