Cucumbers bloom but don't grow. Why does the cucumber ovary not grow?

Cucumber – loving warmth and wet conditions vegetable. Sometimes, instead of the long-awaited cucumbers forming, the ovaries on the cucumbers do not develop, but dry out and fall off. Let's try to figure out why cucumber ovaries do not grow and what to do in this case, because this problem is familiar to many gardeners.

Causes of yellowing and falling of cucumber ovaries

Recently, bunch varieties of cucumbers have become more popular. They bring big harvest, forming up to 7 ovaries. But, unfortunately, not every gardener and gardener can preserve them. The reasons for this can be very diverse, for example, improper application of organic fertilizer.

The first reason may be too high air temperatures in greenhouses.
Or, conversely, relative humidity.
Some varieties lack pollinating insects due to cool weather. Such plants need to be sown with pollinating varieties.
The reason may be infrequent harvesting. It is advised to collect fruits every day, since overgrown fruits stop the growth of new ovaries.
The cause may also be insufficient nutrition in the soil. Modern varieties require a high content of nutrients in the soil. That is, there may not be enough nutrition for all the ovaries. Moreover, 2 fruits grow, and the rest die.

Cucumber ovaries do not grow due to poor quality seeds

The quality of the seeds is of great importance in the formation of cucumber ovaries. Thus, those who sowed fresh seeds cannot count on the appearance of ovaries this year, since the plant will first produce only barren flowers before producing female flowers.

A different picture is observed when sowing with seeds two to three years old. Their characteristic feature female flowers appear earlier than male flowers or simultaneously with them.

The ovary of cucumbers does not grow due to the type of seeds

When deciding why cucumber ovaries do not grow, one cannot but take into account this important point as a plant variety. If a bee-pollinated variety is planted, then it is necessary to pollinate female flowers by transferring pollen from male specimens to them.

If a cucumber is self-pollinating and, nevertheless, the ovaries either do not grow on it or dry out, then it is worth thinking about what the plant lacks in nutritional components. This could also happen.

Cucumber ovary does not grow due to improper planting

Another reason for cucumbers not flowering can be too dense planting. That is, when sowing, you left little space between the plants. Because of this, light will not reach the bushes well, and ventilation will be difficult. The same goes for nutrients. They will not be able to reach each plant in the required quantity. That's why it's important to know correct distance between the bushes. It should be approximately 20 centimeters. If you are growing a single-stem variety in greenhouses, that is, its shoot growth is limited, then you don’t have to cut off the side shoots.

Cucumber ovaries do not grow due to lack of pollination

Most gardeners grow self-pollinating and pollinating-free varieties. However, traditional varieties of cucumbers that require pollination are also quite frequent guests in greenhouses. If the female flower is not fertilized, the cucumber ovary does not develop, turns yellow and falls off.

How to help the plant in this case?

attract pollinators. Open the windows so that insects can enter the greenhouse, spray the plants with sweetened water with boric acid (1 liter - 1 gram) for more intensive formation of ovaries. But cloudy rainy weather, or very hot and stuffy bees are difficult to lure into the greenhouse, so you will have to resort to manual pollination.
hand pollination of cucumbers. You can either pick the male flower and gently fan the female flower with it, or you can transfer pollen from the male flower to the female flower using a brush.
plant several varieties of cucumbers, or rather, to high-yielding varieties, in which predominantly female flowers are formed, it is necessary to plant a pollinating variety, on which both are formed and male flowers.

The ovary of cucumbers does not grow due to lack of pinching

It is necessary to promptly remove everything that is trying to grow from the axils of three to five leaves, and pinch all the stepsons that form above above the second leaf. Many gardeners are afraid of pinching, mistakenly believing that this procedure will reduce the yield. However, this must be done without fail and ruthlessly. Stepchildren that will grow from the axils no longer in the main lash, but from the axils of the stepsons, i.e. so-called second-order shoots need to be pinched after the first leaf.

