My kids were eating lunch but they weren’t eating the cucumbers on their plate. “It’s bitter,” one said.
We were on the road and had bought two cucumbers at a farm stand. The first tasted great, but sure enough, the second was bitter — even in the middle, even after peeling it. “They’re growing the wrong variety,” I said.
Here are three cucumber varieties that I grew this summer that are never bitter and that I will be growing again. And I’ve also included one variety that is sometimes bitter but it’s good for pickling so it doesn’t matter.
Sweet Slice
Sweet Slice is the variety I would grow if I were a farmer selling at a stand because the cucumber looks like a regular cucumber but it never has a trace of bitterness and the plant is strong and highly productive.
The skin of Sweet Slice is thin but has a few small spines. The shape of the cuke is beefy.
Summer Dance
If the beefy shape of Sweet Slice can be compared to a bomb, then the slender shape of Summer Dance is like a torpedo. Summer Dance is longer and sleeker, and to exaggerate this the skin has subtle longitudinal stripes. The skin is also glossy and almost devoid of spines.
The skin of Summer Dance is also thin, and the taste is crisp and without ever a hint of bitterness.
The Summer Dance plant is very productive.
Summer Dance and Sweet Slice are two excellent, normal cucumbers for fresh eating that I will be growing again next year. They have shown no susceptibility to disease or heat in my yard. They have no powdery mildew, but then again my yard is hot and dry and I rarely get powdery mildew; I can’t say how they’ll do with powdery mildew near the beach.
Summer Dance and Sweet Slice also claim to be burpless although I’m not affected by cucumbers in that way so I can’t testify to this firsthand.
Striped Carosello Leccese
Onto two different types of cucumbers. Carosello (full name: Striped Carosello Leccese) is a cucumber-melon from Italy that I’ve grown for a few years now and am appreciating more each year. The plant grows strong and produces much fruit. The fruit grows so fast that I have a hard time keeping up with harvest: some are big as cantaloupe before I notice them.
The shape of the fruit is rounder than a traditional cucumber, and the skin in striped and covered in a short fuzz.
The taste of Carosello is wonderfully mild, without the sticky texture that regular cucumbers can have. And I sometimes think I taste a hint of lemon.
National Pickling
Finally, we have a pickling cucumber. You can eat National Pickling cucumbers fresh — they have a dense texture, a nice crunch, but the skin is prickly and can have a bit of bitterness.
That bitterness disappears if you pickle the cucumbers though. You get all the pickle taste and the crisp texture only.
The National Pickling plant has been very productive for me this summer, as it has been in past summers.
For fresh eating though, I will be growing the other three varieties again next year. I no longer take a chance on any cucumber variety that gets bitter, as the one from the farm stand was. With these varieties I grew, you can let them get huge and they still taste so clean that the kids stick their whole face inside!
Seeds
I grew these cucumbers from seed. I got my seeds of these varieties from: ‘Summer Dance’ – Territorial; ‘Sweet Slice’ – Territorial; ‘Striped Carosello Leccese’ – Cucumber Shop; ‘National Pickling’ – High Mowing.
Other cucumber posts:
“Growing cucumbers in Southern California”
“Growing ‘Green Finger’ cucumbers”
All of my Yard Posts are listed HERE
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We had very prolific crop of picklers this year — unfortunately 80% of them were not discovered until they were huge yellow footballs! We usually pickle and can, but this year just ate them as we found them since there were so few. Thank you for the recommendations and photos of your plants. We’ll try again next year, for sure! 😉
I bought many Cucumber Shop seeds and was super excited but I only got 1 or 2 cucumbers. I don’t know why (besides voles severing the main artery) I failed at growing cucumbers. In ground vs. in raised beds? I had a lot of blossoms but few produced. I have a ton of pollinators so did I distract them too much with borage and a sunflower field? I thought cukes were easier. I have plenty of seeds for next year but would love some advice. Thanks!
Hi Mariangela,
Bummer. I can relate. I grew about ten cucumber plants this year and two were total failures, and I don’t know why. They were varieties that had done well in previous years. I treated them like the other plants in every way (water, location, fertility). I found no signs of disease in their roots or stems. Weather? Maybe those varieties didn’t like something about the weather that the others did?
Were yours in the ground or in raised beds?
Both! The vole was present in both locations as well. But I’ve still got a couple newer cucumber plants in raised beds (different sun exposures) and there are tons of blossoms but no fruit developing. And I’ve got sunflowers galore with pollinators all day long. There were a lot of weird weather issues in Sonoma County this season and tomatoes were challenged as well by too cool of temps in morning and evening and scorching days. Not consistently warm 24/7. There’s always next year to improve!
How burpless are these? I grew the green fingers you talked about in 2020 but one 1/2 inch slice kept me burping for 6 hours.
Hi Jerry,
That sounds terrible! Sorry about that. Cucumbers don’t affect me or anyone in my family that way so I forget to consider that. I can only say that both Summer Dance and Sweet Slice claim to be burpless, but Carosello and National Pickling don’t make that claim.
I’ve purchased the cucumbers from Costco – little to no seeds – is it possible to grow these at home? I grew some old cucumber seeds this year and the seeds were too big for me. I would like to see comments about seeds with Greg’s cucumber reviews.
Hi Rick,
That’s why I included the photos of the cukes sliced open, hoping you could get a good look at the size of the seeds and cavity. The Summer Dance and Sweet Slice both have tiny seeds, almost imperceptible. Carosello’s seeds are also very small. National Pickling are a bit bigger.
The great thing about growing your own though is that you can pick the cukes when small and eat them when almost no cavity or seeds have developed. My kids like to pick them this way, when they’re only as big as your finger.
As for growing the seeds from a cucumber bought at Costco, I’m pretty sure they would grow. However, it’s possible the fruit would be a bit different from the mother since it may have been a hybrid. Most large commercial growers use hybrid seed. But the cucumbers produced might still be very good, even better than the mother. You never know.
I grew a cucumber plant for the first time this year, it was a Diva from my local garden store (Terra Sol in Santa Barbara). They are so sweet and delicious, and the skin is thin and edible – though like Jerry they make me burp a little. I slice the skin off. Yum!
Thanks, Christine. Diva sounds like a winner. I’m buying seed to try it next year.
Greg,
It is possible to start growing sweet potatoes vines right now in San Diego? Technically, there is no frost in San Diego so will it survive the winter here?
Hi Greg. Thankful to have discovered your site! I’m a newbie raised bed gardener ( only 1 bed, 11’x5’) in south OC. What about Persian cucumbers? They are my favorite although i will try Summer Dance next year. Now back to your Mokum post.