Hydro pollenation

Discussion in 'Edible Gardening' started by Finngal, Feb 1, 2021.

  1. Finngal

    Finngal Gardener

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    Hi,
    So my hydro experiment is now advancing and grows like mad. However, I've noticed that only few of the beans are growing, and majority of flowers bloomed, I acted as a bee with my brush, and then they wilted and died, but no bean developed.
    Same with cucumbers, pumpkins, melons and peppers, apart that they don't develope fruit.

    I've pollenated tons of apples and plums every year, as we are too high for most bugs. They make harvest like mad. But my veggies don't.
    Any tips? Is there something special I should do that I perhaps ignore?
     

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  2. pete

    pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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    My experience of growing vegetables is that in most cases first few flowers don't produce fruit, with a few exceptions such as tomatoes.

    First bean flowers often fall off as do the likes of squash and pumpkin.

    Some plants just need to grow up a bit more and the fruits set better once the young vigorous growth has slowed down.
     
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    • Finngal

      Finngal Gardener

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      Ok, in my case the cucumbers and pumpkins have spread some 3 meters long each, with 30+ flowers. Tomatoes are now 1.2-1.8 meters tall. I take I ought to cut the tops to encourage them to make fruit?
       
    • pete

      pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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      What variety of cucumber are they.

      I'm looking at your picture, and I'm assuming that is with all the lights on.
      Only it appears that the light is concentrated on just one side of the plants.
      I know pretty much nothing about hydoculture. :smile:
       
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      • pete

        pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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        Obviously said something wrong.:mute::smile:
         
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        • Finngal

          Finngal Gardener

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          The cucumbers, now when I finally got the seed box, are Bush Champion and Burpless Tasty Green.

          The lights are actually even, but as its super bright, it looks dark on photos. Its bright like type dentist light.
          There is a strip of light on each side, one above each plant.

          Hydro should not make much difference to growing, same rules apply, apart from of course need to manually pollenate, as its February.
           
        • Finngal

          Finngal Gardener

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          No no, hahaha, I just had to get the seed bags and then work took over :hate-shocked:
           
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          • pete

            pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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            Well, I asked about the cucumbers because some types need pollenating and some dont.

            Must admit bush champion looks similar to a ridge type so will need pollenating, I assume you are getting male and female flowers?
            Likewise Burpless tasty green.

            Are the peppers growing flower?
            Its best to just give the flowers on them a tap, and if its done at the right time you should actually see pollen falling from the flowers.

            I assume you have changed the feed in the water to a higher potash content.:scratch:
             
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            • Finngal

              Finngal Gardener

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              Hi,
              Yes, with cucumbers there are male and female flowers. I go trough all open ones, few times, every day. I tend to do it twice in a row, thus initiating few bees randomly going into each in their search.

              Peppers flower like mad. I don't really see the flower opening before the petals already brown and start to fall. So I've been randomly shaking / tweeking the branches lightly. Like a wind would shake them.

              The nutrient solution is whats used for hydro growing professionally. I follow what the suggested nutrient levels are, in flowering/fruit stage growth. Furthermore I've added some seaweed to the water just in case its missing some micronutrient..
              I'm at loss here.
              I got one (1) bean from the bean plants, and now they just seem to wait. Cucumbers flower a lot, but I don't see cucumbers forming at all, even 10 days after flowers fell.
              Peppers just flower, but no fruit forming.

              On the other hand all herbs go mad...hahaha
               
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              • pete

                pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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                Some close up pictures might help.
                 
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                • Finngal

                  Finngal Gardener

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                  I've now added extra flow stages to my system, just in case its some nutritional deficiency. As its hydro, I ran water every 2 hours for 15 minutes, but I programmed it to do 15 minutes every hour.
                  Maybe that ensures the plants have what they need. .:thanks:
                   
                • Finngal

                  Finngal Gardener

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                  Here are photos. IMG_20210203_110833.jpg IMG_20210203_110817.jpg IMG_20210203_110801.jpg
                  One of each cucumber plant, one of pepper.
                   
                • pete

                  pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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                  Cucumber flowers are only really active for one day, that is from the morning they open, and in normal growing, if you get my meaning:smile:, they often are dying around midday, same with all that family of plants.
                  You need to transfer pollen from a male flower to a female one.

                  The other picture is a bean, I take it, not a pepper?
                  Flowers not quite open.
                   
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                  • Finngal

                    Finngal Gardener

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                    Ah really? I didn't know that of cucumbers! So I'll go twice a day now, morning and evening and go though all the flowers few times.

                    You think the white flowers are bean and not pepper???
                    I sowed peppers and then got mixed up with what was what... :yikes:

                    I feel like a right old plonker now...hahaha
                     
                  • pete

                    pete Growing a bit of this and a bit of that....

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                    What I'm saying about cucumber flowers is they really need pollenating earlier in the day, rather than late, and the flowers will be limp and over by the next day, but you should have new ones opening each day.
                    Identify the male flowers and the female flowers and make sure you go from a male to a female one.

                    Yes definitely a bean flower in picture.
                     
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