Cucumber ovaries do not grow due to lack of nutrients

Cucumbers need to be fed regularly with watering, once every 7-10 days. But, depending on the stage of development, the composition of cucumber fertilizers should change: during the growth of green mass, the plant needs more nitrogen and phosphorus, and during the period of cucumber filling, phosphorus and potassium. If the plants are fed with an infusion of mullein, grass, chicken droppings and other nitrogen-rich but potassium-poor fertilizers even after flowering, the cucumber ovaries will turn yellow. The peculiarity of potassium deficiency is expressed in the curling and yellowing of the baby cucumber at the end. In this case, it is good to spray (and also add to nitrogen fertilizers) the plant with a solution of wood ash and calcium nitrate (3 tablespoons of ash and 10 grams of nitrate per bucket of water), or full mineral fertilizer type Mortar, Kemira.

Cucumber ovary does not grow due to improper watering

Cucumber ovaries can also suffer due to improper watering regime. Plants grown in a greenhouse where the air temperature is extremely high are at risk. Do not forget to irrigate the plantings with warm, settled water at least 2 times a week, and if the summer is hot, this should be done daily. Many summer residents believe that cucumbers are comfortable in a greenhouse and the harvest will be protected from adverse factors. environment, but in fact, greenhouse conditions turn out to be very harsh for bushes.

Cucumber ovary does not grow due to disease

Diseases of cucumbers - common reason yellowing of the ovary and leaves. This and powdery mildew, and fusarium. Attack cucumbers greenhouse whitefly, melon aphid and familiar to many summer residents spider mite. Both in the greenhouse and open ground diseases can be prevented. Due to damage to the roots, there is not enough nutrition for fruit formation, so the ovaries fall off. To save the plant, the lashes are bent to the surface of the soil, covering the healthy part of the shoot with soil. After time, the vine will take root and the plant will recover.

We have described the most common causes of yellowing and drying of cucumber ovaries. Caring for plants is a matter that requires regimen and effort. But everything goes for the benefit of the harvest, which will be good if you have not skimped on taking care of your beds all season.

Have a great harvest and a successful season!

Gardeners often complain - there are no cucumbers, only barren flowers. What to do in this case? What is the reason for the continuous flowering of plants with only barren flowers? And are they even necessary, these empty flowers?

First of all, the significant delay in the appearance of female flowers and late fruiting lies in the quality of the seeds. If you did not listen to numerous recommendations and sowed fresh seeds, then the plants that grow from them first form male flowers - barren flowers, and then - female ones. The picture is completely different if you sowed seeds 2-3 years ago. In this case, female flowers are formed simultaneously with male ones or earlier than male ones.

But what if your seeds are fresh, or you don’t know the expiration date of the purchased seeds? This is easy to do - they need to be warmed up, and plants from such seeds will produce female flowers much earlier than usual. Pre-sowing hardening of seeds with negative or variable temperatures will also speed up the appearance of female flowers.

Another reason for the infertility of cucumbers is an imbalance of nutrition, most often the abundance of nitrogen fertilizers in the soil, which causes rapid growth of vines, leaves and barren flowers. In this case, it is very useful for plants to fertilize with fast-acting phosphorus fertilizers, for example superphosphate extract (2 tablespoons per 10 liters hot water) or infusion of ordinary wood ash.

The third reason for the delay in the appearance of female flowers is watering the plants cold water. The water temperature must be at least 25°C. The water should not be allowed to be colder than the soil.

The next reason for “barren abundance” is a large excess of moisture in the soil. Dry the soil in the cucumber bed for several days. As soon as the leaves on the plants wilt slightly, an abundance of female flowers will immediately appear. But at the same time, do not dry out the soil.

ABOUT proper care- in the article Caring for cucumber plantings.

The “barren flower abundance” is also seriously affected by high ambient temperatures, strong density of plants in the greenhouse, etc.

And if all this does not help, then pinch the top of the main stem of the plants. It will stop the growth of plants in length, cause the growth of side shoots and female flowers.

What about barren flowers? Some gardeners remove most of the empty flowers in the mistaken hope that this will cause female flowers to grow. There is no benefit from their removal, and the conditions for pollination of female flowers can actually worsen. Barren flowers on the plant will quickly turn yellow and fall off.

In recent years, bunch varieties and hybrids of cucumbers have become the most popular, especially the female flowering type, which are characterized by high yields and generally good pickling qualities. They form from 3 to 7 ovaries in a node. But not every gardener manages to get fruits from these ovaries.

