One of the favorite vegetables of summer residents is cucumber, which begins to bear fruit early in closed ground. But it happens that all the conditions have been created, but it is not clear why the cucumbers in the greenhouse do not set. The problem can be eliminated if you know the reason for the absence of ovaries and fruits.
Their fruiting depends on the appearance of flowers on the vegetable bushes. Both the appearance of fruits and the harvest of vegetables depend on the number of female inflorescences. But sometimes, a situation arises when cucumbers do not bloom, and this happens for various reasons:
- The lack of flowering is due to the quality of the seeds. If seeds are stored for more than two to three years, they rarely produce viable seedlings. But seeds just collected from fruits are not always good material for the growth and flowering of cucumbers.
- Vegetables that have an imbalanced nutritional balance during the growing season are infertile. By overdoing it with nitrogenous fertilizers, you end up with long vines and a lot of lush greenery. But the plant is not going to bloom.
- Watering cold water leads to the fact that flowers do not appear in the leaf axils for a long time. It is clear why there is no cucumber harvest.
- Excess moisture in the soil has a negative effect on the plant when the stems begin to rot and the emerging flowers dry out.
- If during flowering the air temperature in the greenhouse rises, reaching 30 degrees, then the flower buds fall off.
- Stuffiness, lack of air, crowded conditions in the greenhouse will not allow the plants to develop properly, and then there will be no ovary on the cucumbers. Stopping the growth of side shoots on which fruits develop from female flowers will lead to loss of yield.
Proper preparation for planting the vegetable and organizing its care in the greenhouse will help the cucumbers to bloom.
Why don't cucumber ovaries grow in a greenhouse?
In hot weather, the ovaries on cucumbers appear on time, but grow poorly and dry out.
The ovaries do not develop because:
- greenhouse vegetables are kept at an air temperature above 32 degrees and a humidity of 90 percent;
- plants are not pollinated due to the lack of male flowers on the plant and insects in the greenhouse;
- insufficient nutrition in the soil.
Diseased plants will also not produce full-fledged ovaries:
- The appearance of rot is associated with infection by pathogenic fungi. As the infection develops, all parts of the plant become covered with white mycelium. The plant stops developing. To save cucumbers, the affected leaves, stems, and ovaries are torn off, sprinkled with lime or crushed coal on top. Thickened plantings are thinned out, removing diseased bushes. Then the ovaries will begin to develop more actively, having received enough air.
- Powdery mildew suppresses the growth of cucumbers and their ovaries. As soon as it appears on the leaves white coating, then it is necessary to pollinate the cucumbers with sulfur powder.
- Brown spot occurs when the greenhouse is cool and humid. Treatment with Bordeaux mixture will stop the development of the disease.
Having established the reason that the cucumbers do not set, competent agrotechnical procedures are carried out.
Why cucumbers bloom but there are no fruits: proper planting organization
If cucumbers do not set in a greenhouse, then the reason lies in the planting and preparation for it.
The composition of the soil for cucumbers should be nutritious. To set fruit, prepare a mixture of equal parts of turf soil, peat, sand and vermiculite. Instead of vermiculite, use sawdust and a little coconut fiber.
Healthy seedlings will appear faster and cucumbers will develop better if you put rotted manure as the base of the soil substrate, adding half as much turf soil and a little sand to it. Seedlings don't like acidic soils, so it is better to neutralize the pH level.
There should be enough potassium, phosphorus, and magnesium in the garden bed in the greenhouse during flowering. The elements are applied in the form of fertilizers to the soil in advance. Treat the soil against pathogenic fungi by pouring boiling water or a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
Cucumber seeds undergo pre-sowing treatment. Their:
- sorted by immersing in saline solution;
- disinfected in a one percent solution of sodium permanganate;
- sprouted in damp layers of gauze or toilet paper.
It is better to sow cucumbers directly into the greenhouse, as the seedlings do not tolerate picking well. To do this, compost beds are prepared indoors, a nutrient soil mixture is placed on top of them, a layer of twenty-five centimeters. After abundant watering, two seeds are placed in the holes. Cucumbers will set better if on one square meter place no more than four plants.
