I've never seen anything like this with my cucumbers. Are they edible?
Any and all help is greatly appreciated!
by northcarolinabirder
22 Comments
pangolin_of_fortune
Looks like a lemon cucumber. Seeds got mixed up somewhere along the line. Pick them a little smaller/paler for best flavour.
hatchjon12
Did you let them ripen instead of picking them?
kutmulc
Cucumbers turn yellow if you don’t pick them and let them get overripe. This isn’t ideal because they can be very bitter and the plant may stop producing fruit.
ILCHottTub
Overripe lemon cukes. Tags got changed or seed was swapped
Ordinary-You3936
You let em ripen that’s what a ripe cucumber looks like, it’ll be bitter and have huge hard seeds in it
whoa123rem
Way overripe, happened to me too! Had to toss
TerpeneTalk
Those are lemon cukes
Visible_Edge2117
That’s a Lemon Cucumber (Cucumis sativus var. lemon).
Despite its name and color, it’s not a citrus fruit — it’s a type of cucumber that: • Grows round and turns bright yellow when ripe. • Has a mild, slightly sweet cucumber flavor. • Is often eaten raw, pickled, or sliced into salads. • Has thin skin and small seeds, making it tender and easy to eat.
These cucumbers thrive in warm weather and the yellowing is a sign it’s mature and ready to pick!
fasoi
You need to pick cucumbers before they develop seeds inside.
Cucumbers are part of the same family as squash and zucchini. Just like those plants, if you pick them young they will be green and have minimal seeds inside. If you pick them at maturity, they will be hard and full of big seeds. In the case of cucumbers they will also be bitter at maturity
Are we having cucumber “gate”? I planted bush cucs that are now 10 feet tall. LOL
FrazzledMommyFL
I grow these LEMON CUCUMBERS as a previous poster stated. They are amazing in Mediterranean salad. I do my own version – this chopped up with cherry tomatoes, feta, a bunch of parsley chopped, some chopped celery, fresh lemon juice, olive oil and a bunch of sea salt
lanister76
They are not lemon cucumbers. These are pickling cukes that were not pollinated enough. You can tell by the “tail” at the end. They are over ripe pickling cucumbers.
chef71
your cuke went unpicked for too long and has gone to seed. that tells the plant it has done its job and will now start to die. plant more now or your season is over.
therobotisjames
How tall is the trellis in the pic? Cucumbers don’t grow that good on the ground. This is why all of them have pollination problems. And that was before you let them get super overripe. Toss. Pull the plants probably because if you left them on the vine that long they’ll already have triggered plant death. Cucs want to grow one big yellow cucumber, once they do that they die. If you keep picking them you get more. If i see a cuc with a little tail I usually pick it off and toss. You need to plant more flowers to get more pollinators to your garden. You can hand pollinate but I’ve found it’s not that great on cucs. It takes like 5-10 times before you pollinate correctly.
TheVelvetNo
My pickling cukes loom like this when they are severely overwatered and overripe. Not sure if that’s what happened here or what. The segmented shape is throwing me.
northcarolinabirder
I’m going to go check tomorrow and see if there are any other young cucumbers on the plant. You can see in the photo that they turn yellow and round very early.
So I don’t think they are regular cucumbers or picking cucumbers. They never were at the stage (4-5″ long) where you would pick them.
I’m also going to slice further into the fruit to see how big the seeds are.
These are planted right next to several regular cucumber plants.
Since these don’t have the ‘button’ like regular lemon cucumbers, maybe this was a cross pollination issue.
Any thoughts?
SasquatchIsMyHomie
I’m going against the grain to say those are NOT lemon cucumbers, but pickling cucumbers that are way far gone. First thing’s first, pick them all to get your plants back into flowering mode. Then keep an eye on them and pick them when they more or less look like pickles.
guidedby8track
Cross pollination with nearby lemon cuke, happened to me two years ago
lil_poppapump
If you see the brown edges on the leaves and still think these are lemon cukes, than I’m jealous cause you’ve never had the problems this person is having. I transplanted mine this year and they all did exactly this. People say under pollinated, but I think it’s a heat issue for me.
