What are the prickles on cucumbers?

Not all cucumber prickles are alike. Just as they inherit size, shape, color and flavor, every cuke variety inherits its prickles. They’re Mother Nature’s way of protecting the plants from insects or hungry animals. Many modern cukes are bred for minimal prickling; English hothouse cukes have almost none.

What are the black prickly things on cucumbers?

Among the list of pests and diseases cucumbers are vulnerable to, black specks are a symptom of four: gummy stem blight, anthracnose, squash bugs or four-lined plant bug.

Why are my cucumbers pointy on the end?

Sometimes too much fertilizer can cause deformed cucumbers. As they mature, cucumbers require less feeding. On the other hand, deformities in cucumbers could mean there were insufficient nutrients in the soil right from the get-go.

How do you get prickles out of cucumbers?

If the cucumbers have a lot of spines, remove them by rubbing a cloth or a soft vegetable brush along the length of the fruit. Use a sharp knife or pruners to cut the cucumber of the vine. Be sure to leave a small, one-inch section of stem attached to the cucumber.

What are the bumps on cucumbers called?

Take, for example, the bumpy slicing cucumber. While its cousins, pickling cucumbers, typically are quite covered in bumps (known as stipples), the idealized slicing cucumber is rounded and smooth.

How can you tell when cucumbers are ready to be picked?

However, cucumbers are generally ripe and ready for harvest anywhere from 50 to 70 days after planting. A cucumber is normally considered ripe when it is bright medium to dark green and firm. You should avoid cucumber harvesting when cucumbers are yellow, puffy, have sunken areas, or wrinkled tips.

What does a prickly cucumber look like?

Cucumis metuliferus CUCUMBER-KIWANO-(PRICKLY CUKE) is a member of the melon & cucumber family & is native to southern & central Africa. Very unusual fruit with spiny horns. The green-yellow skin turns a bright deep orange when ready to harvest. It tastes like a combination of banana, melon, cucumber & lime.

What is on the outside of a cucumber?

The peel is the most nutrient-dense part of the cucumber. Although you might consider cucumbers to be a vegetable, they’re actually a fruit and a member of the Cucurbitaceae family, which includes squash and melons.

What are the white things on cucumbers?

One reason that cucumber fruit turns white is a fungal disease called powdery mildew. This problem begins on the upper surface of the fruit and the cucumbers may look as though they have been dusted with flour. As it spreads, the entire fruit may become covered with the mold.