The top of the sown bed is covered with a polyethylene film. When shoots appear, the shelter is removed.
Why the ovaries do not develop: what to do
If there are few female flowers, then you should not expect large quantities of fruits. And from fallen ovaries you won’t be able to get them any more. Flowers can dry out due to temperature changes. Vegetable plantings can be saved by mulching. Cover the soil around the bushes with a layer of sawdust, straw, hay, and fallen leaves. Mulch will help retain moisture in the soil and prevent weed growth.
Hypothermia is not allowed, otherwise there will be no ovaries on the cucumbers in the greenhouse. Therefore, during flowering, the air temperature in the greenhouse is controlled.
Cucumbers do not set fruit when they lack potassium, magnesium and phosphorus. If the soil in the greenhouses is poor, then the cucumbers are fed with fertilizers every week. In order for vegetables to grow, alternate fertilizing with organic matter and minerals. You can spray the leaves of the plant on top with nutrient solutions. This will allow you to avoid the problem of cucumbers blooming but no ovaries. And they will not turn yellow.
You can increase the growth and number of ovaries by regular harvesting. Cucumbers are picked every morning, and then the duration of fruiting increases until late autumn. In a fruiting cucumber, ovaries are constantly formed.
Cucumber varieties can be either self-pollinating or not. A self-pollinating vegetable grows better in greenhouses. It is chosen because you don’t have to bother with pollination to grow fruits. Seedlings quickly sprout, and there are much more fruits on such plants. Self-pollinating cucumbers will not turn yellow. 96 percent of the ovaries turn into greens with tender flesh and a crunchy taste.
When a situation arises that cucumbers bloom but do not bear fruit, the reason lies in the lack of phosphorus in the soil. You can take the nutrient from wood ash; it is better absorbed by the roots of the plant. For cooking nutrient solution two tablespoons of ash are diluted in ten liters of water. Processing of cucumber beds takes place in cloudy weather after loosening the soil. After feeding, the fruits do not dry out and fill faster.
Fruiting can be improved by pinching the central stem and side shoots of the first and second levels. The procedure will lead to an increase in the number of female flowers, and, therefore, there will be a lot of cucumbers.
Why do flowers fall but there are no cucumbers?
If you don’t know what to do when cucumbers bloom but there is no ovary, then you need to reconsider the conditions for growing the plant and the rules for caring for it.
The vegetable begins to shed flowers when:
- the irrigation regime is disrupted - the soil is either dry or waterlogged;
- close located groundwater;
- there is not enough phosphorus and potassium in the beds;
- there is not enough light and air in the greenhouse.
The formation of a bush into one or two stems must be carried out. If the central shoot has grown, but the side stems do not lengthen, then the harvest will be small. After all, the main fruits are tied on lashes of the second and third order.
But picking off male flowers or barren flowers is completely unacceptable. They are needed for pollination. If there are too many of them, then it is necessary to reduce the frequency of watering and spray the cucumbers from above.
When cucumbers do not bear fruit, it is necessary to water the ridges abundantly and feed them with rotted manure. It is better to treat plants with special fertilizers such as Azofoska, Kemira.
Constantly moist soil in the greenhouse will prevent the fruits from filling. The soil must be dried without watering for three days. The leaves will wither, and the female flowers will be pleased with the setting of fruits.
A fairly common problem is the absence of ovaries in successfully flowering cucumbers. This is seriously frustrating, because all the work involved in growing seedlings, planting them in permanent place growing, watering, loosening, weed removal, pest and disease control were invested in order to ultimately produce a harvest. What to do if the cucumbers have only empty flowers? What went wrong?
Why does a cucumber bloom but not form ovaries?
There may be several reasons:
- Pollination does not occur. Bee-pollinated crop varieties require pollinator access. And if the bees cannot get into the greenhouse or onto the windowsill, then you will not wait for the ovaries.
- Too hot. High air temperatures (above +35°C) for hybrids and bee-pollinated varieties cause pollen sterilization. As a result, the plants bloom, but cannot be pollinated and, accordingly, there are no ovaries.
- Weak seedlings and unsuitable conditions. If conditions are not suitable for cucumbers, they will bear male flowers without fruit.
