Empty flower on cucumbers: what to do, how to fight, how to feed

There are several reasons why cucumbers have a lot of empty flowers. And many of them are associated with improper plant care. To avoid abundant flowering without the formation of ovaries, you need to know how to prevent this.

Why are there a lot of empty flowers on cucumbers in the greenhouse

When planting cucumbers, it should be borne in mind that each variety needs certain conditions for care and cultivation. Why cucumbers do not form ovaries well and numerous empty flowers appear on the branches depends on many factors:

• planting poor quality seeds;
• too dense sowing of seedlings;
• lack of heat (below 15 degrees) or vice versa too hot air (over 30 degrees);
• lack of timely watering or excess moisture;
• location of beds in a shady place;
• using cold water for irrigation;
• wasteflower on cucumbers is due to insufficient pollination (for greenhouses it is recommended to choose self-pollinated varieties of cucumbers);
• the reason may be a lack or excess of any nutrient in the soil.

Before fighting with empty flowers, it is important to understand if the plant needs them and if so, why. Barren flowers (male flowers) are necessary for the plant for pollination, since it is in them that the stamens are located. Without them, you can not get a rich harvest. Therefore, vegetable growers who pluck empty flowers notice that without them, female flowers begin to wither, rot and fall off.

But when there are more empty flowers than female flowers, there is a threat of a decrease in yield. Experienced gardeners advise: “Do not pick empty flowers, this leads to a decrease in the plant's defenses. In addition, if there are no male flowers, then pollination will not occur. You just need to pinch the top of the main stem to improve the situation.” Some remove only weak male inflorescences.

You can choose to plant parthenocarpic varieties of cucumbers. They are able to form fruits without pollination, only female flowers are formed on the bushes, and there are no seeds in the fruits. These varieties are especially suitable for growing in regions with an unfavorable climate. The most popular varieties include: Zozulya, Competitor, Masha F1, German F1 or Emelya F1.

Self-pollinated cucumbers pollinate themselves, without the participation of insects. These varieties of cucumbers are great for growing in greenhouse conditions or on the windowsill. The flowers of such plants have both a stamen and a pistil, and inside the cucumber there are seeds.

In open beds it is better to plant bee-pollinated varieties of cucumbers. They show great resistance to adverse weather conditions. Sweet solutions can be used to attract pollinating insects.

If the pollination process is disturbed, empty flowers begin to form on cucumbers, and the yield is significantly reduced.

What to do if the empty flower is on cucumbers

The first step to deal with the empty flower of cucumbers is to change the care and create more favorable conditions for growing crops.

If there is one empty flower, then it is necessary to carry out weeding from weeds in a timely manner, to loosen the earth after each watering, so that oxygen and nutrients are fully supplied to the roots. It is best to make a support and tie up the stem. There are other recommendations on how to get rid of the empty flower.

• If the reason for the formation of male flowers is associated with cold weather, then it is better to cover the beds with foil and stop watering. Empty flower on cucumbers in a greenhouse may appear due to cool temperatures below 15 degrees. Therefore, you need to monitor the night and daytime temperature in the room.
• During hot, non-rainy weather, increase the frequency of watering to twice a day, in the morning and evening hours.
• Watering cucumbers in the greenhouse and on the open ground is necessary only with warm, settled water. At a time when cucumbers bloom, watering is reduced. In this case, the plant will direct all its forces to the formation of fruits, and not green tops.
• What to do when there is an empty flower on cucumbers in a greenhouse, there is another proven option. If the cucumbers are densely planted, then you can limit the frequency of watering and pinch the main stem.

• If there is not a single ovary, you need to think about fertilizing. You can use nitrophoska, mullein infusion or wood ash.
• If there are empty flowers on cucumbers due to lack of pollination, then you can help the plant in this. To do this, just shake the stem slightly during flowering or brush first over the barren flower, and then over the female flowers.
• To increase the number of ovaries, you can prepare solutions based on drugs such as Ovary, Bud.
• You can treat cucumber beds with a solution of boric acid. Foliar treatment helps to strengthen the underground and aboveground parts of the plant, and also helps to increase the number of ovaries. It is enough to dissolve 5 g of boric acid in 10 liters of water.

What do female and male inflorescences look like? It is easy to distinguish the male flower from the female inflorescence. The female inflorescence is determined by the cucumber on which the flower has blossomed, and it has only one pistil. The male flower has five stamens.

How to deal with empty cucumbers, whether to remove, prevention

Even before planting seedlings in a permanent place, care must be taken that there are no more empty flowers than female flowers.

• You need to buy seeds only from a trusted manufacturer. Seeds 3-4 years old are suitable for sowing. Plants grown from young seeds often produce only barren flowers.
• Be sure to select only large and dense seeds for sowing. Treat with potassium permanganate or boric acid.
• Folk practice advises that it is imperative to carry out the procedure of drying the selected seeds. Cucumber seeds contain a lot of protein, and if the seeds are sown fresh, the plant will fatten, grow quickly, but not bear fruit. With prolonged heating (it is useful to keep the seeds near the battery for about 1.5 months), the protein loses its activity.

• It is useful to treat seeds with solutions that enhance immunity and good growth (Novosil, Zircon, Ecosil). Those gardeners who watered their cucumbers with these products noted a high yield, early ripening and a reduced number of empty flowers.
• Plant should be in areas of land that receive enough sunlight.
• To avoid male flowers in large numbers, you need to observe the distance when planting. The distance between seedlings should be at least 45 cm. Otherwise, foliage and lashes will prevent the flow of air and light to all parts of the plant.

• Empty flowers on cucumbers are formed with improper feeding. Abundant application of nitrogen fertilizers leads to a lack of potassium and phosphorus.Therefore, you should alternate between different fertilizers. At first, you can feed with an infusion of chicken manure or mullein, and during fruiting it is useful to add superphosphate or wood ash.
• Advice from an agronomist: “Female flowers mainly go on the lateral branches of the plant, so it is important to carry out the procedure of pinching the main stem in time. We have been fighting the barren flower in this way for many years.”
• Harvesting during the period of mass ripening of fruits should be done every other day. If they are left on the lashes, they will quickly outgrow, and the ovaries will lag behind in their growth and development.

If cucumbers have a lot of empty flowers, and what to do is not known, fertilizers will help. So that empty flowers do not appear before the flowering period, cucumbers can be fed with mullein or chicken droppings. During flowering, it is useful to water the beds with a mixture of potassium sulfate, superphosphate, mullein and wood ash.

High air temperatures, more than 27 degrees, prevent pollination of plants. What to do in this case? To save cucumber beds from the scorching sun, you need to make a canopy and be sure to mulch the soil. An additional layer of straw, chopped grass, peat will keep moisture inside and protect the root system from drying out.

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