What causes flower and fruit drop in greenhouse cucumbers?
Cucumbers are now grown on a fairly large area in our country, and nowadays cucumbers are generally grown mainly in greenhouses. When growing greenhouse cucumbers, if management is improper, the phenomenon of cucumber flower and fruit drop often occurs. Cucumber flower and fruit drop has a great impact on both yield and profit. So what is going on with flower and fruit drop in greenhouse cucumbers? Today the editor will give you a brief introduction, so let us take a look below!
1. Flower and fruit drop from high temperatures
When growing greenhouse cucumbers, if the daytime temperature inside the greenhouse is above 30 degrees and the nighttime temperature is above 16 degrees, then it is very unfavorable to the growth of cucumbers. It will intensify the respiration of cucumbers, thereby hindering their photosynthesis. This leads to insufficient nutrients in the cucumber plants and the occurrence of flower and fruit drop, and the female flowers also cannot develop normally, making them prone to forming deformed fruit. Then, in the early stage of cucumber fruiting, the stems and leaves grow relatively quickly. The fruit itself grows relatively slowly, so if there are several consecutive days of high temperature, nutrients will be transported to the stems and leaves, causing the vines to grow excessively, which in turn triggers a large amount of flower and fruit drop.
2. Improper water and fertilizer
When cucumbers carry out photosynthesis, they absolutely cannot do without water and fertilizer. This is because photosynthesis needs water and fertilizer absorbed through the cucumber root system as raw materials, and it also takes place mainly with water as the medium. So if there is not enough water and fertilizer, the photosynthetic substances of cucumbers will be reduced, leading to insufficient nutrients in cucumbers and flower and fruit drop. On the contrary, if there is high temperature and high humidity at night along with an excess of fertilizers such as nitrogen, then cucumbers are prone to growing excessively. This is also one of the main causes of cucumber flower and fruit drop, so everyone must pay attention to doing a good job in fertilizer and water management.
3. Gas factors
The gases inside the greenhouse are also very important to the growth of cucumbers. Cucumbers are also very sensitive to changes in gases. If the content of harmful gases such as carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide in the greenhouse is too high, then the growth of cucumbers will be inhibited. This causes the occurrence of cucumber flower and fruit drop and seriously affects yield. So we should pay attention to doing a good job of ventilation and air exchange, improve the air quality inside the greenhouse, and remove harmful gases. At the same time, we can also supplement an appropriate amount of carbon dioxide into the greenhouse, which can effectively reduce flower and fruit drop and thereby improve cucumber yield and quality.
4. Flower and fruit drop from delayed harvesting
After greenhouse cucumbers flower, it usually takes about a week until harvest. This period is also the best harvest time for cucumbers. If the lower fruits of the cucumber plants are not harvested in time after they mature, then they will absorb a large amount of assimilated substances. This leads to insufficient nutrients for the female flowers in the upper part of the cucumber plants, resulting in flower and fruit drop. So we should promptly remove mature fruits, especially the lower fruits, to avoid too many lower fruits affecting the growth of the upper fruits and to reduce flower and fruit drop. At the same time, timely supplementary nutrition is also a key measure to reduce flower and fruit drop.
The above is a brief introduction to what is going on with flower and fruit drop in greenhouse cucumbers. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only, and I hope it can help everyone!