How to Manage Pests

Pests in Gardens and Landscapes

Lack of pollination

Poor pollination may be caused by a number of factors. Bees generally pollinate flowers of many vegetable plants. Rain, low light, or cold and hot temperatures can limit bee activity. Planting varieties not suited for your area or planting at the wrong time may also contribute to poor pollination. Depending on the vegetable, poorly pollinated plants may have fruit of normal color but are small and appear flat. Some fruit may appear shriveled or turn brown. Fruit that normally has seeds may have few or no seeds inside. Corn lacking in pollination may have shriveled or incompletely developed kernels. In other cases, no fruit sets at all.

Distorted pepper fruit
Distorted pepper fruit

Few seeds found inside peppers
Few seeds found inside peppers

 


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