What to do if cucumbers bloom but there is no ovary: 8 reasons and recommendations on how to correct the situation

Icer Knows how to make cucumbers bloom

Last year I had trouble with cucumbers; they seemed to bloom, but all in vain. The first thought that came to mind was illness. I looked up the literature and consulted with all available specialists, after which my efforts were rewarded. I learned what to do if cucumbers bloom, but there is no ovary - it turns out that the situation can be corrected and even get a harvest this year.

High humidity

Soil moisture is regulated by reducing or adding watering. If the air humidity in a greenhouse exceeds 80%, it must be urgently reduced, without compromising soil moisture and without stopping watering.

There are two ways to do this.

1. Periodic ventilation during the daytime.
2. Mulching is covering the soil with straw, grass clippings or any similar material. This approach allows you to maintain the required level of moisture in the soil and at the same time leave the air dry.

Dry grass or straw are considered the best materials for mulching. Photo: dacha.help

Preventive measures

Using a few simple tips will reduce the risk of barren flowers and ensure good yields. We must remember the following:

1. It is worth purchasing hybrids (designated F1) that do not require pollination and do not form barren flowers. Options are selected that are zoned in the region and suitable for certain growing conditions (greenhouse or open ground).
2. For pollinated varieties, it is advisable to sow flowering crops nearby that will attract bees and other insects. This will ensure normal formation of ovaries.
3. When forming a plant, pinch the top above the 8th shoot or higher. The fact is that the main part of the barren flower is formed on the stem, and on the side shoots there are usually many more ovaries.
4. It is worth using means to improve the formation of ovaries. They are different, but they all operate on the same principle, stimulating an increase in yield and ensuring the normal development of the established green plants.
5. The watering and maintenance regime should be observed and agricultural practices should not be violated.
6. It is necessary to use only seeds that are 3 years or more old; young ones are not suitable, since they germinate worse, and much more barren flowers are formed on the plants.
7. It is necessary to promptly understand why the leaves turn yellow, development slows down, or, conversely, why they are too large. Any diseases and problems impair fruit formation.

Correct bush formation

• If you have formed the bush incorrectly, then the plant may simply not have enough strength to form an ovary.
• According to agrotechnical standards, there should be no shoots in the axils of the first 4 true leaves (a pair of cotyledons does not count). Even if you see a beautiful ovary, it is advisable to remove it. Otherwise, regardless of the height of the stem, you may not have an ovary at the top. The antennae can also be plucked off.
• There are situations when another leaf breaks through in the axils next to the flower. All these additional leaves also need to be carefully cut out without damaging the flower. If they grow, they will choke the flower.
• The cucumber stem on the trellis will curl until it is trimmed. As soon as it reaches the top point of support, you need to pinch it, otherwise the vine will begin to fall down and take strength from the bush.

If you do not pinch the lower stepsons and do not remove additional leaves, then there is no point in waiting for a good ovary and a rich harvest. Photo: web-selo.ru

Signs of barren flowers on cucumbers

It is important to inspect the plants at least a day after active flowering begins. First, they understand the differences between female flowers and male flowers. The first ones can be recognized by the small ovary of the fruit under the bud; it is clearly visible. Male flowers do not have a fruit rudiment - it is just a bud on a thin stalk with stamens. By examining the plants you can easily see the difference.

The norm is an approximate equality of male and female flowers or a smaller amount of barren flowers. Some gardeners remove some, but you shouldn’t get too carried away, since if you remove all the barren flowers, the ovaries in the pollinated varieties will not be able to form. If it is noticed that there are more male buds than female buds, urgent measures must be taken.

Everything is done correctly, but there is no result

Not often, but it happens when a person has done everything correctly, but there are still no ovaries on the bushes. That is, the soil is well loosened, watered, mulched and has enough fertilizer. Plus the bush is perfectly formed, and all the stepsons are cut out, but the desired result is not visible.

In such a situation, you can try a two-level stress technology:

1. After watering, leave the bush alone until the leaves drop from dehydration. After this, water and leave alone again until the leaves drop. This procedure is done 2–3 times.
2. At night, open the greenhouse in parallel with the drying described above to harden the cucumbers.

Reasonable drying can stimulate the development of the plant and, accordingly, a high yield.
Photo: fermer.blog Thirst and simultaneous cold shocks will cause serious stress to the plants. Of course, there is a small chance that the cucumbers will die. But often after such procedures the plants wake up and the yield increases significantly.

