Causes and Control Methods of Hollow Cucumber Fruit

Cucumber is a vegetable everyone loves in summer, and it is sometimes eaten as a fruit too. Cucumber has a mild flavor and can clear heat and detoxify, making it a vegetable in high demand. Generally, people grow some cucumbers at home to eat, but some friends find that the cucumbers they grow are hollow inside and do not taste good. In fact, there is a reason for this, and the reason lies in problems that arise during the growing process. Now let's explore the reasons together!

1. Malnutrition

The soil is poor, or the nutrients in the soil have been absorbed but fertilizer was not applied in time to replenish nutrients. It is best to choose fertile soil for planting; for poor soil, use leaf mold with high humus content to improve the soil. During the growing period, apply sufficient base fertilizer early to ensure plant growth, apply topdressing before the flowering period, and apply topdressing multiple times during the fruiting period. Topdressing should be applied separately to each plant so it is fully absorbed.

2. Nutrient Deficiency

During the flowering period, cucumbers need boron. If the soil is deficient, spray 0.2% borax on the leaves to increase the boron available to the plant, ensuring good flowering and complete floral organs, with no deformed or incomplete flowers. In this way, when the flowers develop into fruit, the fruit will not be deformed or affected.

3. Temperature

High temperatures at night cause the plant to grow leggy, nutrients cannot reach the fruit, and the fruit becomes hollow. So it is best to control the temperature in the early stage and sow a little earlier as appropriate. For protected cultivation, pay attention to ventilation. Water in the evening to lower the temperature, ventilate more, and spray water to cool down. Use shade netting to reduce light.

4. Water

Waterlogging, drought, or excessively high soil temperature damaging the root system will affect water absorption. If water cannot be absorbed, the plant becomes short of water; when water is lacking, cell growth stops, which may cause the inside of the cucumber to become hollow. So water regularly to prevent drought; after rain, quickly clear the pipes to drain water; when the ground temperature is high, remove the plastic mulch to let air in.

5. Poor Fertilization

Low or high temperatures during the flowering period, or too much rain, cause pollen to die, be lost, or become sticky, making pollination impossible or ineffective. Fertilization cannot occur, the number of fertilized ovules is low, and fertilization is poor, forming deformed fruit that is hollow inside and poorly developed. So it is necessary to collect pollen on sunny days and carry out artificial pollination and fertilization before rain, which can ensure complete fertilization.

Hollow cucumbers are mainly caused by growth nutrition and various environmental factors, and also by poor pollination and fertilization, resulting in poor growth and development. Regulate the balance between vegetative growth and reproductive growth, and then ensure that reproductive growth proceeds.