Opinion of lemon cukes

[Dak]

I never developed an appreciation for them, but they were extremely prolific. Hate to admit, but they all ended up in my compost.

[Marcus1]

We have been growing lemon cucumbers for our customers for the past 18 seasons. The first couple of years we had to give them away to get people to try them. I think we would have a revolt if I quit growing them now! We harvest them when there is a yellow blush on about the top third of the stem end so the seeds are small and tender. They are a little later than the pickles or the slicers but are pretty productive and never bitter. I think the best trait is their crunch and several of our people make cinnamon pickle rings that are to die for! I tried quartering them and pickling, but were to salty may have been my brine. Worth giving them a try !

[feldon30]

Originally Posted by livinonfaith

I can vouch for the Poona Keera, too. Great taste and very interesting to watch as it goes through its color changes. I personally liked it better in the white to yellowish orange stages.

Yep once they start to go brown, they are not nearly as good.

[Keger]

I grew some last year for market sales. Kind of a novelty, people expected them to have a lemon taste. Of course they dont. I dunno, may do a few this year but not many.

[pdxwindjammer]

They are called lemon cucs because of their size, shape and color. We pick them when they are about the size of a lemon. I come home from the garden, cut up 2-3 and put on a plate with a squeeze of lime and sprinkle of chili powder and we eat them up.

[janezee]

That sounds delish, pdx. I like them small, too. No peeling involved, and small, sweet seeds.

j

[Tropicalgrower]

I grew Lemon cukes faithfully for years and years when still in Oregon.Always reliable,and loved them in vinegar and oil or plain with just a sprinkle of salt.

New fave is Suyo.It's replaced all the others for me.Does better than anything else in the heat and humidity here.

[tjg911]

i grew them in the mid 90's one season. they produced ok considering i let them sprawl on the garden floor. they were ok no big deal really and i never grew them again. if you want novelty then try them but i think there are better tasting cukes.

tom

[roper2008]

Look what I found at WalMart. 20 cents, might as well
try them out myself.





TropicalGrower, I love the Suyo cucumber also. I'm growing it again this year.

[Mashman]

Thumbs down here on the Lemon Cukes...... IMHO Phoona Kheera is much better for taste/texture; and puts on a show for the eyes. Grew about 8 varieties last year and I would put LC's at the bottom of the list.

Looking forward to growing Puneri White this coming season..... not sure of its genetics but looks like it might be related to PK.

Michael





Michael

[BarbJ]

Originally Posted by roper2008

Look what I found at WalMart. 20 cents, might as well
try them out myself.





TropicalGrower, I love the Suyo cucumber also. I'm growing it again this year.

Imo, the picture on the packet shows the cucumbers way too ripe for good eating. I only like them picked actually smaller than a lemon, more like a lime size, and with either no yellow or just a hint.
When they get more yellow than that I find the skins get rather tough and the seeds are pretty big. No they don't get bitter at that size but the seed cavity is about half the interior and I just don't like that many large seeds in my cukes.
But if you pick 'em small and young they're pretty good.

I grew Persian and Diva cukes last year and I liked them much better.

[livinonfaith]

My experience with the lemon cukes was back when my Grandfather grew them. He died in 1987. (He was born in 1900) It was probably sometime in the early to mid eighties when he started growing them, and he gardened right up though the year he died.

His main crop was standard type cukes, but he really enjoyed the lemon ones because they were something new and different at the time. He loved to have a few "fun" veggies, like white eggplants, popcorn, and the lemon cukes.

I just think it's kind of cool to think that, thirty years later, they are "new and different" to a whole new generation.

[venturabananas]

They are special to me because I remember eating the ones my aunt grew at her house when I was a kid -- 40 years ago. I still like them, but at least partly for sentimental reasons.

[Brightmeadow]

I love Lemon cucumbers. I find that they are crisp and fresh-tasting with no after-taste. My mother-in-law was from England and loved cucumber sandwiches.
When I gave her the Lemon cucumbers she said that they were the best cucumbers she had ever eaten and I have grown them every year since then.

Remember that you must eat them when they are small and white/pale yellow. I have a photo showing the eating stage and the gourd-like stage for saving the seeds. (I can't seem to put it into the post.)

Ahah - I've made the photo my avatar. The small one on the left is ready to eat.

Shirley