In the video, an experienced farmer explains step by step why cucumbers get stuck in a greenhouse and then don’t bear fruit, and also gives valuable advice on how to overcome this situation:

Why there is no ovary on cucumbers in open ground

Open ground is not the most optimal place for cucumbers in terms of conditions if they are grown in the middle zone or other regions with temperature changes and changing weather conditions. This is a plant that loves warmth and grows best in southern regions. Because of this, it often happens that cucumbers have no ovary - just a barren flower, what to do in this situation:

1. Lack of heat or growing crops in a shaded area. For normal fruiting, an average daily temperature above +15°C and abundant sunlight are required. If it is unlikely that you will be able to solve the problem with shading, then when temperatures drop, you can take some measures - reduce the number of waterings, install small arcs and cover the breast with film if the vines spread along the ground. For options on a trellis, you can use agro-canvas - just throw it over the plants and the temperature inside will rise.
2. Lack of watering. Cucumbers are one of the most moisture-loving plants, so they should be watered daily in sunny weather, and if it’s hot outside, twice, in the morning and in the evening. Water strictly at the root; to retain moisture at the root part, mulch the surface or periodically gently loosen it.
3. Strong drafts. A problem inherent in open ground, due to which the number of ovaries formed is much less. It is necessary to select a place that is not blown by the winds or place tall plants on one side that will create a natural barrier.
4. Soils too poor. Due to active growth and development, cucumbers consume a lot of nutrients. If there is a shortage of them, all processes are disrupted, and this can especially affect the formation of ovaries. Therefore, the beds are first prepared in the spring by adding a complex of mineral fertilizers or organic matter.

Diseases and pests

How to feed cucumbers

It is necessary to provide plants with the necessary nutrients from the very beginning. Therefore, you should use simple instructions to eliminate micronutrient deficiencies:

1. When digging the soil, add quail manure or compost at the rate of 10 kg per square meter. If the soil is poor, additional mineral fertilizers must be used - per square meter you will need 10 g of potassium chloride and 20 g of potassium sulfate, urea and superphosphate.
2. When 2 or more true leaves appear, you need to water the plants with a solution of nitrophoska (1 tablespoon per 1 liter of warm, settled water). Apply at the root in the evening.
3. After the flowers appear, it is necessary to exclude nitrogen from the fertilizer composition altogether. A solution of mullein with the addition of wood ash and urea is used; infused bird droppings can also be used. Organic with the addition of 40 g of superphosphate per 10 liters of water also gives a good effect. Any complex formulations for cucumbers that do not contain nitrogen are suitable.

Advice!

You should alternate organic and mineral fertilizers, vary their method of application, and use both traditional and foliar fertilizers. This gives the best effect.

Reviews from gardeners

Alevtinka

The plant either lacks nutrition for fruit growth or light. You need to feed the cucumbers and spray them with preparations such as Ovary, Bud, or simply boric acid. I think so.

Source: www.forumhouse.ru

Frezi Grant

Try drying the soil a little, reducing watering, then they will begin to set fruit faster. Sometimes it is useful to give plants a little stress to speed up fruiting.

Source: www.u-mama.ru

Nutrient deficiencies or imbalances

Often the reason that cucumber ovaries turn yellow and do not grow is insufficient nutrition, that is, a lack of basic elements and microelements in the soil. This picture can be observed when plants have exhausted the supply of nutrients in the soil, and there are no additional feedings. Varieties and hybrids with a bunched ovary type suffer especially from insufficient nutrition. In this case, it often turns out that 1-2 cucumbers grow, and the rest wither.

Cucumber embryos can also turn yellow due to an excess of nutrients or improper application of fertilizers without observing the required proportions.

When the flowering phase begins, cucumbers need phosphorus, and during fruiting - nitrogen and potassium, so you can save the bushes and the harvest if:

• reduce or stop feeding with fresh manure;
• replace it with wood ash (300 g per 1 m2 of planting area);
• feed them with solutions of complex fertilizers: Kristalon, Master, Mortar, Kemira, Agricola, etc.

Such fertilizing is needed both for greenhouse cucumbers and for those growing in open beds, but they are especially relevant for plants planted in closed ground, since in such conditions the need for nutrition is greater.

