CUCUMBER - DISORDERS

Treatment:

• balanced nutrition;
• frequent harvests;
• presence of pollinators if they are need.

FLOWER DROP

Male blossoms falling from your cucumber plant is normal. The earliest male blooms often fall before female flowers are produced or before any fruit sets. Later blooms also drop once they have spent their pollen. Once the second flush of male blooms appears, female flowers are produced and these do not drop. Female blooms falling from your cucumber plant usually indicates that something is preventing successful pollination.

Extreme climate conditions, such as excessive heat or cold, can cause a lack of pollinator activity. Some commonly used insecticides, such as carbaryl, are highly toxic to bees and also can decrease populations around your plants. If applications of insecticides are necessary, try to time them during cool periods or when bees are not active to avoid affecting populations.

POLLINATING CUCUMBER PLANTS

Home gardeners can compensate for a shortage or bees and other pollinators, and prevent female flowers from dropping, by pollinating their cucumbers themselves. Transfer pollen from male to female flowers using a small watercolour paintbrush or a cotton swab. Increase populations of pollinating insects by using companion plants, such as cilantro, yarrow, white sweet clover, and spearmint. These plants attract natural pollinators and other beneficial insects, including natural predators of destructive pests. Cucumber production in greenhouses uses bumble bees to achieve marketable yields. Hives are exclusively designed for crop pollination and are completely self-sustaining. Bumblebees should be utilized shortly after the first flowers appear (https://www.koppert.com/products-solutions/pollination-products/).