This is a fairly common occurrence, especially in hot weather and in film greenhouses. In this case, some of the ovaries do not grow and gradually begin to turn yellow, and then quickly dry out and fall off. What's the matter? There are several reasons for this phenomenon:

The air temperature in the greenhouse is too high (over 35°C).

very high relative humidity (over 90%).

in varieties and hybrids of a purely female type of flowering, there is a lack of pollinating insects due to prolonged cool weather or the absence of male flowers (barren flowers). They must be sowed with up to 10% of cucumbers of any pollinating variety.

very rare collection of cucumbers. They must be collected daily or, in extreme cases, every other day. Overgrown fruits inhibit the growth of new ovaries.

significant lack of nutrition in the soil. Modern hybrids with bunch fruiting require a significantly higher and more uniform nutrient content in the soil. There is simply not enough nutrition for the growth of all the ovaries in the bunch. In this case, 1-2 fruits grow, and the rest dry out and fall off. Therefore, if there are a lot of ovaries on the plants, they need to be fed every week with small doses of mullein infusion with the addition of urea.

And in order to improve the filling of the ovaries, especially in cool weather, it is necessary to foliarly fertilize the plants with Zircon or Epin preparations, which increase the plants’ resistance to stressful situations.

Cucumber is one of my favorites vegetable crops, the absolute value of which is the unique natural balance of water, fiber, vitamins and minerals, as well as its low calorie content. To be fair, it should be noted that growing cucumbers is within the capabilities of any summer resident. However, it very often happens that cucumber ovaries turn yellow and do not develop into full-fledged cucumber fruits. All this is one way or another the result of a violation of the technology of seed selection, cultivation, as well as improper care of cucumbers. What needs to be done to avoid being left without a harvest? What could be the reasons for yellowing and drying of cucumber ovaries? Let's talk about this further.

Why do the ovaries bloom, but turn yellow and fall off or do not set fruit at all: reasons

Cucumbers can set normally, but for some reason they still do not turn into fruits (greens). Next we will analyze in detail possible reasons, why the ovaries turn yellow and fall off, and the cucumber fruits themselves do not set.

Poor quality seeds

As they say, “Do not expect a good breed from a bad seed.”

Firstly, they may turn out to be unproductive on their own collected seeds, possibly obtained as a result of cross-pollination with hybrids. Therefore, it is better to buy seed material from trusted agricultural companies specially prepared for sowing.

By the way! About, how to properly collect and prepare cucumber seeds read .

Secondly, even if you are 100% confident in your seeds of varieties well known to you, it is still preferable to select seeds that are 2-4 years old. Only in this case female flowers will appear earlier than the male ones or at the same time, and there will be no problems with pollination.

Weak roots

The root system may not be sufficiently developed, because of this the plant is unable to provide itself with sufficient moisture and, accordingly, nutrition. In other words, if you grow cucumbers through seedlings, then you should not plant them too early or in any way injure the plants during transplanting and picking. On the other hand, if you overexpose the seedlings, it will not do anything good.

Cold soil

If the soil is not warmed up enough, then even despite its fertility and fertilization, as well as the fact that you have planted healthy and strong seedlings, root system plants simply will not be able to obtain the necessary nutritional elements Moreover, she will not be able to take feeding from it. In this case, in order to restore the plant and correct the situation, you should carry out foliar feeding on the leaf, that is, spray.

Lack of sun

Due to the lack of good illumination, so to speak, solar energy, inhibition of photosynthesis processes in the leaf system of the plant will certainly begin. Therefore, you should not rush into early planting of seedlings (especially in a greenhouse), when daylight hours are not yet so long.

Lack of nutrition or poor soil fertility

Even if the root system of the plant is sufficiently developed and the cucumber seedlings are planted in optimal timing, when it had already become warm and light enough, but the soil will not have the necessary nutrients, then the cucumber ovaries will not form. During flowering, special nitrogen-potassium fertilizing should be carried out for future better fruiting (more potassium is required during the fruiting period!). But in general, initially you need to properly prepare the bed for planting cucumbers, seasoning it well with organic matter.

By the way!(this is potassium, which is responsible for ovaries and fruit formation) cucumbers can be fed almost the entire season.

Also, the problem of the absence of ovaries of cucumbers or their yellowing may be lack of microelements, such as boron, zinc, molybdenum and even iodine.

