[paul.fr]

or so i hear, why would that be?

[WylieE]

Cucumbers (and carrots) produce trans-2-nonenal which is a deterrent to ants and cockroaches.

Why the ants and cockroaches don't like this I am not sure. . .

But we don't really like it much either.  The beer industry spends a lot of money trying to get rid of trans-2-nonenal.  It is produced in beer as it ages.  So the stale, "cardboard" taste of old beer is from trans-2-nonenal.  De Keukeleire's Lab in Belgium (of course) studies the compounds that make beer go bad.  They report that humans can detect trans-2-nonenal in concentrations as low as 0.035 ug(micrograms) per liter.  Beer can accumulate up to 0.5ug per liter in just a few months storage at room temperature. 

So maybe the ants are just remembering a bad experience they had in their younger days.

[Alandriel]

Now I know what JimBob needs to plant in his front and back yard   []

trans-2-nonenal.... interesting. I very much like cucumbers and carrots but the smell of beer, especially stale beer makes me sick.

I guess it's another one of those love-hate relationships in life then

 []

[neilep]

or so i hear, why would that be?

Aren't they deterred by cucumbers and carrots because they are used to knock them on the head and squish them ?

[Karen W.]

you know the old saying peel the cucumber from the blossom end or it is bitter.. well usually it is bitter.from the peel. so is that bitter substance in the cucumber peel maybe poison to them or perhaps smells of the bitter substance inside!

[Karen W.]

I think it is the peels..the substance is natural organic compound called Cucurbitacin. It is found in the leaves stems roots and the peels as well as the light green under the skin so peel all the green away blossom in down! It is particularly concentrated in the blossom end and the stem end! The ants and cock roaches do not like the bitter substance the plant produces.

Watermelon rhines also have it . Root worms  or cucumber beetles love the stuff.. just love it! Take a gander!

Here is a great little article4 on the new steps to using it in place of pesticides and saving our land food etc.

http://www.sciencenews.org/pages/sn_arc99/7_10_99/bob1.htm