The reasons why the pumpkin does not set fruit, how to fix it and what to do
The pumpkin beds are very decorative during flowering. They are decorated with large dark green leaves and large, bright flowers of yellow or orange color. Unfortunately, flowering does not guarantee a harvest.
Why isn't the pumpkin tied?
There are a number of reasons why the pumpkin does not tie well even when choosing the right place for the ridge and observing the planting dates. The processes of pollination and formation of ovaries are influenced by:
- weather (temperature and humidity);
- care;
- lighting;
- the presence of insect pollinators.
Pumpkin that grows in the shade has poor quality pollen, it can be sterile. This crop grows best in sunny, well-ventilated areas. At high air humidity, pollen sticks together, pollination does not occur.
Poor pollination
The pumpkin has flowers with a diameter of 7 to 30 cm, they are monoecious, dioecious, located singly. It is easy to distinguish between them: the female flowers have pistils, and the male stamens. Flowering does not last long - 1–2 days for female flowers and 1 day for male flowers.
Often the absence of ovaries is due to the fact that there are only male flowers on the plant, this is due to the fact that the female buds have not yet formed. Bad seeds are one of the reasons why barren flowers are on the lashes. In order not to be left without a crop, plant several varieties from different producers and choose seeds that are not last year, but 2-3 years old.
If there are female flowers, and the fruits of the pumpkin are not tied, then there may be several reasons for the poor pollination of the plant:
- the absence of wasps, bumblebees and bees in your garden - insects that transfer pollen from male flowers to female ones, pollen is not carried by the wind;
- do not make a forming pinch, leave all the shoots on the plant, the bush does not have enough strength to form ovaries;
- improper watering - rare in the heat, plentiful in cool weather;
- daily temperature fluctuations - in the daytime above 30 ° C, at night less than 15 ° C;
- dry and hot weather for a long time;
- the plant is overfed or, conversely, lacks nutrients.
The main reasons that affect the formation of pumpkin ovaries are listed. Knowing them, you can help the plant not to be left without a crop.
Excess fertilizer
An excess of fertilizer is precisely the reason why pumpkin often does not set fruit among diligent gardeners. With an excess of nitrogen fertilization, the plant begins to fatten - it goes to the tops. With the rapid growth of the aerial part, the root system lags behind in development and cannot provide the nutrition necessary for the formation of fruits.
You are diligently fertilizing your beds, and the potential yield is rapidly diminishing before our eyes, as the plant sheds ovaries and flowers. If you have filled your summer cottages well with your own hands for the new season in the fall, then in the summer do not be zealous with fertilizers. What to do in this case and how to help the pumpkin? First, select a few of the most powerful shoots, and delete the rest. Dig in the stems to form additional roots, this will improve the nutrition of the bush.
Advice for the future - plant this crop on those plots where a full range of organic and mineral fertilizers was applied at least a year ago. Depleted soil is also the reason why pumpkin fruit sets poorly.
The lack of minerals is indicated by yellowed foliage, fallen ovaries and slowly forming fruits. In this case, mineral fertilizers containing phosphorus and potassium help. To enhance the nutrition, the lashes are added dropwise.
Fruit ugliness
The formation of ugly fruits on the bushes takes away the strength of the plant. For normal fruit growth, adequate nutrition is not enough. That is why this situation can be corrected with the help of competent formation of the bush, in the same way as with an empty flower on a pumpkin.
The bush formation scheme depends on the variety. In large-fruited varieties, after the first fruits have set, no more than 3 lashes should be left on the plant, each of them should have one ovary. The crown of the shoot is pinched at the end of June, leaving at least 4–5 leaves above the fruit.
Bushes of small and medium-sized varieties are formed in a different way. Only those lashes on which the barren flower are removed. The tops of the remaining stems are pinched in early August, at least 3 leaves are left over the last set fruit.
Dense foliage
Due to too dense foliage formed on the pumpkin, the development of the set fruits stops, the amount of barren flowers increases. Why this happens is understandable - all the nutrients obtained from the earth are spent by the plant on foliage.
What to do to help the pumpkin set fruit? Usually this problem is solved with the help of a pruner or special lawn scissors. Excess leaves are cut off and sent to compost.
After cutting, the plant is fed with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers. Each lash is sprinkled with earth, after which additional roots are formed on it. They improve the nutrition of the bush, which speeds up the formation of fruits.
Decay of roots
Pumpkin does not react well to summer bad weather: prolonged rains, temperature drops below 18 ° C. The second reason for root decay is excessive watering. It is necessary to inspect the plant if flowers and set fruits fall off the pumpkin in such weather. Root rot can be the reason why the plant does not have enough strength for flowering and fruiting.
Signs of root rot are the same as for flower seedlings:
- in the initial stage, a yellow spot in the area of the root collar;
- in later stages, white bloom on all aboveground parts of the pumpkin (shoots, leaves);
- underdeveloped thinned root system.
Prevention of rot is simple: abundant watering with warm water no more than 1 time per week, in bad weather, top dressing with urea on the sheet (1 tsp. Funds for a bucket of water). Root dressing in cool weather is of little use, since the root system from cold soil absorbs them poorly.
Keep in mind that the pumpkin should be watered with warm water from a barrel, and not cold water from the mains. After watering, loosen the soil shallowly so that the roots are well supplied with oxygen and excess moisture does not accumulate in the soil.
Another tip for preventing root rot is crop rotation. The cause of rot is fungus, so you need to change the place of planting the pumpkin every year so that infection does not accumulate in the soil.Root crops, all varieties of cabbage and onions are considered good predecessors for this culture.
Pollination of pumpkin by hand
We figured out all the main reasons why pumpkin fruit does not set well. Artificial pollination helps to solve the problem in the absence of pollinating insects. Prolonged heat, the absence of apiaries near the garden are just a few reasons why bees and bumblebees fly a little. Insects can be attracted to the garden by sprinkling pumpkin leaves and flowers with sweet water.
But it's easier to understand the structure of female and male flowers and learn how to artificially pollinate a pumpkin. Female flowers can be easily identified by the presence of a thickening - a future ovary. Artificial pollination works are carried out in the morning.
It is necessary to choose a fully opened male flower, bend the petals, touch the stamens of the female flower with a pistil. A positive result is achieved if the age of the female flower is not more than two days.
Some growers use a soft paint brush to transfer pollen. First, they pass it along the pistil and then along the stamens. The fruit, with successful pollination, after a while begins to increase in size. Possible reasons why the fruits did not set after artificial pollination:
- damp weather;
- dew caught in the bud;
- air temperature above 35 ° C.
Special preparations are guaranteed to improve fruit set. For better fruit formation, pumpkin is treated with an effective Ovary agent. The natural origin of this biological product explains why it is absolutely safe for insects.
The drug is recommended to be used in adverse weather conditions to stimulate the formation of ovaries. Thanks to Ovyaz, even in the most unfavorable weather seasons, summer residents manage to grow a good harvest of pumpkins.
If the problem is not in the variety, but in the absence of minerals in the soil, then it is better to immediately use a bioactivator of growth "BioGrow". I always have this remedy in my dacha, it helps to cope with many problems.