Air temperature is too high or too low

The bottom line is that at low temperatures the pollen does not ripen, and at elevated temperatures the pollen becomes sterile. Optimal temperature for setting cucumbers and their normal development - +14-30 degrees.

If the temperature in the greenhouse You can still adjust it somehow, for example, ventilate by opening the door at night, then open ground you only have to do special canopy. Therefore, it is initially necessary to decide best place(light partial shade) for or

Improper watering

If during the formation of ovaries on cucumbers you It is not enough to moisturize and water, and the beds will remain dry for a long time, then the plant will begin to redirect all moisture to the leaf system. And if the heat hits, then strong evaporation will begin from the leaf apparatus, which means that nothing will go into fruit, the ovaries of the cucumbers will simply begin to crumble.

There are also the opposite situations, when you overwatered the soil under the cucumbers (although cucumbers love water, you should still follow the watering regime). In this case, on the contrary, you should dry the soil and not water it for a couple of days. When the leaves droop, only then sprinkle them with moisture and wait for the female flowers to appear.

By the way! All information about how to properly water cucumbers in open ground and greenhouses, you will find

Video: why the ovaries on cucumbers turn yellow and do not grow and what to do

Problems with pollination of cucumbers

If cucumber flowers are not pollinated, then you can’t dream of any ovaries. Actually, this is important if we're talking about about ordinary varieties of cucumbers, although even in self-pollinating (parthenocarpic) hybrids, the pollen does not ripen at low temperatures, and at elevated temperatures, the pollen becomes sterile.

Important! Bee-pollinated varieties of cucumbers cannot be planted in a greenhouse, because bees and bumblebees are unlikely to be frequent guests of closed ground. But even if you have a self-pollinating hybrid, then in this case there will always be pollinating insects welcome guests in the greenhouse.

Of course, you can carry out pollination by hand, but this process is quite labor-intensive and time-consuming, although it’s worth trying once.

The process of pollinating cucumbers with your own hands is shown in the picture:

If your cucumbers are full of barren flowers (which later fall off), and there are practically no ovaries, then here’s what you can do: treat them with special preparations (fruit formation stimulants), for example, “Ovary” or “Bud” (according to the instructions). You can also spray with boric acid (2 grams per 10 liters of water).

Video: “Ovary” for cucumbers

Forming cucumbers: pinching or pinching

Now, as a rule, most gardeners grow self-pollinating hybrid varieties cucumbers, which are more correctly called parthenocarpic. In such plants, only female flowers are formed, and the ovaries form independently without any help in huge quantities. This means that they require a very large amount of nutrients, which are used to form more and more new shoots and ovaries. The plant no longer has the strength to develop the fruits themselves. To redirect nutrition to the fruits themselves, it is necessary to properly shape the cucumber bushes, in other words, pinching or pinching them.

At a minimum, you need to pinch the main stem, and then female flowers with a good ovary will appear on the side shoots.

If you do not pinch the shoots, then due to lack of nutrition you may lose most of the harvest, because the young cucumber ovaries will simply dry out.

Timely harvesting

If you leave cucumbers on the lower branches for a long time and forget to pick them in time, they will draw all the juices onto themselves, trying to ripen and produce seeds. All cucumbers and ovaries that grow and form higher will lose nutrition and begin to turn yellow and dry out.

Video: why the ovaries on cucumbers turn yellow and dry out

If you do not want to lose most of the ovaries on cucumbers, which simply turn yellow and fall off, then even at the seed selection stage, focus on complete planting material, carefully and carefully approach the procedure for pollinating female flowers, and place special emphasis on the proper formation of cucumber bushes. In addition, do not skip regular fertilizing and timely harvesting. And then, in the foreseeable future, you will be able to multiply the high-quality ovaries on cucumbers, and then the harvest itself.

Video: why there are no ovaries on cucumbers or they turn yellow and fall off

In contact with

Before you find out how to increase the ovary on cucumbers, you need to know the main reasons for their wilting and drying of the ovaries.

The reasons for yellowing of the ovaries of cucumbers may be: characteristics of the cucumber variety, temperature changes, irregular watering, thickened planting of cucumbers, lack of nutrients, improper formation of bushes, as well as various plant diseases. All this can be monitored, prevented in advance and prevent yellowing of the ovaries on your plants.

