Why melons are not tied and empty flowers are on them, reasons and what to do

The variety of varieties of melons with different ripening periods and the possibility of growing them throughout the territory of the Russian Federation are attractive. Good harvests are grown not only in the North Caucasus and Lower Volga regions. There are varieties bred specifically for the Altai Territory, regions of Western and Eastern Siberia. With proper agricultural technology, farmers and amateur vegetable growers get good yields in all weather conditions.

Reference. Scientists have proven that it is more profitable grow melons in a greenhouse... Higher productivity and profitability.

Melons are grown on melons or in a greenhouse by direct sowing of seeds into the ground and by seedling. Strong whips and active flowering do not always guarantee a future harvest. There are many reasons why melons are not tied. Having studied the nature and characteristics of this light and heat-loving plant, you can easily force it to form fruits.

What does a melon look like during flowering?

Male flowers are the first to appear on the zero-order shoot. In early ripening varieties, they open in the axils of 2-3 leaves, in late species - after 4-5 leaves. In total, you can count from 6 to 30 male flowers on the bush, but you cannot find a single female flower. If a female flower has formed on the main shoot, then it will most likely be sterile and will not form a fruit.

Productive female flowers open on the shoots of 2-3 orders of magnitude, it is from them that the fruits are formed. Their bloom can last for 30 days. The list of unfavorable factors affecting the number of female flowers and the rate of their flowering:

• shading;
• incorrect watering scheme (excess, lack of moisture);
• lack of feeding or improper use of fertilizers.

The buds begin to open early in the morning (6 o'clock), at noon all the pollen from the male flowers spills out, and they wither, while the female non-pollinated flowers continue to bloom for 1-2 days. Let's look at all the causes of poor pollination.

What does a melon dislike?

Melon can be called a finicky plant, because the list of what she does not like is quite long:

• low temperature;
• high humidity;
• bright sun rays;
• draft;
• weed grass;
• heavy soil;
• acidic soils.

Wet air

Bad weather for a crop is rain and a sharp drop in air temperature to 15 ° C and below. Plants planted in a greenhouse are easy to help. The air humidity can be regulated by periodic ventilation, at night planting cover with a covering material or turn on the heating system.

When growing crops outdoors, moisture control is more difficult, but also possible. During prolonged rains, you can put plastic arcs on the ridge, pull a PVC film over them. This will relieve the plants of excess moisture and help save the ovaries. The film must be slightly opened from the ends during the day, since stagnant air can provoke fungal diseases and worsen pollination.

Watering with cold water

Your plants cannot avoid root rot and other diseases caused by fungal infection if you get carried away with watering during the period of ovary formation. The culture needs moisture in the initial period of growth.

Take a look also

Description of the Lada melon variety, features of cultivation and care

At this time, you need to carefully monitor the temperature of the irrigation water. On cool days, the lower temperature limit is 20 ° C, in hot weather it can be higher, the upper limit is 40 ° C. Any plant is more comfortable if the water temperature for irrigation is close to the air temperature, but does not exceed the lower limit (15 ° C).

Cold drafts

Drafts are dangerous for ovaries in the greenhouse, but when planting melon plants in open ground, they can negatively affect the development and pollination of melons. When choosing a planting site, consider the wind rose and plant seeds (seedlings) in places protected from the north wind.

In any polycarbonate greenhouse, the ventilation system must be properly organized. It includes: windows, doors. It is more convenient if the vents are cut into the ceiling. If they are installed in the doors, then when ventilating they are always opened from one side, this helps to avoid drafts.

Acidic soils

Melon grows well on light soil: loamy, sandy loam. This culture does not like acidic soil, poorly conducting air and retaining moisture. River sand is introduced into heavy soil with a high clay content - ½ bucket per square meter.

Sod-podzolic soils deacidify. For this, different technologies are used:

• introduce lime under the culture of the predecessor (root crops, cabbage);
• lime in autumn;
• add chalk, dolomite flour to the soil for digging in spring (2 weeks before planting melons).

