What causes bitter melon to bear few fruits?
Bitter melon can be eaten as a fresh vegetable, can also be processed and refined for medicinal use, and can also be processed into other sideline food products. It is a very good heat-relieving vegetable in summer, but not everyone likes it, because its fruit tastes sweet and bitter. When growing bitter melon, we often encounter a situation where the bitter melon seedlings grow very well, but the amount of fruit they bear is just very small. Why is this? Is there any way to solve it? Let's find out together below.
1. Reasons for bitter melon bearing few fruits
Why does bitter melon fail to set fruit or set few fruits during its growth process? In fact, there are three main reasons. The first is poor pollination. If bitter melon encounters continuous rainfall during the flowering period, this leads to poor pollination, and then later the bitter melon will develop fruit drop, so the amount of fruit set is small. The second is insufficient light. During the flowering period, bitter melon has a relatively large demand for light. If the branches and leaves are too luxuriant, the light received by the bitter melon is reduced, and this will also cause a serious phenomenon of flower and fruit drop. There is also improper water and fertilizer management, which leads to a lack of water and fertilizer during the flowering period of bitter melon, and insufficient supply of nutrients and water, thereby reducing the fruit-setting rate. Of course, besides these, there are also improper temperature, improper soil selection, improper selection of bitter melon varieties, and so on. These are all reasons that may cause bitter melon to bear few fruits.
2. Solutions
In response to the problem of bitter melon bearing few fruits, we need to solve the problem based on the actual planting situation. If it is poor pollination, then we should improve the management of the flowering period of bitter melon, and under bad weather conditions, carry out artificial supplementary pollination to increase the success rate of pollination. The second is to properly thin flowers and fruits when necessary, to reduce the phenomenon of physiological flower and fruit drop. If it is insufficient light, then we can enhance light through artificial lighting, or remove branches and leaves to increase field ventilation and light penetration, and improve light intensity. Finally, if it is improper fertilization, then we need to consider it from multiple aspects. Do not apply nitrogen fertilizer alone, to avoid excessive vegetative growth of branches and leaves without fruit setting. The second is to appropriately increase the amount of phosphorus and potassium fertilizer during the flowering and fruiting period of bitter melon, to improve the fruit-setting rate and promote the enlargement of bitter melon. Of course, it is also necessary to properly control the use of growth regulators, to avoid the phenomenon of excessive vigorous growth.
3. Precautions
When growing bitter melon, the first thing we should pay attention to is understanding the local climatic conditions and choosing suitable bitter melon varieties for planting. The second is to choose a suitable planting site according to the growth habits of the bitter melon variety. There is also adjusting the density of the planted bitter melon plants, to avoid excessive density affecting field ventilation and light penetration. Finally, pay attention to temperature regulation, and it is best to keep the temperature between 20 and 30 degrees.
Generally, if everyone pays attention to these points listed by the editor during the planting process, and plants according to correct planting techniques, then basically the phenomenon of bearing few fruits will not occur. That is all for today's sharing that the editor wants to bring to everyone. Thank you all for your support and encouragement.