From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Nova Scotia

now i've noticed on my plant that any male flowers of any size are missing about 1/3 of there outer covering exposing the interior before they bloom. and over half of my flowers never develop. what's going on, to much nigtrogen, lack of potasuim, or pest of some sort?

5/12/2004 7:26:35 AM

[email protected]

This sounds unusual. Corn Rootworms are known to cause this problem on Sunflowers but I've never heard of Pumpkins getting hit. Are there remnants of the flower as if it has been chewed on by an insect?

Ethylene gas can cause abnormalities of some flowers, but again, I've never heard that of cucurbits. Is there a pile of rotting fruit nearby? Any other source of gasses? Ethylene is a know Plant Growth Regulator.

Environmental stresses (heat, cold, high wind, drought) during flower formation can screw things up. Has any unusually extreme weather event ocurred during the flower set period?

Then again, this could just be a luck of the draw genetics issue.

We need more information I think.

Steve

5/12/2004 9:03:12 PM

I had some aphids on my lilies last year, and it sounds similar. On my lilies, some of the petals on the buds were shriveled and wrinkled, exposing the interior of the premature blooms.

5/12/2004 11:32:40 PM

Appalachian Mtns.

That happened tome last year too on a couple of random plants. It wasn't like they had been eaten, but like part of the flower just didn't grow there in those spots for some reason....strange.
Genetic abnormality?

5/13/2004 3:47:33 AM

Nova Scotia

posting pic for look

5/13/2004 7:17:31 AM