- The time has not come. At the very beginning of flowering, cucumbers first produce several empty flowers, which is a completely normal phenomenon.
Cucumbers bloom without an ovary
Let's look in a little more detail at why cucumbers bloom profusely, but there is no ovary.
Delayed female flowers and late ovaries are primarily associated with poor seed quality. If you planted fresh seeds, then the plants that grew from them will actively produce male flowers and only later female flowers with ovaries will begin to appear. To avoid this, it is better to take seeds that are 2-3 years old. Then the female flowers will appear earlier than the male ones or at the same time as them, and everything will be fine with pollination.
If you don’t know how old the seeds are, you can warm them up before planting or, conversely, harden them with frost. Then the female flowers of the plants grown from them will appear on time.
The reason that cucumbers bloom and the ovaries dry out may be a violation of growing conditions. Review the lighting, watering, air and soil temperatures. The roots of cucumbers do not like the cold, they grow poorly, do not absorb nutrients, and due to excessive watering they rot. Lack of light and high air temperatures cause cucumbers to stretch out and have thin and frail stems. Such an unhealthy atmosphere does not in any way contribute to good fruiting.
Too wet soil has a negative effect on fruiting of cucumbers. What to do if cucumbers bloom but there is no ovary? Try drying the soil, that is, not watering the garden bed for several days. As soon as the leaves on the plants wilt slightly, a large number of female flowers will immediately appear. Just don’t overdo it and dry out the soil.
Another reason why cucumbers bloom but there are no ovaries may be an imbalance nutrients. If there is too much nitrogen in the soil, this causes rapid growth and an increase in green mass, as well as an abundance of barren flowers. To correct the situation, you can feed the cucumbers with an extract (dilute 2 tablespoons in 10 liters of water). You can also try watering the plants with infusion 
ordinary
An additional incentive for cucumbers to produce female flowers can be pinching the tops of the stem. This will stop the growth in length and cause the appearance of lateral shoots with female flowers on them.
What to do with barren flowers?
When we have achieved the appearance of a sufficient number of female flowers with ovaries, the next question arises - are empty flowers necessary, what to do with them? Some remove them in the belief that this will cause female flowers to grow. However, this will not help in any way, and can only worsen pollination conditions. Barren flowers, as a rule, dry out and fall off on their own.
It so happens that when flowering is successful, cucumbers do not set an ovary. I planted seedlings, grew them, transplanted them into the soil, watered them, looked after them, but there was no harvest. It's a shame! In this article we will try to figure out why cucumber ovaries do not grow and how to avoid empty flowers.
Lack of pollination
What should you do when there is no ovary on cucumbers? The fact is that cucumbers are bee-pollinated crops, which, as is known, require the presence of a pollinator. It is logical that if the bees will not be able to get to the seedlings, then there will be no ovary. If the temperature environment rises above +35 °C, the pollen is sterilized. As a result, cucumbers bloom but cannot pollinate, so waiting for the ovary to set is a waste of time. In cool weather, insects also do not fly, and pollination does not occur.
Some people believe that if you remove barren flowers, the number of female flowers will increase. But this opinion is erroneous, as this will lead to pollination conditions deteriorating. Do not touch barren flowers, as they will fall off on their own as they dry out. In greenhouse conditions it is better to grow self-pollinating varieties. Pollination can be done mechanically: With a brush, first touch the male flowers, and then the female ones.
Strong thickening
In order for cucumbers to set fruit properly and bear fruit, they must be planted correctly. If the crop is too thick, you may be left without a harvest. But the situation can be corrected: you can simply weed the plants; You should also harvest regularly (some varieties grow very quickly and should be harvested almost every day).
Unsuitable conditions
Are cucumbers setting but not growing? The reason may be a violation of growing conditions. Perhaps the lighting mode needs to be reconsidered. If there is little light, then cucumbers have weak stems and elongated fruits. To grow excellent harvest, needed good watering. The main condition is that the water should not be colder than the soil. Most often this is around +25 °C. The best solution is to pour water into the barrels to heat it up, or add hot water. It is not recommended to water cucumbers late in the evening.
