Help with cucumbers please

[keengardener]

Hi there, I have 3 cucumber plants, doing really well, all starting to get flowers on. My question is, as I think I have read on here somewhere before about male and female and removing flowers etc. can anyone please help on the upkeep of the plant, do I need to be doing anything, or just let it grow and let it do the work itself? Sorry for the questions, tried looking up the answers, but can't find anything about the male and female bit, or removing any bits.

[dandamegs]

Hi,

It very much depends of which cucumbers you are growing.

[sarraceniac]

If these are outdoor cucumbers do not pinch out the male flowers as they are required for fertilisation to allow the fruit to form.
If they are greenhouse variety you can pinch them out. If you wish to pollinate them yourself you should take a feather or small artists paint brush and gently touch one flower and then touch the next.

There is a common fallacy that leaving the male flowers on produces bitter cucumbers. That is not true. Leaving them too long on the vine after maturation is what causes that.

[SarzWix]

It all depends on the variety keengardener, lots of the modern greenhouse varieties that you can grow from seed are bred to only produce female flowers. Old fashioned greenhouse varieties are supposed to have male flowers removed. Outdoor/ridge cucumbers have the flowers left on. Usually it will say on the seed packet what type they are
This article from Thompson & Morgan's website might help;
In-depth Gardening Articles from Thompson & Morgan: Cucumbers