Fruit Bending in Cucurbits
Questions to Ponder!
1. What crops do you observe fruit bending?
2. Is fruit bending desirable ?
3. How do you classify bent fruits after crop harvest:
a.Class A: Marketable
b.Class B: Non Marketable
Misshaped Fruit and Insufficient Pollination
In case of misshaped or small size fruits, cut open the fruit and check the seed set. If low seed set or partial set try to find out the reason!
● due to overdose fertilizer, plants remain in vegetative stage.
● insufficient movement of the plants for self pollinators
● crop too dense difficult to enter for the pollinators
● too high temperatures or too low
● no or insufficient male flowers
● low or no insect activity
Cucumber Fruit Bending Issues
Cucumber Fruit Bending Issues
Fruit Bending Due to Pollination Issues
Causes of Fruit Bending
Problems:
Lack of complete pollination will result to fruit bending
Pollinators are available around the crop both active and less active
Conditions may not be supportive and not favorable for good or complete pollination
Stress conditions : Too dry condition and continuous rains during flowering. As a result, cucumber ovaries may get fully pollinated.
Stress conditions : Heat kill the pollens
Alive pollens & dead pollens carried by pollinators may lead to partial pollination
Causes of Fruit Bending
Physical Barriers:
1. Growing crop on a trellis gives fruits more space to spread, away from physical barriers.
2. If growing or elongating fruits get tangled, bending happens
Crop Nutrition: ● Boron and Magnesium at flowering stage are helpful for pollen tube and pollen development.
● Sap sucking insect pests feeding may interfere pollen quantity, development or pollination
How to Manage or Control Fruit Bending?
To ensure good pollination and growing conditions
1. Enforce the crop nutrition such as boron and magnesium
2. Keep barriers or obstacles away from the developing fruits while growing on the trellis
3. Prevent crops from stress
4. Control the sucking pests
5. Adequate irrigation