Keep in mind that excess moisture will not lead to anything good. Here, as in any other matter, balance is important. If the soil has excess moisture, it needs to be dried. After this simple procedure, a few leaves will wither, but the main thing is that many female flowers will appear, which is the key to the fact that the cucumbers will begin to set. Just don’t overdo it, as the plant may die. Cucumbers have an excellently developed root system, so if groundwater rises close to the surface, the roots begin to rot and the crop is at risk.
One of important factors obtaining the ovary for cucumbers is the temperature. At high temperatures, gardeners can observe an abundance of barren flowers, but frosts are not the best option so that the cucumbers can set and bear fruit. During hot weather, cucumbers need to be watered daily; in cloudy weather, refrain from watering. Great option - drip irrigation, which allows you to maintain the necessary soil moisture.
Spoiled seeds
Cucumbers bloom, but there is no ovary? What to do if all conditions are met? The reason may be the seeds. For example, if the seed is not fresh, then the flowers with the ovary (female) will grow first. And among the fresh seeds there may be only empty flowers (male flowers). If it is not possible to know the age of the seeds, then they should be warmed up before planting. This procedure will allow female flowers to appear earlier.
However, there are varieties where flowers with an ovary appear later. Such varieties are considered late. In this case, you just need to wait a little.
In general, hardening will not interfere with swollen seeds. To do this, they are placed in a cool place for several days, then dried a little and only then sown. Such seeds will begin to grow earlier.
Lack or excess of nutrients
Cucumbers have started but are not growing - what to do? It is quite possible that there is an imbalance of nutrients. The opinion that there is no such thing as too much fertilizer is erroneous. The abundance of nitrogen in the soil will lead to an increase in the number of barren flowers.
If your cucumbers don’t set at all, what should you do in this case? Feed the soil with the missing microelements and reduce the amount of those that are already in abundance.
You can normalize the soil by fertilizing with phosphate fertilizers. Water the seedlings with an infusion of tree resin. A cucumber can bloom even if the balance of microelements in the soil is disturbed, but due to lack of strength it will begin to drop its flowers. To avoid this, feed flowering plant mullein infusion every seven days.
What to do
So, what to do if cucumbers don't bloom? Here are some tips:
- create favorable conditions;
- maintain the balance of nutrients in the soil;
- sow high-quality and proven seeds;
- avoid thickening.
It is good to choose seeds for sowing that have been stored for several years. Why? Because age increases quality and, accordingly, productivity. Flowers with an ovary appear earlier than usual. To increase productivity, it is also recommended to soak the seed in special solutions.
The reason why cucumbers do not bloom may be excess moisture. To prevent this from happening, during flowering you can refrain from watering on some days. As soon as the ovaries appear, daily watering must be restored.
If there are too many barren flowers, then it is necessary to pinch the top of the main stem.
Cucumber ovaries do not grow - what to do in this case? Check the air humidity level in the greenhouse; it should not exceed 90%. You may need to feed the plant - for example, with drugs such as Zircon or Epin.
Video “What to do if cucumbers have empty flowers”
From this video you will learn what actions to take if cucumbers have barren flowers.
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. Wherein 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 an abundance in the soil nitrogen fertilizers, 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 with 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 type of flowering, which differ high yield and mostly 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.
Such a crop as cucumber is very common among summer residents. This vegetable is not very demanding; it grows both in a greenhouse and in open ground, shows excellent productivity. But often gardeners, expecting a rich harvest, already at the stage of fruit formation on the cucumber vine, notice that there are ovaries on the cucumbers, but they stop growing. There are several reasons for this development of events.
- Although the cucumber is unpretentious, it does not tolerate too high and too high low temperatures. The optimal comfortable temperature for this crop is from 16 to 31 degrees Celsius.
- A banal lack of nutrients contributes to the inhibition of the growth of cucumber fruits. Moreover, in each growth phase, it is necessary different composition fertilizers
- The presence of ripened fruits on the plant prevents young cucumbers from filling up.
- Oddly enough, the cucumber, which consists of more than 90% water, does not like too moist soil.
- Insufficient pollination can also stop the development of the resulting ovaries.