What to remember

1. Fertilizer balance . For the ovary to appear, you should add fertilizer to the soil or directly to the leaf.
2. Seeds need to be prepared carefully . Carrying out disinfection, fertilizing and germination.
3. Temperature balance . Avoid overheating or hypothermia.
4. Bush formation . Garter, stripping the axils of the lower leaves, pinching new shoots and pinching the top of the bush.
5. Stress therapy . Drying with parallel hardening of the entire plantation.

Reasons for poor growth of cucumber ovaries

Crop losses most often follow problems associated with improper bush care, for example:

• low air temperature;
• sudden changes in temperature;
• lack of nutrients;
• incorrect time of planting and harvesting;

• excess or insufficient volume of water;
• lack of space for plants;
• diseases and pests.

Thickened seeding

With dense sowing, the plants will lack:

• ventilation;
• sunlight;
• nutrients for the development of the root system and flowers.

As a result, you can expect late, weak or no flowering. When planted densely, the root system develops poorly. This means that cucumbers are unlikely to bloom. Theoretically, per 1 sq.m. there should be no more than 4 bushes.

1. If cucumbers are grown on vertical trellises, then the distance between them should be 40 cm, and between vines weaving along the ground - 60 cm.
2. Planting density also increases when bushes are formed incorrectly.
3. For vertical formation of cucumbers, young shoots, where male flowers are formed, must be pinched when 5-6 true leaves appear.
4. This procedure favors the appearance of lateral shoots with female flowers.
5. At the initial stage of stem development, many side shoots are formed, which must be pinched correctly.
6. Otherwise, all the nutrients will go to the lower leaves, and the flowers will have nothing left and will fall off.
7. In autonomous (greenhouse) varieties and their hybrids, it is necessary to remove all excess shoots from the lower 3-5 leaves.

Prevention measures

Preventive measures will help prevent the appearance of barren flowers.

First, don't plant cucumbers too close to each other. Leave at least 0.4 m between neighboring bushes. Remember that cucumbers will release lashes. Densified plantings will also lead to the appearance of barren flowers.

Secondly, follow agricultural practices

Watering, fertilizing, loosening the soil - all this is very important so that the flowers turn into fruits and do not fall off

Thirdly, selection and preparation of planting material. Give preference to proven seeds. Don't forget to soak and sprout the grains.

Fourthly, if your region does not have very favorable conditions for the development of culture, then use the seedling method.

Fifthly, choose self-pollinating varieties and varieties that do not bear barren flowers.

Rules for planting in a greenhouse

Today, thanks to the work of breeders, there are a large number of cucumber varieties. Cucumbers can be large and small, early or late, for salads and for pickling, lumpy and smooth-fruited, early and later.

In open ground, the finished crop can be harvested at a later date. Greenhouses are great for producing early vegetables. But for proper and timely fruit setting, certain rules must be followed. Varieties for greenhouses are divided into the following groups:

• winter-spring;
• spring-summer;
• summer-autumn.

Each of these groups in turn is divided into early ripening, mid ripening and late ripening. They can be bee-pollinated or parthenocarpic. Parthenocarpic plants were created for growing in closed greenhouse conditions, where there is much less light and solar heat. And, of course, there is no access for insects for pollination.

Watering with cold water

This reason why cucumbers do not bloom is considered the most common. It is best to use rainwater. In its absence, it is necessary to water with settled tap water warmed in the sun, the temperature of which should not be lower than 25 degrees C.

It is better to moisten the soil early in the morning or evening, and water on the leaves before noon, so that the air around the plants is also moist. When watering, the soil at the root collar should remain dry to avoid rotting of the stem.

Before flowering and during the growth period of green plants, the soil should be constantly moist. With the onset of flowering, watering should be reduced so that there are more female flowers. When the air temperature rises to 27 degrees C and above, watering cannot be reduced. On such days, they can be carried out twice a day, since the high temperature prevents fruit from setting.

To answer a frequently asked question: “how to water cucumbers to form ovaries,” experienced gardeners advise spraying cucumbers with a solution of boric acid (1 gram of powder per liter of water) or modern preparations that increase the plants’ resistance to stress.

Soil preparation

The preparatory planting process begins with the soil. If you grow cucumbers through seedlings, then first you need to prepare or buy a special mixture in which you will plant the seeds.

Cucumbers love loose and fertile soil, which means that you need the same soil for sowing seeds.

The soil should not only be light, but also moisture-retaining, which is very important for cucumbers who like to “drink.” That is why it is better to exclude peat from the composition or use it in small quantities.

Store-bought soil, which most often contains a lot of peat, begins to dry out quickly at home.