22 Comments
Looks like a lemon cucumber. Seeds got mixed up somewhere along the line. Pick them a little smaller/paler for best flavour.
Did you let them ripen instead of picking them?
Cucumbers turn yellow if you don’t pick them and let them get overripe. This isn’t ideal because they can be very bitter and the plant may stop producing fruit.
Overripe lemon cukes. Tags got changed or seed was swapped
You let em ripen that’s what a ripe cucumber looks like, it’ll be bitter and have huge hard seeds in it
Way overripe, happened to me too! Had to toss
Those are lemon cukes
That’s a Lemon Cucumber (Cucumis sativus var. lemon).
Despite its name and color, it’s not a citrus fruit — it’s a type of cucumber that:
• Grows round and turns bright yellow when ripe.
• Has a mild, slightly sweet cucumber flavor.
• Is often eaten raw, pickled, or sliced into salads.
• Has thin skin and small seeds, making it tender and easy to eat.
These cucumbers thrive in warm weather and the yellowing is a sign it’s mature and ready to pick!
You need to pick cucumbers before they develop seeds inside.
Cucumbers are part of the same family as squash and zucchini. Just like those plants, if you pick them young they will be green and have minimal seeds inside. If you pick them at maturity, they will be hard and full of big seeds. In the case of cucumbers they will also be bitter at maturity
Here’s what pickling cucumbers look like
https://preview.redd.it/0q7pgstjsk7f1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=32530be482d55191a284a15bfddb6bc1c598c5e3
Are we having cucumber “gate”? I planted bush cucs that are now 10 feet tall. LOL
I grow these LEMON CUCUMBERS as a previous poster stated. They are amazing in Mediterranean salad. I do my own version – this chopped up with cherry tomatoes, feta, a bunch of parsley chopped, some chopped celery, fresh lemon juice, olive oil and a bunch of sea salt
They are not lemon cucumbers. These are pickling cukes that were not pollinated enough. You can tell by the “tail” at the end. They are over ripe pickling cucumbers.
your cuke went unpicked for too long and has gone to seed. that tells the plant it has done its job and will now start to die. plant more now or your season is over.
How tall is the trellis in the pic? Cucumbers don’t grow that good on the ground. This is why all of them have pollination problems. And that was before you let them get super overripe. Toss. Pull the plants probably because if you left them on the vine that long they’ll already have triggered plant death. Cucs want to grow one big yellow cucumber, once they do that they die. If you keep picking them you get more. If i see a cuc with a little tail I usually pick it off and toss. You need to plant more flowers to get more pollinators to your garden. You can hand pollinate but I’ve found it’s not that great on cucs. It takes like 5-10 times before you pollinate correctly.
My pickling cukes loom like this when they are severely overwatered and overripe. Not sure if that’s what happened here or what. The segmented shape is throwing me.
I’m going to go check tomorrow and see if there are any other young cucumbers on the plant. You can see in the photo that they turn yellow and round very early.
So I don’t think they are regular cucumbers or picking cucumbers. They never were at the stage (4-5″ long) where you would pick them.
I’m also going to slice further into the fruit to see how big the seeds are.
These are planted right next to several regular cucumber plants.
Since these don’t have the ‘button’ like regular lemon cucumbers, maybe this was a cross pollination issue.
Any thoughts?
I’m going against the grain to say those are NOT lemon cucumbers, but pickling cucumbers that are way far gone. First thing’s first, pick them all to get your plants back into flowering mode. Then keep an eye on them and pick them when they more or less look like pickles.
Cross pollination with nearby lemon cuke, happened to me two years ago
If you see the brown edges on the leaves and still think these are lemon cukes, than I’m jealous cause you’ve never had the problems this person is having. I transplanted mine this year and they all did exactly this. People say under pollinated, but I think it’s a heat issue for me.
That looks like a lemon cucumber.
Mine did the same thing