By Emily How, Horticulture agent

NDSU Extension – Ward County

Cucumbers are one of my favorite garden vegetables. I love picking them when they are 5-6 inches long and eating them plain or with a basic veggie dip (my favorite is published in the North Dakota State University Extension publication “Field to Fork: Cucumbers!”). But what do you do when your favorite garden vegetable starts dropping flowers?

To answer this question, let’s have a little biology refresher. Cucumbers are in the cucurbit family, which also contains squash, watermelons and pumpkins. This family of vining crops relies on an imperfect flower for production.

What makes this flower imperfect? One flower is male, with anthers that produce pollen. The other is a female flower, with stigmas that receive the pollen. Female flowers also contain the ovary, which often looks like a small version of the adult plant with the blossom attached at the end.

For fruit to develop, pollination must occur, meaning pollen from the male flower must be transported to the female flower. If pollination does not occur, the female flower will abort and fall off; the male flower will also fall off soon after blooming.

If you suspect poor pollination is the problem, hand-pollinate your cucumbers by gently rubbing a small paintbrush or cotton swab inside a male flower to pick up yellow pollen, then dabbing it onto the center of the female flower. Other options include planting diverse pollinator-friendly plants around your garden to bring in the pollinators to do the work for you.

Also, consider how active the pollinators are during flower bloom. Pollinators are less active after rain or during hot weather; optimal bee foraging is between 68-86 degrees Fahrenheit. Bees and other insects are the primary method of pollination for cucumbers, so if they are not actively pollinating the flowers, then the fruit will not form.

Besides poor pollination, environmental factors, such as drought or high temperatures, can cause flowering issues. Flowers are temperature-sensitive. When daytime temperatures are in the 90s, the flowers and small fruits can abort and fall off. Adding a layer of mulch can help keep the roots cool and the plants from becoming both drought- and heat-stressed.

So, if your cucumbers are dropping flowers and not producing, look around and see — is it the birds and the bees, or is it something else?

NDSU Agriculture Communication – Aug. 18, 2026

Source: Emily How, 701-857-6444, emily.how@ndsu.edu

Editor: Dominic Erickson, 701-231-5546, dominic.erickson@ndsu.edu