What to do when pumpkin plants have few female flowers? Teach you how to increase the fruit-setting rate
In the course of production, the author often hears melon growers report that their pumpkins have neither diseases nor pests, and every plant grows with sturdy vines and fat leaves, but they bloom little, especially with few female flowers, and the "baby melons" all get "killed off in frustration." They ask what causes this and what methods can remedy it. The answer is given below. Pumpkin is a kind of...
In the course of production, the author often hears melon growers report that their pumpkins have neither diseases nor pests, and every plant grows with sturdy vines and fat leaves, but they bloom little, especially with few female flowers, and the "baby melons" all get "killed off in frustration." They ask what causes this and what methods can remedy it. The answer is given below.
Pumpkin is a plant with strong adaptability to soil, water and fertilizer conditions. Because of its strong ability to absorb water and nutrients, when it is planted on fertile soil or too much nitrogen fertilizer is applied, it easily "bursts its belly" (excess nutrition), causing the plant to produce too many branches and leaves, while blooming little and dropping flowers and dropping "baby melons" (commonly known as being killed off in frustration). There are 3 conventional remedies: first, stop applying nitrogen fertilizer to prevent continued excess nutrition; second, cut the main root and press the branches and vines to promote the growth of adventitious roots at the nodes, expand the root system's ability to absorb soil moisture and inorganic salts, slow the transport of nutrients to the growing point, and inhibit excessive vegetative growth; third, prune branches and remove leaves: that is, while cutting the main root and pressing the branches and vines, remove the lateral vines at the leaf axils of male flowers, cut off old leaves and some of the empty vines and some leaves that cause shading, improve the field microclimate, and encourage more flowering and more "baby melons" to set.
In addition, there is a simple little trick called "inserting a latch." The method is: use a fruit knife to cut a straight slit on the main vine 33cm away from the pumpkin base along the direction of vine growth, and insert into the straight slit a "latch" made of charcoal. If there is no charcoal, use a bamboo strip or a small stick whittled from relatively hard wood to the size of a matchstick and insert a cross-shaped "latch" into the main vine at the above location.
Taking the above methods can effectively inhibit the rampant growth of pumpkin plants, promote more female flowers, prevent fruit abortion, and significantly increase the fruit-setting rate.