Why are my half sour pickles slimy?

[Guest guest]

I've made 2 batches of half sour pickles using a 10 liter harsch crock and the

included recipe:

4.5-5 kg cucumbers (medium size, hard), several onions, mustard seeds (2-3

tablespoons), cilantro (2-3 tablespoons), bay leaves (10-12), dill, whey (1.4

liters), salt water (30 g per liter). This = 3% brine, but by the time the whey

is added it's about 1.5% brine.

The first batch turned slimy, so I repeated the same recipe after scrubbing the

crock with boiling water and double scrubbing the ingredients.

Despite this, 4 days later, there's a white powdery mold on the surface and all

of the cukes are all covered with a whitish slime. Despite this, they otherwise

look, smell and even taste great.

Any thoughts on what I might be doing wrong or how to remedy this?

Has anyone made half sour pickles using this much whey?

I'm actually more fond of new pickles which are bright green crisp and barely

sour.

Thanks for your help!

Ed