If a summer resident is faced with the problem of ripening cucumbers on his plot, the main thing is not to despair and take decisive measures. Otherwise, you may get too low a harvest of this crop or even be left without it. Having determined why the ovaries do not grow, you can take appropriate measures.
What to do to make cucumber ovaries grow
- A method such as mulching the soil will help against temperature changes. Cover with soil, dried grass, sawdust, fallen leaves, pine needles and other similar materials. There are also special films for mulching beds on sale. This method not only regulates the daily temperature of the soil, but also retains moisture and prevents the growth of weeds. Do not overcool plants by using them for watering cold water. This stresses the cucumbers and slows down the growth of the crop. Transoms of greenhouses must be closed at night.
- Cucumbers at the fruiting stage need fertilizers such as nitrogen, potassium and magnesium. For root feeding, ash, humus, infusion of mullein and urea are used. Can be carried out foliar feeding already ready mineral fertilizers, which are presented in great abundance in stores. But when applying fertilizers, you need to take into account the composition of the soil on which the crop is grown.
- If irregular harvesting is to blame, there is only one piece of advice: harvest as often as possible. This should be done every day or every other day.
- If watering is too abundant, you need to stop it completely for a while. When the soil dries out, start watering the plants again, but with less intensity. The most important thing here is not to overdo it and not to dry out the soil.
- 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 in daytime days. This will allow insects to fly in and also reduce too much high temperature in the heat of the moment. You can also use the mechanical method, 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 it with a soft brush male flower, and then carefully, trying not to shake off the pollen - to the female. Repeat the procedure until all the flowers are pollinated.
Cucumbers bloom, but there are no ovaries
Sometimes gardeners have the following problem: there seems to be flowering, but for some reason the fruits are not formed. The cucumber has two types of inflorescence: male and female. And if there are no ovaries, it means that the plant has few female inflorescences, or they are not pollinated.
If at the beginning of flowering the cucumber has barren flowers, this is normal. A little later, the female ones should appear and begin to bear fruit. But if a lot of time has passed, and there are still no ovaries, then we need to act.
Why don't cucumbers set?
The reasons why there are no ovaries are different. But most often this happens due to the following reasons:
- The seeds that were planted are no more than a year old.
- A lot of nitrogen fertilizers have been applied.
- The soil is too wet all the time.
- Plants don't get enough sun.
- The temperature is too high, 36 degrees or more.
- Pollination does not occur.
The late appearance of flowers is primarily due to poor seed quality. If seeds are planted with little time, they will actively produce male flowers, and female flowers will appear much later.
What to do to make cucumbers bloom faster
To prevent the late appearance of inflorescences, you need to plant seeds that are about two to three years old. In this case, female flowers appear simultaneously with male ones. But if the age is not known, then they can be warmed up before planting or, conversely, hardened with cold.
If there are no ovaries, then you need to look at the growing conditions. Perhaps the lighting, air or soil conditions are not suitable for cucumbers. If it is too cold, then the plants grow poorly and do not absorb useful material. Low light and high ambient temperatures have a very bad effect on plants. They stretch out, and the stems turn out to be frail and unhealthy, which may result in fruiting failure.
It is necessary to water in moderation so that the roots, especially before flowering, are moist all the time. But too much water will have a very bad effect. Because of this, ovaries may not form. In this case, the soil must be left without watering for several days. This will make it dry and the plant stems will wilt a little. Then many female inflorescences will appear. IN in this case, the main thing is not to overdo it with drought, otherwise it will only get worse.
Ovaries may also not form due to the fact that there is a lot of nitrogen fertilizer in the soil. The cucumbers then grow abundantly green mass, and at the same time many barren flowers are formed. If this happens, then in this case it is necessary to feed with phosphorus fertilizer. Dilute two large spoons in a bucket of water and apply to the soil. You can also make an infusion of ash and pour it over it.
An excellent impulse for the appearance of female inflorescences is shortening the tops of the stems. Thanks to these actions, the cucumbers will stop growing in length and female flowers will appear on the side stems.
When the situation is corrected and fruiting is restored, some begin to remove the male flowers. But if you leave them, they will not have any negative effect and will contribute to pollination, but their removal can lead to bad results. So you should leave the empty flowers, the plants will only be better for it.