Yellowed ovaries inevitably fall off and cannot produce a harvest; accordingly, the yield of cucumbers from your plot decreases sharply. Therefore, it is in your interests to eliminate all causes of yellowing and falling of the ovaries.

Features of the cucumber variety

Modern productive varieties cucumbers, especially those that do not require pollination, are distinguished by a large number of ovaries; they are located in each leaf axil. The plant cannot “feed” such a quantity of fruits, so it gets rid of some or all of the ovaries at once. To prevent this from happening, you should remove excess ovaries, cutting them off before the flowers bloom. On average, 25-30 fruits can form and ripen on one cucumber bush.

Provided that only part of the ovaries turn yellow and dry out, and the rest develop normally, nothing needs to be done, the plant itself knows how many fruits it can feed.

Temperature difference for cucumbers

It is not always possible to create in a greenhouse favorable conditions for growing vegetables, many summer residents complain about temperature changes. So, during the day the sun heats the greenhouse, and at night it becomes cool, which leads to undesirable changes. As a rule, it is difficult to influence the temperature, so it is easier to provide the plants with good nutrition.

Improper watering and lack of moisture in cucumbers

Cucumbers love water very much, but there are nuances here. Before cucumbers bloom and during fruiting, cucumbers need to be watered often - 3 times a week, and in hot weather - every day. However, during flowering, for the formation more female flowers, it is recommended to stop watering for several days so that the soil dries and the leaves wilt slightly. After the appearance of female flowers with ovaries, watering is immediately resumed, and in large volumes than before flowering. If the soil is too dry at this time, the cucumber ovary will fall off.

Another important point - do not water the cucumbers with cold water. The temperature of water and soil should be approximately the same, around 23-25 degrees (ideally). Watering cucumbers with cold water not only promotes the appearance large quantity male flowers, but also leads to yellowing and falling of the ovaries of cucumbers.

Cucumbers don't grow

Many people make this mistake and it often leads to the ovaries starting to turn yellow. Be sure to remove everything that somehow tries to “climb out” from the axils, which are located in the area of the first 3-5 leaves. In addition, all those stepsons on cucumbers that will definitely grow a little taller will need to be pinched above the 2nd leaf. Many people simply don’t do this at all, thinking that if they carry out pinching, the yield will be significantly reduced. But it is still necessary to do this. It often happens that stepsons actively grow from the sinuses, which are not present on the main lashes, but from those sinuses that are located on the stepsons. It is these same shoots that are called second-order shoots. They will definitely need to be pinched after the 1st leaf.

Thickened planting of cucumbers

If cucumbers are planted too densely, the plants, during the growth process, suffer from a lack of nutritional area, which leads to the development of diseases and the fall of the ovaries. To avoid these unpleasant moments, always carefully study the information about planting frequency located on the back of the seed packages. And, following these instructions, carry out planting work.

Lack of nutrients in the soil

A very common cause is a lack of all essential nutrients in the soil. The fact is that for the formation of a fruit from the ovary, a lot of a substance such as potassium is consumed from the soil. If there is not enough of it in the ground, then the ovary cannot properly set and produce a harvest.

That is why it is necessary to constantly feed cucumber plants. During fruiting, cucumbers need potassium and small amounts of nitrogen. There is a lot of potassium in wood ash. And urea can act as a nitrogen fertilizer. However, it is best to feed cucumbers with liquid chicken or cow droppings.

Diseases and pests of cucumbers

Of the pests that bother cucumbers, the most annoying is the aphid, which affects plantings both in open ground and in greenhouses. Due to the precocity of this crop, use chemicals dangerous, so it is better to give preference to biological products such as Verticillin. You can also fight aphids with a strong stream of water or by rubbing the affected leaves with ash.

To strengthen plant immunity and prevent diseases such as ascochyta blight, powdery mildew, downy mildew, it is worth using “Gaupsin” or “Mikosan”. It is recommended to treat cucumbers with biological preparations after germination, when planting seedlings, during flowering and, of course, when the first signs of disease appear.

