Beginner Gardening: Bitter Cukes For Pickles?, 1 by Lyndsay3228

Lyndsay3228 wrote:
Thanks for your input all, very much appreciated. I let a few more of this variety get a bit larger and they weren't bitter - at all. I'm hoping maybe I was a bit premature with the picking prior. Still to my dismay - my cuke plants seem to be very slow growing compared to my mothers. I purchased a soil from a local supplier and it was the highest quality, I myself thought the soil looked terrible ( I have a friend who is a hortoculturigist and he said it was great soil) I am finding that after rainfall and water the soil became very compact...I see some amending in my near future. If I want it to be more "fluffy" what might one add to the soil? I believe that just maybe the roots are struggling with the soil not being loose enough. I'm no professional, but I sure spend any time I can everyday in my garden so with my tomatoes doing great and cucumbers nowhere near where they should be it frustrates me.I truly believed it was the cool nights, but my mother lives 15 minutes away and has no issues. Maybe, perhaps, it's just the variety I ordered online (not happy with this climate)

picture below of my tomatoes which are very happy..I will take a picture of my cucumbers later and compare growth from 1 month ago for you (you can judge if its normal growth)