Howdy all you lot,and compliments of the season to each and every one of you.Now,down to the nitty gritty! When wife and I returned home after a short lapse,I find that my apple cucumber has given birth to about half a dozen beautiful fruit.After showing the wife we decided to try one for lunch.Not bad,maybe a little bitter,which begs the question…when do you pick? after they fall off the vine? by colour? As usual,any advice would be appreciated.Regards………………AL.

al said:

Howdy all you lot,and compliments of the season to each and every one of you.Now,down to the nitty gritty! When wife and I returned home after a short lapse,I find that my apple cucumber has given birth to about half a dozen beautiful fruit.After showing the wife we decided to try one for lunch.Not bad,maybe a little bitter,which begs the question…when do you pick? after they fall off the vine? by colour? As usual,any advice would be appreciated.Regards………………AL.

not sure al will have to wait till someone has more information about it.

we never really had any method to when to harvest… we just grabbed the biggest when we needed one.

Lucky grows them for the Elf so when she is on again she might be able to advise, but my first thought would be to make sure they have a regular watering regime to grow them quickly. If you went away then maybe they got a bit dry?

………dont think so BG.I have grown them in a tyre,plenty of water and pea straw mulch.was only away for three days…..Al

when do you pick? after they fall off the vine? by colour?

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I wouldn’t wait till they fall off the vine. Like PM said just grab the biggest when you need one.
From memory I think they start off quite a pale green and then as they mature, become a creamy white colour.
They are delicious aren’t they, one of my favorites.

Thank you all for your replies.They are great sliced with tomatoes and onions in vinegar.As Muschee says,they are a creamy colour at rhe moment,might give them another day.Once again,thanks for your advice……….Al

Over many years .. I have disovered that the bitter principle is governed by the availabilty of water uptake.

Plants; cucumber, radish are easy examples.. will be more bitter if they have to suffer for water at any stage.

Add to that .. available soluble nutrients.

If the above are somewhat accurate to the plants particular needs then one should harvest the ripe succulent juicy fruits. Either pick off the too far gone fruits or leave them for seed. Depending whether one wants seed or fruit. One can only use so much seed.. but one loves to wallow in fresh fruit.