Basic methods for increasing ovaries on cucumbers

Proper care of cucumber seeds before and after planting

The more developed the root system, the stronger the plant. To have large, powerful roots in cucumbers, this needs to be done from the very moment of planting the seeds:

spread a layer of sand into the box for planting seeds at the bottom, and then a mixture of earth and humus in a 1:1 ratio. Plant the seeds without additional germination and cover the box with glass;
When the seeds sprout, remove the glass. After some time, there will be a noticeable increase in the growth of the shoots; they will stretch out slightly. At this point you need to add more mixture of earth and humus. As a result, the part of the stem covered with soil gradually transforms into the root part;
then the picking is done without traditional root cutting and without freeing the earthen clod. After some time, you will also need to add a little soil to each individual pot - the root system will increase in size again. Thus, by the time of planting in the ground, the root system of the cucumber has already acquired sufficient power to provide you with a higher yield.

Watering cucumbers to increase ovary

In order for plants to remain healthy throughout the growing season, it is necessary that the soil around the base of the stem is always dry. This will help avoid rotting of the root system. On days when the weather is dry and sunny, with temperatures above +25 C, the temperature in the greenhouse can be very high even with regular ventilation.

It is also important to remember that both sprinkling and proper watering cucumbers should be carried out with warm, heated water. The water temperature should be about +200C +250C, or even better, approximately the same temperature as the soil in the greenhouse. This will avoid damage to the surface root hairs and get a decent harvest from the plant.

Nutrition for cucumbers to increase the ovary

How to feed cucumbers to grow? The question is quite important, since cucumbers love well-fertilized soil, warm temperatures and are best planted in greenhouses or greenhouses.

Feeding with bread. Experienced gardeners resort to the use of natural fertilizers. Eg, regular bread is a high-quality fertilizer for cucumbers. To do this, simply fill a bucket with chopped pieces of black bread, add water and leave for 7 days in a warm place to infuse. You can water cucumbers with this product once a week. Ovaries of the future harvest
Use of ash. Wood ash is also an excellent fertilizer for plants; in addition, it contains calcium, which is necessary for fruit growth. This fertilizer is applied several times during the period of vegetable growth, sprinkling the soil with dry ash before watering the beds.
Chicken droppings. Chicken manure is an affordable and effective fertilizer for cucumbers. It contains nitrogen, zinc, copper. The droppings can be used both dry and diluted, directly during active fruiting.

Spraying for cucumber ovary

In order for cucumbers to form multiple ovaries and have less empty color, it is necessary to use special preparations that help plants in this matter. Most often, summer residents and gardeners use preparations such as Epin or Zircon.

These products must be used according to the instructions included with the package. It is categorically undesirable to deviate in one direction or the other.

In addition, a remedy such as boric acid. This cheap, accessible drug increases crop yields and stimulates germination planting material, and also nourishes the roots of plants.

Promptly shoot vines of cucumbers to increase the ovary

Stepchildren of a cucumber are shoots that take away the plant’s strength, as a result of which it does not bear fruit. To avoid this, excess shoots must be removed. Usually, side shoots in the axils of the first 6 leaves are considered unnecessary. In addition, it is also recommended to get rid of the ovaries in the axils of the first 4 leaves.

The pinching procedure must be carried out very carefully. It is extremely important not to damage the main shoot, as well as its flowers. To prevent this from happening, you need to slightly pull the leaves back with one hand, and carefully pinch off the excess sprout from the stem with the other. If cucumber planting is done correctly, the first cucumbers should appear by mid-July.

You can plant cucumbers when the stepsons reach a size of 4-6 cm. This way they can be seen better, but the plant has not yet spent too much effort on such stepsons. But if the stepchildren reach sizes greater than 20 cm, then the loss of harvest may be 2.5 kg.

Pollination of cucumbers to increase the ovary

The pollination problem can be solved in the following ways. If you plan to grow cucumbers in a greenhouse, then it is better to take seeds of self-pollinating varieties. In open ground, you can use any variety - in this case, pollinating insects will come to the rescue. But even if you initially made a mistake with the variety for the greenhouse or the insects hid in cold summer conditions, you need to take pollination into your own hands. The greenhouse must be opened during the daytime. This will allow insects to fly in, and will also reduce the too high temperature in the heat of the day. You can also use mechanically, i.e. independently transfer pollen from male flowers to female flowers. It is easy to distinguish them: the flower on the ovary is female, the barren flower is male. You need to touch the male flower with a soft brush, and then carefully, trying not to shake off the pollen, touch the female one. Repeat the procedure until all the flowers are pollinated.

