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Can a globe squash grow without the flower?

Squash   

I've been dealing with cutworms, and I believe they are the ones who cut my globe squash's flower, I was wondering if they can still keep growing, and if there is anything a can do to help them. Also some of the other flowers are really sad and I found some little ants around them, are they eating the pollen? what can I do to get rid of them? Thank u!


Posted by: Romina (1 point) Romina
Posted: December 8, 2013




Answers

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I have never grown globe squash myself but I assume it is like any other squash, please correct me if I'm wrong. Obviously the flower that has been severed is lost but the others should be fine and continue to produce fruits. The flowers could be unhappy because they are not being pollinated. You can give the flowers a helping hand by transferring pollen from the male flowers to the female flowers using a paintbrush. I think we have had a post on this before. Here is a previos answer of mine that describes the process:

https://www.plantvillage.com/posts/13...

As for the ants, they might indicate that there is an aphid infestation on your plants. Ants like to farm aphids to feed on the sweet honeydew that they excrete. I'd check the plant to see if there are any and, if so, you can simply wash them off with some insecticidal soap - or squish them with your fingers. Just brushing them off is not always a good idea as despite their small size, many species are highly mobile and will simply climb back up the stems. You need to be a bit wary of aphids as they can transmit viruses to squash such as Cucumber mosaic.

If cutworms are a problem and are severing the plant stems then you may also want to treat for them. Check the squash pest and disease section for some ideas.

Let us know what you find!


Posted by: Lindsay McMenemy (4 points) Lindsay McMenemy
Posted: December 11, 2013




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