This evening when I went out to my garden to water, I really started to look at my cucumbers. I have some growing in a planter on a trellis and some growing in a plot on the ground. The ones I am growing in the planter are English cucumbers and the ones growing in my plot of garden are pickling cucumbers. The pickling ones are doing ok and not deformed, but here are what my English variety look like.
Now this is not my first time growing cucumbers. I have grown both before, but the one difference in my English Cucumbers is that I grew them in a planter. I used the same soil/compost mix I have used in years before. So why is this happening to my English Cucumbers?
There are a few reason's why this abnormality can occur.
Let's look at poor pollination. Do you notice any of your non self pollinating plants doing well? Are there other flowers close to your cucumbers? Is there a lack of insects, such as butterflies, wasps or bee's? In my case, I have a pot of yellow Marigolds right beside my planter with my cucumbers, and all my other plants are doing OK so I do not think it is that in my case. There had to be some pollination because it did produce the fruit but perhaps the process got interrupted, possibly.
The Temperature could also be another determining factor. If it is too hot then that in itself with halt the pollination process, and keep the pollinators away. Insufficient water may also be a key factor. Cucumbers need a lot of water. In my case, it has rained steady since Spring, at least 3-4 days per week, so I do not think this is my problem.
Lastly, Fertilizer. All garden's need some kind of fertilizer. Too much fertilizer may be a strong reason for your deformed cucumbers. When the fruit is formed and mature, they require less feeding, so we need to back off of the fertilizer. In my case I only use fertilizer until they form flowers and then I stop. It might be a possibility, but not as strong as the other reasons.
So in my conclusion I would have to target the lack of pollinators and shall be placing my planter in a new location closer to other flowers. It is now an experiment, and will share my results.
Happy Trails