A common story is that they planted cucumbers, the seeds were good, they selected the varieties, and they wanted to get a harvest of cucumbers early, but they still aren’t there. The vines of cucumbers are good green, but there are no cucumbers, what is the reason? The plants bloom profusely, but ovaries do not form; there are several reasons for this. Barren flowers, of which there are a large number on cucumber bushes, are male flowers and without them it is impossible to get an ovary. Therefore, the mistake of gardeners is that they begin to pick off barren flowers; this will not help to get more ovaries. The number of male and female flowers is influenced by several factors, such as varietal characteristics, seed quality and growing conditions for cucumber plants.

A peculiarity of the flowering of cucumbers is that only male flowers appear first on the main stem of cucumbers, and then male and female flowers are formed alternately. Towards the top of the main stem, the number of female flowers becomes predominant; less often male flowers (empty flowers) predominate. Therefore, gardeners often cannot wait for the first cucumbers for a long time, it seems that they began to bloom a long time ago, but there are no ovaries.

What is the reason for the appearance of many barren flowers on cucumbers?
First of all, this is influenced by the freshness of the seeds; last year's seeds produce more barren flowers. Then perhaps they didn’t carry out pre-sowing preparation seeds, did not warm them up.

Cucumbers are very demanding of light; in shaded places they do not produce female flowers well; shading can be caused by too dense planting of plants, they shade each other. Intense heat and waterlogging of the soil, imbalance of fertilizer application, with a predominance of nitrogen. All these reasons can lead to a predominance of barren flowers on cucumbers over female flowers and, as a result, a decrease in yield.

What to do to stimulate the appearance of ovaries on cucumbers?
For sowing cucumbers, it is better to use seeds that have a shelf life of 2-4 years; in this case, the seeds are stored longer, the better their quality. Plants grown from such seeds give more yield, they begin to form female flowers earlier and naturally this leads to the early formation of ovaries in the lower part of the bush.

If you collected cucumber seeds yourself, then before sowing them, they need to be heat treated. To do this, the seeds must be placed in a fabric bag and hung over a heating radiator, let them hang there from the beginning of winter for 2.5-3.0 months, this will age the seeds and increase their productivity.
You can also increase the yield by using special preparations by soaking the seeds in them before sowing.

You can increase the formation of ovaries on cucumbers by adding to the hole before planting organic fertilizers with the addition of superphosphate.

If, nevertheless, a lot of barren flowers appear, it is necessary to pinch the top of the main stem, which will lead to the growth of side shoots, on which more female flowers are formed.

A delay in the appearance of female flowers on cucumbers can be caused by watering with cold water, this is especially important in the first time after germination and growth. Water must be poured into containers and barrels to warm it up, or mixed with hot water bringing the water temperature to 25 degrees. If the garden is small and planting cucumbers does not take up much space, this can be done. It is better to water in the afternoon, when the water in the container and the soil have warmed up. However, you should not water too late in the evening, as this is harmful to the plants.

There is one feature in growing cucumbers, which allows you to achieve maximum yield from the bush. Cucumbers love moisture, but do not like flooding.Cucumbers need good watering during the first period of growth and during fruit growth. But during flowering, cucumbers need to arrange “fasting” days, that is, stop watering for several days, drying out the soil, this will stimulate the appearance of more female flowers. When the ovaries appear, watering must be resumed. In hot weather, cucumbers should be watered every day and even twice a day; in cloudy weather, you should refrain from watering.

Your task is to organize for each bush drip irrigation, which will provide the cucumber bush with the necessary moisture for a long period. You will say that it is difficult and expensive. But no. For example, I placed a 1.5 liter bottle of water under each bush, and at the bottom of the bottle I pierced a tiny hole with an awl. Thus, 1.5 liters of water runs away from me per day. The cucumber bush receives all this water; it does not evaporate or flow out. If you organize drip irrigation under the cucumbers, you will achieve the preservation and ripening of all the cucumber ovaries that appear, which will lead to even greater productivity of the cucumber bush.

These are all the reasons for the low fruiting of cucumbers and ways to restore it.