My chilli plants flower well but a lot of flowers and small buds drop before setting pods. How do I reduce this?
How to control flower and bud drop in chilli (mirchi) during hot dry weather?
YYallappa6mo ago · 287 views
6 Answers
🌾Farmer.in Krishi TeamExpert ✓6mo ago
Flower and bud drop in chilli is usually caused by stress rather than a single pest. High temperature and dry hot winds, moisture stress from irregular irrigation, excess nitrogen pushing vegetative growth, and waterlogging all cause flowers and small buds to fall before setting. Sucking pests like thrips and mites and some diseases also trigger drop. Manage it by keeping soil moisture steady, drip and mulch help here, avoiding both drought stress and waterlogging during flowering, and not over applying nitrogen while keeping potash adequate per your soil test. Control thrips and mites so they do not add to the stress. Some farmers use recommended foliar nutrient or growth sprays to support fruit set, but only per KVK advice, since the main fix is correcting water and nutrient balance and protecting the crop during the hot flowering period. Confirm any spray with your KVK.
SSharanappa5mo ago
Keeping the moisture steady during the hot flowering window cut my drop the most. The plants that went through a dry spell and then a heavy watering shed their buds badly. Drip kept the soil even and the set improved clearly.
BBasanagouda5mo ago
Easing off nitrogen helped me. When I pushed urea for growth the plants went lush and green but dropped flowers, all the energy went to leaves. Balancing it with potash and not overfeeding nitrogen gave fewer leaves but more pods that held.
HHanumesh5mo ago
Check for thrips and mites before you blame the weather. My drop was partly the sucking pests stressing the flowering plants, not just the heat. Controlling them along with steady watering reduced the drop. Do not lean only on a foliar spray to hold the flowers if the real cause is water or pests.
RRenuka4mo ago
Mulch with the drip held the soil moisture and cooler during our hot flowering spell and the buds held better. On the bare soil blocks the top dried out fast between waterings and the flowers fell. The mulch evened out the moisture swing that was causing the drop.
SShivamma4mo ago
Avoiding waterlogging mattered as much as avoiding drought for me. After a heavy irrigation that left water standing, the plants shed buds badly. Light, even watering that does not waterlog, along with not overdoing nitrogen, gave a steadier set in the heat.