Bitter cucumber advice please.

Oh what have i done wrong...........

Been growing Telegraph cucumbers in the greenhouse plants look heathy, plenty of fruit growing and have been pinching out male flowers, cut our first cucumber off plant today and... its bitter. The cucumber was about 8" but hadn't swelled as much as i thought it might. I have been watering them well and feeding with tomato food.

Any advice on what i have done wrong would be much appreciated, and do you think all other fruit from plants will be the same?

I was so proud of the first ever cucumber i'd grown and now i could cry.

I don't think there is too much that you can do but hope and try a diff variety next year.

Bitterness in cuc is mostly genetic - newer varieties are unlikely to have much or any - influenced by environmental factors, how and when and soforth is not fully understood, but once happens can't really be corrected by cultural practices.

Distribution of the bitterness causing chemical in the plants is uneven, so you might well get some better tasting ones, usually concentrated the stalk end and skin in the fruit, so cut and peel.

With old varieties, we used to let them stand in salt for a while once chopped and then wash and use, when I was a kid, they were so bitter, this removes the bitterness.

i've grown burpless tasty green this year in greenhouse, you don't have to worry about pinching out male flowes and all six cucumbers i have picked so far have been lovely, touch wood the rest will be the same

Hope you don't mind me jumping in on this post, but how do you know what varieties are female only, and how do you know what flowers are male.  I've got 2 plants going at the moment with lots of cucs starting to come through and I'm getting worried now.

Thanks gobs, will go and have a gander.

Bless you DD, I have got male flowers then.  I'll pull them of tomorrow morning.