What causes lychee flower and fruit drop?

Many fruit trees experience flower and fruit drop, which seriously affects economic returns. Lychee is one of our favorite fruits, and it also suffers from flower and fruit drop during cultivation. So what causes lychee flower and fruit drop? Let's take a look at the detailed introduction below.

1. Physiological flower and fruit drop

There are many lychee varieties, but generally speaking there are 3-4 physiological peak periods, and the mechanism of each peak period is relatively consistent. The first peak period is mainly due to poor pollination or a large number of male flowers; the second mainly occurs at the young fruit stage, when poor fertilization affects endosperm development and the young fruit stops growing; the third generally occurs at the fruit enlargement stage, when fruit growth requires a large amount of nutrients, leading to insufficient tree nutrition and causing flower drop; the fourth generally occurs before harvest, when the fruit fully occupies the tree and the fruit stalk ages and loosens, leading to fruit drop.

2. Climatic reasons

During the flowering and fruiting period of lychee, external climatic conditions such as light, temperature, humidity and rainfall all affect normal growth. For example, high or low temperatures, prolonged rainy days and insufficient light all affect its yield and quality and increase the probability of flower and fruit drop. In addition, poor climatic conditions also affect pollination quality during the flowering period, causing flower and fruit drop.

3. Insufficient nutrition

During the flowering and fruiting period, lychee has an extremely high demand for nutrients. If nutrients are lacking at this stage, it will cause a large amount of flower and fruit drop. Therefore, fertilizer and water management should be done well before flowering and fruit set, and nutrients and water should be supplemented in time. If flower and fruit drop occurs due to insufficient nutrition, foliar fertilizer spraying can be used to supplement the plant's nutrients, with good results.

4. Hormonal reasons

During the flowering and fruiting period of lychee, the plant contains hormones that promote its growth and development, and an increase in these hormones inhibits plant growth and promotes the fruit set rate of lychee. Conversely, a decrease in these hormones makes flower and fruit drop very likely to occur.

5. Pests and diseases

The flowering and fruiting period of lychee is also a time of high incidence of pests and diseases. At this time, preventive measures must be taken. If pests and diseases are not controlled in time, severe flower and fruit drop is very likely to occur, and in severe cases the yield can be reduced by more than 50%, causing great harm.

The above is an introduction to the causes of lychee flower and fruit drop. We hope it can help you. If you want to learn more related knowledge, please follow us.