To avoid empty flowers on cucumbers and other pumpkins - a set of measures from top dressing to pollination
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FIGHT AGAINST THE HOLLOW FLOWER!
An empty flower is the formation of predominantly male flowers in plants of the pumpkin family (cucumbers, pumpkins, zucchini, watermelons, melons), which contain only stamens with pollen and do not have ovaries, therefore they do not form fruits.
No need to be upset if the first flowers on cucumbers or zucchini turn out to be male - this is quite justified. If female flowers first appear on the plant, then there will be nothing to pollinate them, because pollen is formed only on male flowers. Plants must first produce pollen, and then female flowers with pistils will open. But if there are no female flowers for a long time, it means that not everything is in order with the plant.
What is the cause of the empty flower?
There are several main factors leading to the formation of only male plants on cucurbits:
- adverse weather conditions (heat, cold, drought, sudden changes in day and night temperatures);
- acidic soil;
- lack or excess of moisture in the soil;
- lack of sunlight;
- diseases and pests.
HOW TO PREVENT AN EMPTY FLOWER ON CUCUMBERS?
- In cold weather, cover the plants with a film or dense spunbond. Sometimes it is enough to cover pumpkin only at night.
- Avoid long breaks in watering. At the same time, make sure that the ground is not waterlogged.
- Weed regularly.
- If the soil is acidic, carry out liming (in the fall, add a half-liter jar of chalk or dolomite flour per 1 sq.m for digging).
- Sick and pest-infested plants lack nutrition, so they only produce male flowers. However, in this case, top dressing will not solve the problem. First of all, you will need to get rid of harmful insects and pathogens.
See also: Netherflower on cucumbers - what to do
PRO VARIETIES AND MANUAL POLLINATION OF CUCUMBERS
To prevent cucumbers from forming empty flowers, give preference to parthenocarpic varieties (self-pollinating). And then fruit setting will occur without pollination at all.
If you grow ordinary bee-pollinated varieties, then male flowers will inevitably be present on them. In this case, in a rainy summer, pumpkin can be pollinated manually, in the morning transferring pollen with a small brush (or cotton swab) from male flowers to female ones.
STIMULATORS-HELPERS
Special preparations can help plants, and not only pumpkin ones, begin to form female flowers - stimulants of fruit formation: Bud, Ovary, PlodoStim, Parthenocarps, Tomaton. The first spraying should be carried out at the beginning of flowering, and the second - 7-10 days after the first. All of these drugs are synthetic analogues of natural substances found in plants, therefore they do not harm either insects or humans. However, without observing the rest of the rules of agricultural technology (watering, weeding, fertilizing), the effect of these funds will be small.
MAY FEEDING OF CUCUMBERS FROM EMPTY FLOWER
Plant nutrition has a significant impact on the formation of flowers. For example, excessive nitrogen nutrition stimulates intensive leaf growth at the expense of flowering. Therefore, after planting seedlings, do not abuse nitrogen fertilizers: unripened manure, herbal infusions, urea, etc.
To stimulate flowering, feed the plants with mineral and organic fertilizers with a predominance of phosphorus and potassium. The best option is potassium monophosphate, which contains only phosphorus and potassium in a highly absorbable form and has no nitrogen. Dilute 1 tbsp. powder in 10 liters of water and water the pumpkin under the root, 0 liters per bush. And after 5-5 days, feed the plants with microelements (Aquarin or Fertika) at the rate of 7 tsp. fertilizer per 1 liters of water (spray generously on the leaves). Try to carry out such top dressing in the morning after the dew dries, but before the sun begins to shine.
FEEDING WITH MICROELEMENTS CAN BE CARRIED OUT TWICE IN A SEASON IF YOU NOTICE THAT CUCUMBERS OR Zucchini HAVE BEGAN TO BEAR WORSE.
Reference by topic: How to deal with empty flowers and help vegetables form an ovary?
EMPTY ON CUCUMBERS - WHAT TO DO? VIDEO
© Author: Anton LESHCHEV, Cand. agricultural sciences
Below other entries on the topic "Dacha and garden - with their own hands"
- To avoid empty flowers on cucumbers and other pumpkins - a set of measures from top dressing to pollination
- Forming tall cucumbers is a very good scheme!
- Cucumbers in the open ground (photo) cultivation planting and leaving from A to Z
- Cucumber variety ALPINIST F1 - my reviews
- Growing cucumbers on a window or balcony - varieties, shaping and care
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Some pumpkin fruits stopped growing, covered with a white hard coating. Is it possible to correct the situation and save the remaining plants from the disease?
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- With a high degree of probability, this is a matter of potassium or phosphorus deficiency. In this case, the normal development and formation of fruits does not occur, and the pumpkin bark begins to cork.
Try to feed the pumpkins with potassium sulfate and superphosphate - 15 g per 1 sq.m of soil. Do not grow pumpkin in the same place, observe crop rotation, try not to overwater the plants.
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My Cucumber Super Yield System
In order for cucumbers to please the harvest from summer to cold weather, I take care of the beds according to such a system.
When 3-4 leaves are formed on the plants, I dilute 30 drops of iodine in a bucket of water, add 20 g of grated laundry soap and 1 liter of milk, spray the borage. I repeat the procedure after 10 days.
At the time of mass flowering, I dissolve 10 liters of whey and 2 g of sugar in 150 liters of water. I plentifully process the bushes, and then pour 1 liter of the composition under each plant. This significantly increases the number of ovaries.
In June and early July, in the evening, I soak a loaf of black bread in 10 liters of water, knead it in the morning, add a vial of iodine, and filter it. I dilute 1 liter of liquid in 10 liters of water and spray cucumbers. I dilute the remaining infusion with water 1: 5, water the plants under the root (0 l per bush).
Since mid-summer, I have been processing cucumbers with this composition. I fill a liter jar of onion peel with 10 liters of water, bring to a boil, remove from heat, close the lid, insist 12-14 hours and filter. I dilute with water 1:4. Once every 2 weeks I spray abundantly on the leaves.
Also, starting from mid-summer, every 10-14 days I process cucumbers with a solution of fresh (uncooked) whey or yogurt (1: 5).
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The author proposed a rather sophisticated system for caring for cucumbers. Although, if you look, there is a sense in each of the proposed recipes.
The first mixture, due to iodine and soap, protects against diseases, and milk feeds plants.
Whey with sugar is a good top dressing, which can also have a good effect on the taste of cucumbers.
Yeast from the bread composition also “feeds” well.
Onion husks increase the immunity of plants and protect against a spider mite.
Nikolai CHROMOV, Cand. of sciences