Bitter Armenian Cucumbers. Why?

Q. I planted the long Armenian cucumbers and they came out so big and beautiful BUT SO BITTER all through it. Why is that?

Armenian cucumber is more closely related to melons than cucumber. You can identify it from its ribbing all down its sides. Harvest them when they are 12 to 15 in long.

A. Armenian cucumber is USUALLY less of a problem growing them in the desert than actual cucumber varieties like Straight 8 and Marketmore. But cucumbers in general can get bitter with hot temperatures and when grown on the dry side.

This is a large bag of horse bedding available from farm supply stores. You can buy small amounts from any pet store.

            Try mulching the soil (apply a thin layer on top of the soil) with something like wood shavings (horse bedding comes to mind you can get from a farm supply store) or shredded newspaper to keep the soil cooler and more moist and water more often when it gets hot. The old fruit may still be bitter but new fruit should not if it works. 

Here on this raised bed onions were mulched with animal bedding to conserve water. Just a thin layer was applied, enough to shade the soil from the sun.

             With Armenian cucumber ,if you don’t keep the soil moist while its producing fruit, they can get bitter but it is more rare than a common cucumber.