In acidic soil, melons develop more slowly, get sick more often, form few ovaries, fruits have a smaller size and low sugar content.

Concentrated fertilizers

According to tradition, many vegetable growers, after planting any seedlings, carry out top dressing and in the first half of summer they focus on fertilizers containing nitrogen. When growing melons, fertilizers containing nitrogen must be used with caution. Nitrogen stimulates the growth of shoots and leaves, but slows down the formation of ovaries. Bushes overfed with nitrogen are more likely to get sick, and the fruits may contain nitrates.

Fertilizers are best applied to the holes when planting:

• humus 1 liter;
• ¼ glasses of ash;
• 1 tsp the drug Zdraven-turbo.

After the ovaries have appeared on the bushes, you need to carry out only 2 top dressing with an infusion of grass with the addition of potassium monophosphate (10 g per bucket). For feeding, dilute the infusion with water in a ratio of 1: 5.  

Control methods

Experienced vegetable growers begin to form melon bushes after 4 leaves appear on the central shoot. By pinching the growth point, they stimulate the emergence of new shoots of the 2nd order, which appear from the axils left on the leaf stem.

Another proven way to combat barren flowers and a small number of ovaries on melons is to purchase seeds that are 2-3 years old. Most often, bushes with barren flowers grow from the seeds of the last year.

Why aren't melons tied?

When growing melons in a winter greenhouse, the situation when the plant blooms, but there are no ovaries, happens due to insufficient lighting. With a lack of light, the interval between the beginning of the formation of male and female buds increases. Normally, this is 3-5 days, and with a lack of sunlight, it can reach up to 30 days.

Take a look also

Methods of combating melon diseases, their treatment and processing, danger to humans

If the plant is not formed, then the bushes will not let side shoots in time. This is a common reason why melons do not have ovaries. The probability of the appearance of a barren flower on shoots of the 2nd order is high, so the lower two shoots are removed, only the upper 2 are left, they also need to be pinched over the 5th leaf. When the ovaries begin to form on the shoots of the third order, the yield is normalized - no more than 3-4 formed ovaries are left on each bush. One lash - one ovary.

What if a melon has a wasteland?

Despite proper care, the bushes are empty. What to do in this case? The situations are different. On some bushes there are only male flowers with stamens, on others only female flowers with pistils, on the third there are both, but no ovaries.

Important! With a short day and high air temperatures, more female flowers are formed.

If there are only female buds on the bushes, and the male ones have already wilted or for some reason have not formed, artificial pollination is indispensable. How to pollinate a melon with your own hands, we will consider below. Pollen for pollination can be taken from other melons and gourds, for example, from zucchini.

Another reason for barren flowers is the absence of insect pollinators, if the entire bush is covered with flowers, and there is not a single ovary on the melons. In this case, only artificial pollination will save.

Why are there no female flowers on the melon?

The most common reason is the absence of 2nd and 3rd order shoots. Melon needs 3 orders of magnitude shoots for fruiting, it is on them that female flowers are formed. To form them, pinch the central stem and shoots of the 2nd order over the 4th leaf.

Falling ovaries on a melon

Melon ovaries fall off for various reasons, but the result is one - low yield or its complete absence. Opinions of gardeners, why their ovaries fell off on melons:

• it was hot during flowering, the air was dry, this prevented pollination;
• hot weather worsens the nutrition of the fruits and they fall off;
• insufficient watering during flowering;
• thickened fit;
• lack of lighting;
• sharp daily temperature fluctuations;
• depleted soil and lack of fertilizing.

These are the real opinions of amateur vegetable growers who have faced the problem of ovary dropping on melons.

Artificial pollination of melon

It is not difficult to master the process of pollination of melons by hand. First you need to learn to distinguish the sex of the flower. A male flower has 5 stamens, and a female flower has a pistil and an embryo of a future fetus.

Pollen retains its ability until mid-day, so artificial pollination should be carried out in the morning, and preferably early in the morning. Choose the largest male flowers, fold back the petals and walk with them along the female buds, touching the stamens to the area where the pistil is located.