All cucumbers have at least a little bit of "pucker" to their taste. I've had them bad enough that the wife wouldn't eat them. Don't know enough about cucumber growing to know why, though.

Are they perhaps getting too old on the vine? Are they hard and seedy?

Try picking a real young one and seeng if it has the same problem.

Try Diva cukes. No pucker at all. Very sweet and juicy.
I think the potting mix and whatever you are adding to the pot is why your cukes are not good. Can you use real soil and compost?

It's true that maybe the cukes are too old, but too young is awful tasting, too. After a few tries, you will know when the right time is, to pick them.

What are you growing them in? Can't really tell from the pic, but it appears there are flowers in with them of some sort? Flowering plants tend to be heavy feeders, as are Cucumbers. However, if they are in with them, you can't really pull them either - disturbing the roots of the cucumber, which they don't like. If I were to guess, I'd say Nitrogen deficiency + lack of water, and of course, the munchers.

Ran short of water during development. Evenly moist soil is the key. Going on vacation during the growing season often results in crop glitches.

If you live in a hot-summer climate, try Summer Dance. Tender, never bitter. Summer Top also stands up to heat, but has a little coarser texture, is a little earlier.

Growing cukes in a container may place extra stresses on the plants. Is the container large enough to keep two plants happy? Try to keep moisture at the roots pretty even. In our hot-summer climate, cukes just about have to be grown on a trellis or fence or in part shade.

Went on a 4 day vacation and came home to a cucumber that was about 11 inches long and as thick as a water bottle!)
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You have already stated the reason why they do not taste right.
Cucumber fruits are FAST growing and are BEST used smaller and younger. If it is called STRAIGHT 8, I will pick them when they are 6 or 7 inches, rather than 9 or 10.

ABOUT LEAVES: just cut them off an water the plants more often. Cucumber leave are VERY tender and have short life, especially if they are messed with .

Thank you everyone for your input!

The flavor of them is great, itâÂÂs the fact that they take all the moisture out of your mouth thatâÂÂs the problem. IâÂÂve been picking them when they are about 6 or so inches long. Tried a couple earlier and later just to see if that would help, and it didnâÂÂt.

@ gsweater: I have them in Miracle-Gro potting mix. They are in a container and the container is in a flower bed that has some roses in it.

I had someone water them while I was on vacation. They watered once a day since we would get rain in the evening. I tend to water them twice a day: once in the morning and once late afternoon. If itâÂÂs a watering problem IâÂÂm not sure what to do. Next year maybe IâÂÂll have moved and have an area that has at least a little shade.

Carolync1: Thank you for suggesting some different types that are good in heat! I may have to try them as well.

I have the same exact problem with the leaves but the cukes (which are not as many I expected to have) are very good nonetheless. I pick mine before they reach 8 inches just to play it safe.

Hi Alystia, can I add my 2 cents worth? Cucumbers are the Prima Donnas of the veggie garden; one of the most fussiest things to grow. I gave up on them a couple years ago. If they lack water at any one time, they will taste bitter or just not develop right. They need to be tended to every single day; first they want this, then they want that. It looks like your plants are affected by a number or things. It looks like a pathogen that splashed up from the soil. Try using a plastic mulch to make a barrier between the plants and the ground. The plants may have been stressed when you were absent. It's also important not to let them get too big, 7-8 inches max, otherwise they get woody and dry.

I live in a fairly hot climate and have never had problems with cucumbers, but I always grow pickling cucumbers. No clue whether that makes a difference or not.

dog_wood_2010: Cucumbers being fussy explains it all I guess lol.
All my other stuff-tomatoes, basil, zucchini, and squash are all doing great and are happy as can be! Go figure I'd pick something that's picky my first time gardening.

I'll just try my hand at them next year and see how it goes.

Like any other veggies, cucumbers have also special requirements and tuning. The hardest part is getting them established. After that , they need regular watering. But cucumber leaves and vines are not very tolerant of mishandling while harvesting, trellising, .... The leaves can get injured easily.

But the GOOD part is that you do not have to wait for weeks and months to enjoy its fruit. The earliest tomato takes over 50 days from flower to ripe fruit. With cucumber it will take less than one week.

My cucumbers flourished until we had a heat wave (107 degrees - I thought the thermometer was broken and nor reading right, but that was the temp at the official recording stations). After that they were so bitter that they were inedible. Before that, they tasted better than any cuke I had ever eaten (not exaggerating here). Did some research on the A & M horticulture website - learned that once a fruit becomes bitter, all subsequent fruits are ruined (some kind of chemical messenger thing in the vine). Perhaps that really big cucumber you found sent out similar messages to the rest of the vine.