For the most part you can use any cuke for any purpose. A pickler is just a cuke that seems to be best at around pickle size, but that's just in theory. I generally let picklers like diva and county fair get around 8" or so for table use and they are just fine.

Bitterness is determined by seeds and cucurbiticin. Go with the self pollinating types (no seeds) and/or those advertised as bitter free.

I am not a cucumber expert, but for the last three years, I have been planting one called "sweeter yet" from Burpee. Never had a bitter one yet.

I have not harvested them at pickle size (most get two feet long, yellow and thrown into the compost pile), but they are great at slicer size.

I have yet to learn discipline at planting time. 10-12 plants have produced way more than two semi-normal people can eat.

Tom

Tom,

We also have too many cukes. This summer we learned to shred them with a course shredder board that we have, and mix them with chopped onions, tomatoes, and a little black pepper and salt, or some salad dressing. I call it cucumber slaw! It really is pretty edible that way, and you can get rid of a suprising amount of cukes when you have this salad every day.

The one main problem I've noticed in using burpless picklers like Ballerina and Damont for pickling ( these are similar to slicers in texture,etc.) is that they are softer after being canned than a standard pickling cucumber. This may not be a problem for some but most who can a whole pickler want it to snap and be crunchy.