Equally important for cucumbers is caring for the plantings throughout the growing season. But even when performing all agrotechnical measures with cucumbers, difficulties often arise. The most common problem that novice gardeners often face is yellowing and massive shedding of ovaries. Knowing the main causes of this trouble, you can prevent its occurrence.
1. Insufficient pollination.
For bee-pollinated varieties of cucumbers, the presence of bees and other beneficial insects on the plantation is necessary for the formation of ovaries.Under unfavorable weather conditions, when the weather is cloudy for a long time and it rains, or in extreme heat, when the daytime temperature does not fall below 30°C, pollination of female flowers on cucumber vines occurs poorly. You can attract bees to a cucumber plantation by spraying the plants with sweet water: 1 tbsp. l. honey for every liter of water.
But in rainy summers, when bee migration almost completely stops, even irrigating the leaves with honey water does not help. That is why experienced gardeners, especially those living in regions with difficult climatic conditions, prefer cultivating self-pollinating or parthenocarpic cucumbers. Such varieties and hybrids form ovaries without the participation of insects, and most of the flowers on their vines are female.
Planting parthenocarpic hybrids in closed structures is no less relevant. Gherkins developing in greenhouses and greenhouses, as well as seedlings growing under film covers, are pollinated much worse, even in clear weather. But self-pollinating types of pumpkin crop bear fruit well in greenhouse conditions, of course, with proper care (systematic watering, root and leaf feeding, ventilation of greenhouses, treatment of vines from diseases and pests).
2. Boron deficiency.
Most often, boron deficiency is observed on excessively acidic or, conversely, alkaline soils, in soils with excess CaCO, as well as on light sandstones and regularly irrigated lands. But even with a sufficient amount of microelement, its absorption by plant roots will noticeably deteriorate with prolonged drought or excessive soil moisture and excessive application of nitrogen and potassium fertilizers.
The lack of boron in cucumbers, as well as in other vegetable crops (tomatoes, eggplants, peppers), is manifested by massive falling off of flowers and ovaries. In more serious cases, in addition to the lack of the proper number of fruits set, the growing points located on the tops of the stems and stepsons die off. The leaves of the upper tier on plants experiencing boron starvation are covered with yellow veins.
The solution to the problem is preventive feeding of the cucumber plantation with specialized microfertilizers with a predominance of boron (Boroplus, Agrobor) or spraying the seedlings with a solution of ordinary boric acid (2-3 g per 10 liters of water). The event is carried out at the very beginning of the flowering of plants, and then repeated after 10-14 days, when the bushes are massively covered with flowers.
3. Deficiency of macro- and microelements.
In addition to boron, the growth and development of cucumbers requires the presence in the soil of a sufficient amount of nitrogen substances, salts of phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and many microelements. When there is a lack of nutrition, cucumbers shed part of the ovaries, thus providing adequate nutrition for filling the greens already on the vines and maintaining the vital activity of the entire bush as a whole.
Even in cases where the cucumber beds were well-stocked with manure and mineral fertilizers, at the height of fruiting the seedlings may experience nutritional deficiencies. That is why experienced gardeners feed bushes at the roots and leaves every 10-15 days, until the end of the growing season.
The best option is alternating organic and mineral fertilizers or using complex modern fertilizers enriched with chelated microelements and humic acids (“Nutrivant”, “Cucumber Crystal”, “Aquarin Vegetable”, “Agricola”, “Rodnichok”, “Master”, “Zdraven for cucumbers, pumpkins, zucchini and squash”, “Sudarushka cucumber”, “Lifdrip cucumber - cabbage - zucchini”, etc.).
4. Diseases and pests.
If prevention is not carried out, then outbreaks of almost all diseases of pumpkin crops lead to the bushes dropping their ovaries en masse, as well as to the rotting of already formed fruits. The same nuisance is observed in cucumber plantings, which have become a haven for aphids, spider mites and other dangerous insects.
To prevent damage to plants by phytopathogens and parasites, it is necessary to effectively protect cucumbers, starting from the stage of planting seeds for seedlings or in open ground. To do this, vegetable growers use either professional seed treaters, insecticides, fungicides and insectofungicides (Aktara, Maxim, etc.), or modern microbiological preparations (Fitosporin, Trichodermin and their analogues), or completely safe for plants and people folk remedies based on natural products and plants.
The most effective solutions for treating cucumbers during fruiting, prepared according to folk recipes, include:
- 1. Ash-soap infusion and decoction.
- 2. A solution of whey and iodine.
- 3. Ammonia solution (ammonia).
- 4. Birch tar soap solution.
- 5. A mixture of sifted ash and tobacco dust (for dusting).
- 6. Aqueous extracts from all parts of garlic.
- 7. Infusion and decoction of onion peels.
- 8. Infusion of celandine, tansy, nettle, wormwood, dandelions, tobacco.
- 9.Infusion of tomato and potato tops.
Forewarned is forearmed. When following cucumber farming practices, take into account the factors described above that affect the yellowing and fall of the ovaries, and your cucumber yields at your summer cottage will always be stable.
