Why the pumpkin is not tied: reasons, how to fix it and what to do

Pumpkin beds during flowering are very decorative. They are decorated with large dark green leaves and large, bright yellow or orange flowers. Unfortunately, flowering does not guarantee a harvest.

Why doesn't the pumpkin tie?

There are a number of reasons why the pumpkin does not tie well even when choosing a good place for the ridge and observing the planting dates. The processes of pollination and the formation of ovaries are affected by:

weather (temperature and humidity);
care;
lighting;
presence of insect pollinators.

Pumpkin grown in the shade with poor quality pollen may be sterile. This crop grows best in sunny, well-ventilated areas. At high humidity, pollen sticks together, pollination does not occur.

Poor pollination

Pumpkin has flowers with a diameter of 7 to 30 cm, they are monoecious, dioecious, located singly. It is easy to distinguish between them: the female flowers have pistils, while the male ones have stamens. Flowering does not last long - 1-2 days for female flowers and 1 day for male flowers.

Often the absence of ovaries is caused by the fact that there are only male flowers on the plant, this happens due to the fact that the female buds have not yet formed. Bad seeds are one of the reasons why there is a barren flower on the lashes. In order not to be left without a crop, plant several varieties from different manufacturers and choose seeds not last year, but 2-3-year-olds.

If there are female flowers, but the pumpkin does not set fruits, then there may be several reasons for poor pollination of the plant:

lack of wasps, bumblebees and bees in your garden - insects that carry pollen from male flowers to female flowers, pollen is not carried by the wind;
do not make a forming pinch, leave all the shoots on the plant, the bush does not have enough strength to form ovaries;
wrong watering - rare in the heat, plentiful in cool weather;
diurnal temperature fluctuations - above 30 °C during the day, below 15 °C at night;
dry and hot weather for a long time;
the plant is overfed or, conversely, lacks nutrients.

The main reasons that influence the formation of ovaries on a pumpkin are listed. Knowing them, you can help the plant not be left without a crop.

Excess fertilizer

Excess fertilizer is exactly the reason why diligent gardeners pumpkin often does not set fruit. With an excess of nitrogen fertilizing, the plant begins to fatten - it goes to the tops. With the rapid growth of the aerial part, the root system lags behind in development and cannot provide the nutrition necessary for the formation of fruits.

You diligently fertilize your beds, and the potential harvest before your eyes is rapidly decreasing, as the plant sheds ovaries and flowers. If you have well seasoned the country beds for the new season with your own hands since autumn, then in the summer do not be zealous with fertilizers. What to do in this case and how to help the pumpkin? To begin with, select a few of the most powerful shoots, and delete the rest. Dig in the stems to form additional roots, this will improve the nutrition of the bush.

Advice for the future - plant this crop in those areas where a full range of organic and mineral fertilizers were applied at least a year ago. Depleted soil is also the reason why pumpkins do not set fruit well.

Yellowed foliage, fallen ovaries and slowly forming fruits speak of a lack of minerals. In this case, mineral fertilizers containing phosphorus and potassium help. To enhance nutrition, the whips are added dropwise.

Fruit ugliness

The formation of ugly fruits on the bushes takes away the strength of the plant. For the growth of normal fruits, there is not enough good nutrition. That is why this situation can be corrected with the help of competent bush formation in the same way as with an empty flower on a pumpkin.

The pattern of bush formation depends on the variety. In large-fruited varieties, after the first fruits have set, you need to leave no more than 3 lashes on the plant, each of them should have one ovary. The top of the shoot is pinched at the end of June, leaving at least 4-5 leaves above the fruit.

Shrubs of small and medium-fruited varieties are formed differently. Remove only those lashes on which the flower is empty. The tops of the remaining stems are pinched in early August, leaving at least 3 leaves above the last fruit that has set.

Dense foliage

Due to the too dense foliage formed on the pumpkin, the development of the set fruits stops, the amount of barren flowers increases. Why this happens is understandable - the plant spends all the nutrients obtained from the earth on the foliage.

What to do to help the pumpkin set fruit? Usually this problem is solved with a pruner or special lawn grass scissors. Excess leaves are cut off and composted.

The plant after shearing is fed with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers. Each lash is sprinkled with earth, after which additional roots are formed on it. They improve the nutrition of the bush, which accelerates the formation of fruits.

Root rot

Pumpkin does not react well to summer bad weather: prolonged rains, temperature drops below 18 ° C. The second reason for root rot is over-watering. It is necessary to inspect the plant if, in such weather, flowers and fruit set fall near the pumpkin. Root rot can be the reason why the plant does not have enough strength to bloom and bear fruit.

Signs of root rot are the same as flower seedlings:

in the initial stage, a yellow spot in the area of the root collar;
at later stages, a white coating on all above-ground parts of the pumpkin (shoots, leaves);
underdeveloped thinned root system.

Prevention of rot is simple: abundant watering with warm water no more than 1 time per week, in bad weather, top dressing with urea on a leaf (1 tsp funds per bucket of water). Root top dressings in cool weather are of little use, as the root system from cold soil does not absorb them well.

Keep in mind that the pumpkin should be watered with warm water from the barrel, not cold water from the tap. After watering, loosen the soil shallowly so that the roots are well supplied with oxygen and excess moisture does not accumulate in the soil.

Another tip for preventing root rot is crop rotation. The cause of rot is a fungus, so you need to change the place where the pumpkin is planted annually so that the infection does not accumulate in the soil. Root crops, all varieties of cabbage and onions are considered good predecessors for this crop.

Pumpkin hand pollination

We figured out all the main reasons why pumpkins do not fruit well. Artificial pollination helps to solve the problem in the absence of pollinating insects. Prolonged heat, the absence of apiaries near the garden - these are just a few reasons why bees and bumblebees fly a little. Insects can be attracted to the garden by sprinkling sweet water on pumpkin leaves and flowers.

But it's easier to understand the structure of female and male flowers and learn how to pollinate a pumpkin artificially. Female flowers are easy to identify by the presence of a thickening - the future ovary. Work on artificial pollination is carried out in the morning.

It is necessary to choose a fully opened male flower, bend the petals, touch the stamens of the female flower with a pistil. A positive result is achieved if the age of the female flower is not more than two days.

Some growers use a soft paint brush to transfer pollen. First, they pass it along the pistil, then along the stamens. The fruit, with successful pollination, after a while begins to increase in size. Possible reasons why fruits did not set after artificial pollination:

wet weather;
dew in the bud;
air temperature above 35 °C.

Special preparations are guaranteed to improve fruit set. For better fruit formation, the pumpkin is treated with an effective means of Ovary. The natural origin of this biological product explains why it is absolutely safe for insects.

The drug is recommended for use in adverse weather conditions to stimulate the formation of ovaries. Thanks to the Ovary, even in the most unfavorable weather seasons, summer residents manage to grow a good harvest of pumpkins.