The reasons for the predominance of barren flowers on cucumbers may be natural. For example, if too young seeds are used for sowing or the planting material is taken from hybrids. However, gardeners also make mistakes that lead to the absence of female flowers from which the ovary is formed. Three typical incorrect actions are planting cucumbers in the shade, violating the watering regime, and unbalanced fertilizing.
Landing in a dark place
Cucumbers belong to the group of heat-loving and light-loving crops. For normal development, they need good lighting, so it is better to grow vegetables in a sunny place. But not everything is so simple; on a small plot, summer residents have to look for a compromise.
A bed of cucumbers may end up in a shaded part of the garden. Due to lack of light:
- the growth of cucumber shoots slows down;
- side stems grow weakly;
- the leaves become small, the amount of chlorophyll in them decreases;
- The fruits do not set well, and predominantly male flowers are formed on the bushes.
If such a mistake was made during sowing, two techniques can help gardeners. It is necessary to limit the growth of the main stem. If the variety is early ripening, pinching is done after 10 leaves appear. On late-ripening varieties, the crown is pinched after 6-8 leaves appear.Pinching will lead to the development of side shoots, which predominantly produce female type flowers. In addition, you will need to reduce watering.
Improper watering
Cucumbers like abundant watering, but still need to ration the amount of water applied. The soil should not be allowed to become waterlogged. It is especially important to follow this rule in cool weather, when the root system begins to work worse.
Excess moisture in the soil can cause root rot to develop. In this case, the plant will strive to survive. Harvest formation will fade into the background. Another mistake associated with watering is adding cold water.
Cucumbers react painfully to temperature changes; stress does not have the best effect on flowering and fruiting. Water for irrigation is first poured into a barrel standing in a sunny place. The temperature of the irrigation water should be 25-28 °C. Watering is carried out in the morning or evening hours at sunset.
Overfeeding with nitrogen
Cucumbers need nitrogen fertilizers in the initial stages of growth. If you continue to give cucumbers nitrogen before flowering, the bushes will begin to “fatten”, growing new shoots and large green leaves. The development of vegetative mass always occurs to the detriment of fruiting.
Feeding must be balanced. Before flowering, cucumbers need fertilizers with an increased dose of potassium and phosphorus. Both elements affect flowering and the ability to form fruit. Before flowering begins, nitrogen is excluded from fertilizing.
Cucumbers are fed with a solution of 40 g of superphosphate and 15 g of potassium sulfate per 10 liters of water.Industrial fertilizers can be replaced with wood ash. An increase in the number of ovaries will be facilitated by spraying with a solution of boric acid (1/2 tsp per 5 liters of water) or the preparation “Ovary” according to the instructions at the beginning of flowering.
The appearance of barren flowers on cucumbers is often caused by heat or too cool weather. It will not be possible to influence the climate, but some measures will help. In cold weather, the garden bed can be covered with film, while at the same time reducing watering; in hot weather, cucumbers, on the contrary, are watered frequently - twice a day. In response to such care, the culture will reward you with a generous harvest.
