Sweet pepper is a fairly popular vegetable crop. It is very capricious, so any deviation from the required conditions for normal seedling growth can cause serious consequences, for example, pepper drops flowers and ovaries. We will look at this problem today, why it happens and how to avoid it.
Dependence on temperature and humidity
These two factors are the most important influencing the growth and development of peppers. The most profitable option is to grow peppers in a greenhouse, but you need to try very hard to please them with the temperature and proper humidity levels. This is very difficult, because even the slightest decrease or increase is all.
If you have a question why pepper does not bloom, know that the best temperature for seedlings is 20-22 degrees Celsius. If it suddenly becomes higher than expected, the plants will simply stretch out and weaken, and if it becomes lower, the seedlings simply stop developing. The entire process of their growth and development is accompanied by temperature control. When the plants are transplanted into a garden bed or, for example, into a greenhouse, the required temperature for development is 25, 26 degrees. The slightest deviations can lead to serious consequences, so if you don’t have time to monitor, it’s better not to plant.
Let’s say there was a slight fluctuation in temperature up or down by only 5 degrees, it doesn’t seem significant, but the flowers immediately fall off, and the remaining ones simply won’t set. If the bushes are already older, it’s not so scary for them, because they are more stable. Provided that the fruits have set, the optimal temperature for their further development is 15-16 degrees. But again, the slightest decrease, for example, to 13 degrees, and the root system stops taking in nutrients, and the plants die and fruiting stops.
There is no need to rush to plant seedlings in the ground; this should be done when the temperature becomes consistently warm, around the end of June. Again, it still drops at night, that is, it is advisable to use greenhouses, being sure to maintain the proper level of temperature and humidity. Only in this case can a positive result be guaranteed.
Fertilizers
A common mistake gardeners make is overfeeding with fertilizers.They want to get the maximum yield by adding and adding a lot of fertilizers, of course, this gives a positive result, a lot of fruits are formed, but the plant cannot bear them all, and the unnecessary flowers fall off. In this case, you need not to give up anything for about 2-3 weeks.
Plants need nitrogen in the soil. Before flowering begins, they need it vitally, so they should be fed with fertilizers containing ozone. Further, an excess will lead to good growth, but you will have to sacrifice yield. If the foliage becomes dense, it will shade the plant, which can easily cause the plant to fall over.
Insects and diseases
In general, it doesn’t often happen that bell peppers stop blooming and die only because of insects. This happens when the peppers are very sick or damaged. Pests take the juice from the plant, which causes depletion, and accordingly, the plant no longer bears fruit, and the pepper flowers fall off.
If the pepper is greenhouse, it can be damaged by the “greenhouse whitefly”.
These are small insects, somewhat reminiscent of moths, but their wings are white and thin. Peppers are not affected by the insects themselves, but rather by what they secrete. This can cause fungus on the leaves and damage to the stems. If the soil is open, then there are even more pests, for example, ants, nematodes, mole crickets, and Colorado potato beetles. They all live in the soil and gradually gnaw off the roots of the plant, thereby slowing down their growth, and then completely dying. The first symptom indicating this is that the flowers and ovaries are dropped.
Any fungal disease causes the death of flowers. The leaves get the first damage, then the whole plant suffers. The first sign, as usual, is that the ovaries and flowers fall off. What to do? This can be prevented.Watch the soil, it should be cleaned. After all, it contains the larvae of harmful insects, fungal spores and the like.
Other reasons
If you have tried and eliminated all of the above, but the flowers and ovaries still fall off, look for the reason among the following:
- Illumination. In fact, this is one of the most important parameters for bell peppers. Plants need light at least 12 hours a day, and deviation from the norm, even the slightest, will lead to serious consequences.
- The soil. Pepper needs only high-quality soil. If it is heavy, then no matter how you fertilize it, the plant will develop slowly, since the consumption of nutrients will deteriorate, and this entails serious problems.
- Some panic when many flowers have formed, somewhere around 30-100, but only 10 fruits bear, while others fall off, this is normal, and there is no need to worry.
- It is better to cut off the first buds that appear, as this will make the plant stronger and subsequently produce many more flowers and ovaries.
- Flowers that have not undergone pollination fall off, and there is nothing wrong with that, but if they are not pollinated at all, you should try to carry out this procedure manually, otherwise the pepper will shed the unpollinated ones.
Some people try to grow peppers at home in a pot, following all the recommendations and conditions, but this does not lead to anything good. Then you just need to try changing the pot to one with a larger volume to prevent the shedding of flowers and ovaries. Often peppers don't grow because they don't have enough space to fully develop.
So we looked at the question of why the ovaries of peppers fall off. Use the recommendations we have provided and you are guaranteed to avoid this fate.