Composition of the substrate for cucumber seedlings:

• turf soil - 3 parts;
• humus or fully matured compost - 2 parts;
• sand - 1 part.

This mixture must be sifted so that there are no large parts. The mixture can be heated in the oven for 10-20 minutes or frozen. It is best to prepare the mixture in advance, in the fall, and put it in a bag. Place the bag on the balcony to kill pathogens. Before sowing, add a liter of vermiculite to the mixture bucket for looseness, a glass of ash and 2 tablespoons of superphosphate.

Poor quality seeds

Beginning gardeners often choose those varieties from which they later want to collect seeds for sowing. After planting them, it turns out that the cucumbers do not bloom in the garden or there are a lot of empty flowers on them. This means that the plant from which the seeds were obtained was a hybrid.

It is advisable to buy seeds only from trusted agricultural companies, and self-harvesting is a risky business. And if new gardeners persistently want to prepare their own seeds, then they should listen to the advice of experts.

They argue that it is necessary to choose fruits with four seed chambers, the seeds of which produce more female flowers, which means there will be more ovaries.

Very “young” seeds that are collected a year before sowing also have poor quality. Seeds with good germination and yield are those that are collected and aged for at least two years. Otherwise, instead of a harvest there will be a continuous barren flower or the plants will not bloom at all. When purchasing seeds, you need to pay attention to the expiration date.

Choosing a variety for indoor soil

Self-pollinating or parthenocapic cucumber varieties are suitable for indoor soil. Both do not need bees. Plants set fruit in closed ground conditions without external intervention. But the process of ovary formation itself occurs in different ways.

Self-pollinating cucumbers are those in which pollination occurs as a result of pollen being transferred from the stamens to the pistil within one flower. In this case, the plant does not have female and male flowers, and accordingly, there are no barren flowers.

Parthenocapic is translated as “virgin”, that is, the cucumber sets without pollination. In adulthood, parthenocapic fruits are always distinguished by their appearance. They have virtually no seeds. And if they exist, they are very tiny, in their infancy.

Among self-pollinating varieties there are varieties and hybrids. The variety differs from a hybrid in that it is a fairly stable form that transmits its basic qualities through the seeds. If you buy a variety of cucumber once, you can plant it year after year, collecting the seeds yourself. Its varietal characteristics will be preserved.

Let's consider several popular varieties and hybrids for greenhouses and greenhouses:

Adam F1. Dutch self-pollinating high-yielding hybrid. Valued for setting fruit very early. In just a month and a half you can start harvesting. The second undoubted advantage is the extended fruiting period. Cucumbers are arranged 5-7 together. With insufficient care, 2-4 fruits are tied in the knot. Cucumbers grow not only beautiful in appearance: dark, small, with small thorns. They are delicious both prepared and fresh.

Zyatek F1. A very popular parthenocapic hybrid. It is loved for its early ripening, the first fruits appear already on the 40th day. The bouquet arrangement of the ovaries is also appreciated. The cucumbers of this hybrid are gherkin-type, cylindrical in shape. They do not grow large; growth stops at 14-16 cm. The fruits of this variety are tasty and productive.

F1 is the envy of everyone. Despite the fact that this hybrid appeared relatively recently, it has already become popular among gardeners due to its super-yielding and bunched arrangement of fruits. The variety's lashes are powerful. They develop right up to frost and produce an excellent harvest on the side shoots. The thin skin makes it possible to use these fruits both fresh and pickled.

Well-fed dad F1. One of the salad varieties for indoor soil. Long, smooth, cylindrical fruits are suitable for salad and fresh consumption. This variety is not suitable for whole-fruit canning, but it is just right for preparing lecho and other preparations where chopped fruits are needed. Just like the previous ones, this variety has bunched ovaries, is early ripening and disease resistant.

Ecole F1. One of the new, very successful parthenocapic hybrids. This cucumber is suitable for those who can preserve pickles (greens 3-6 cm). That is why it can be picked within 35-38 days after the first shoots appear. Ecole's greens are smooth, cylindrical, and grow in bunches. They are collected every day so that they do not overgrow.

Chinese cold-resistant F1. From the popular series of long and sweet cucumbers. It is suitable for growing in greenhouses, where it is easier to tie it up. Its lashes are powerful and grow quickly. The fruits themselves reach half a meter in length. Smooth and tasty cucumbers can be used in salads or prepared into slices for the winter.