My cucumbers do not turn green; they are yellow and bitter. This is the second year this has happened, the fruit is large, the plants have many flowers, and are producing, but this yellow cucumber is all we get.
Hardiness Zone: 8a
By jeanne from Warner Robins, GA
Cucumbers are not meant to get large. Allowing them to get too big makes them yellow and bitter. All cucumbers start out green from the time the blossom drops off the immature fruit. For the best flavor, you should pick them when they are 4 to 5 inches long and still green.
I've had yellow cucumbers, they were called "lemon cucumbers." They were round and anywhere from light to bright yellow. If you do a google search, you'll find information.
I agree that cucumbers are best when they're younger. They'll have fewer seeds that way, too. What variety are you planting? Look at your seed packet (or the tag, if you purchased plants). Are they getting enough strong sun? The only yellow cucumbers I've had were the ones that were supposed to be yellow.
If you don't get a good answer here, check out (lots of good information!):
davesgarden.com/
Check out cucumber info from Organic Gardening at www.organicgardening.com/
It indicates that you need very even water supply and shade since you are in a hot zone. They suggest you give 50% shade to prevent bitter cucumbers in your type of area. Wish you all the best. We love cucumbers too.
This happened to me when I planted squash plants near my cucumbers. They cross-pollinated and the results were off-color and not tasty.
Squash cannot cross pollinate with cucumbers. Different species. Squash and other squash, yes, they can cross pollinate.
Leaving them on the vine - over ripens - they turn from green to yellow and do not taste good
this happened to me when I planted my squash next to my cucumbers...turned yellow...they can cross pollinate
I've planted and grown good, green cakes before. But like others stated, this year mine are mostly yellow. It's not from growing them too big or too ripe. They start out yellow this year, and stay yellow.
I did the same thing and thought the same thing
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I have planted pickling cukes and they are turning yellow and they are almost shaped like a ball, round. Can you tell me why they are yellow? Thank you.
By Pauline Merry from Highland Springs, VA
They sound like the lemon cucumbers I grew last year. You can see some here (apparently she grew hers in a container, I grew mine in a raised bed on a trellis):
Did you buy plants, or start from seeds? I wonder if there was a mix-up. I've never had it happen with veggies, but I've had flowers come up the wrong color before.
It seems you must have what is called 'Lemon Cucumbers'. I like them. Taste very much the same asd the regular cukes, a bit lighter taste.
I planted a package of cantaloupe seeds once and grew Crenshaw melons. Maybe they were mispackaged.
Did you plant any squash or gourds near by. They could have cross pollinated.
Check to see if you planted the correct seeds for picklers. If they are the regular ones, then the yellowing could be over ripe and needs to be picked. Sounds like an error in the seeds.
Rounded cucumbers especially pickling cucumbers, mean that your soil is missing key nutrients, also poor irrigation can cause this problem. I learned this the hard way "by it happening to me!' My suggestion is to get a soil testing kit to find out what nutrients you are lacking. Also if your soil is hard and poor quality it can cause the water and fertilizer you put on not to soak enough into the roots.
Humm .. Maybe thats what happened to mine.. They cross pollinated with the watermelon plants i planted. At first my cukes were fine but now that I think about it once my watermelons flowering my cucumbers got fat and yellow...
The same thing is happening to me. I think it is mostly on the plants where the leaves have white mildew. Ive been picking the round balls off and eating them. Mine are very mild. We bought our plants at a greenhouse.
My cucumbers are blooming and producing cucumbers but when they become about an inch long the bloom falls off and the cucumber turns yellow and dries up. What is going wrong?
Hardiness Zone: 9a
By Sandi from Houston, TX
Hmm... It sounds like they are getting too ripe. That's the color they usually turn. Good luck.
Most likely they have worms inside. Cut one open and make sure that they are not being eaten from the inside out . Also use insecticide called (Pyola). This should take care of any problems .
We have healthy looking plants, but the cucumbers turn yellow and fall off. Why?
By Sheila
I had this same issue this year and read that it could be the lack of calcium! I had a small bag of gypsum from last year and spread it around the plants and now they are starting to take off! You can also clean your used egg shells, let them dry and crumble around the base of the plants!
