Cucumber flowering is a very important stage in plant growth. The yield will depend on it. 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.

Varieties of cucumbers

By variety, cucumbers are divided into:

• Salting - have a dark green color and black spikes. The skin of these species is denser.
• Salad - such cucumbers are smooth to the touch, the peel is softer. Cucumber has a sweet taste without bitterness.
• Winter - these varieties ripen for a long time. Color can be any. The length of such cucumbers ranges from 15 to 35 centimeters. In winter, as a rule, large, smooth varieties with white spikes are more popular.
• Summer - these varieties are smaller than winter ones. They usually grow 6-20 centimeters long. Such cucumbers ripen faster and have better taste.
• Beam - a very popular variety of cucumber. It is distinguished by high fertility - about 8 ovaries are formed on one branch. Such varieties, as a rule, have gherkin fruits. Very good for pickling.
• Shade-tolerant - often summer cucumbers are best planted in a sunny garden, with the exception of this species, which feels great in the shade.
• Early maturing - this species is suitable for those who want to get a crop as quickly as possible. On average, such a cucumber ripens from 45 to 50 days.
• With a long ripening period - the ripening period of this cucumber is more than 50 days. They have excellent taste.
• Cold-resistant - a very unpretentious type of cucumber. Tolerates various temperature fluctuations. Drought resistant.
• Bee-pollinated - in order to harvest the best crop, barren flowers are sown along with ordinary seeds, then pollination by insects will be of better quality and, accordingly, there will be a rich harvest.
• Parthenocarpic - This type of cucumber is most suitable for growing in greenhouses, although it can also be grown in beds. Such a plant does not require pollination by bees.

Why cucumbers empty flowers

What are empty flowers, no doubt, every gardener knows, since every year they open up on cucumber beds and are mandatory for harvesting. But as a result of a number of reasons, which will be discussed later, it happens that the development of female cucumber flowers does not occur or is very late.

Often, young gardeners, having heard about the emerging problems with the fruiting of cucumbers, consider male flowers to be unnecessary atavisms and, having learned to distinguish them, they immediately remove them. And soon they complain that there are no ovaries on the fences.

In fact, for full development and fruiting, cucumbers must have both male and female flowers equally. Their presence is important for fertilization. If only one or the other prevails on the stems, pollination will not occur. Therefore, there is no need to interfere without reason in the process of plant vegetation.

Reasons for the appearance of empty flowers on cucumbers

The predominance of male flowers can provoke irrigation of seedlings with cold water. This is absolutely impossible to do. The water temperature should not be lower than 20 degrees, especially in the first time after planting seedlings or the appearance of sprouts. Plants should not be watered late in the evening either. It is important to observe the watering regimen. During the growth of both the stem and the fruit, watering should be sufficient (every day), but during flowering it is necessary to limit the flow of moisture, thereby provoking the formation of female flowers. If you use warm water and follow the irrigation regime, the question of why there are a lot of barren flowers on cucumbers will lose its relevance.

By pinching the top of the main stem, the development of female flowers with ovaries can also be accelerated. With this method, lateral shoots begin to actively grow, on which pistils are mainly formed.

How to prolong the fruiting of cucumbers

By the beginning of August, the first abundant wave of fruiting of cucumbers basically passes, their leaves become rough and prickly, in some places powdery mildew appears on them.

Articles for flower growers

At this time, urgent assistance to plants may be required. It is necessary to immediately carry out foliar feeding of plants with a solution of urea (0.5 tablespoons per 10 liters of water). After such feeding, the leaves of the plants will again become soft, photosynthesis will increase in them. And the powdery mildew that appeared on them in the initial stage is very easy to suppress with the help of an immunocytophyte.

Look closely at the soil of the plants. By this time, it has become very dense, but it should not be loosened, since it is easy to damage the root system of cucumbers. The soil must be watered and mulched with humus, in extreme cases, peat, grass or sawdust. After that, the plants quickly form new suction roots, the growth of fruits will increase.

But soon, on plants where the lower tier has finished fruiting, the leaves will turn yellow and the stems will be bare. If the weather still allows, try carefully lowering the lashes a little down, bending the lower bare part of the stem to the ground or curling it into a ring and covering it with humus. But all this must be done before watering, while the stems are soft, after watering the lashes become very fragile and break easily.

And, of course, at this time, the plants must be intensively “fed” with a solution of mullein with the addition of urea and ash. And what they need - the plants will tell you themselves, you just need to follow the shape of the fruit.

How to deal with barren flowers on cucumbers with folk remedies

For sowing, it is better to take old seeds (2-4 years of storage). Plants grown from such seeds are more productive, as they form more female flowers earlier, and, consequently, future fruits.

The seeds of the first year (let's say that you have prepared them yourself) before sowing must be warmed up in a gauze bag suspended near the radiators at the beginning of winter, and heated for 1.5-2.5 months at room temperature. It is possible, but with great care, to "age" the seeds in a drying or oven at a temperature of 50 ... 60 ° C for two hours.

Cucumber responds well to organic fertilizers. Regularly fertilize with a solution of bird droppings (1:12-15) or a solution of mullein (1:10), and with the onset of fruiting with the addition of superphosphate infusion (40 g per 10 l of water) or Kemira-Lux.

Top dressing from such components will play a dual role in the life of cucumbers: it will improve the nutritional regime of plants and protect them from the worst enemies of the peronosporosis crop and powdery mildew. This treatment is especially needed when re-growing the cucumber crop, which is laid in June-July. Watering with a solution of fresh mullein can be the main factor in saving the plantation from peronosporosis damage, which during this period takes the crop.

In the absence of fresh mullein, an infusion made from hay of wild herbs can be used to combat powdery diseases of cucumbers. It is prepared in the following way. One part of hay is poured with three parts of water and infused for three days. After the specified time, the infusion is drained, diluted three times with water, filtered and the beds are treated. This should be done in the evening or in cloudy weather, so that the phytoncides present in the infusion do not evaporate and have a detrimental effect on the fungi. You need to repeat the treatment every seven to eight days.

We found out the reasons why cucumbers bloom with an empty flower. And also collected recommendations from various sources about what can be done in this situation. We hope the information was useful to you.