What Causes Flower Abortion?

During the flowering stage, plants tend to drop their flowers, and there are many factors that lead to flower abortion:

1. Weather conditions:

During extreme weather conditions, temperatures that are too low or too high can lead to flower abortion.

2. Disease:

In cases where the plant has been attacked by a disease (e.g., Phytophthora blight, Fusarium wilt), the disease restricts the movement of nutrients and water, hence causing flower drop.

3. Pest attack:

Once the flowers start appearing, they attract pests, e.g., thrips. Thrips are responsible for over 80% of flower drop.

4. Nutritional deficiency:

During flowering, boron, zinc, and potassium are crucial, as they are needed in budding flowers and fruit formation.

5. Water stress:

At the flowering stage, water is key. Underwatering leads to stress, hence flower loss.

6. Poor or no pollination:

This is the biggest factor that leads to flower drop. For fruit to form, pollination has to take place. Failure to do so results in flower drop. This can be due to extreme weather conditions, such as too high or too low temperatures, and the absence of pollinators like bees.

7. Poor flower handling:

When working with flowering plants, e.g., capsicum, tomatoes, or watermelon, avoid rough handling of flowers, as it leads to flower stress and dropping or instant dropping.