What Is Eating My Pumpkin Flower?

Male Flowers

• Pumpkins produce male and female flowers. The male flowers produce pollen to pollinate the female blossoms. Male flowers never grow into fruit and eventually wither and fall off. Sometimes this looks like a pest is eating the blossoms. Female flowers have larger ends, where the fruits form.

Cucumber Beetle

• Cucumber beetles damage more than 270 garden species. The beetles are small, about the size of a large flea. The larvae measure around ½ inch or less and can be found at the base of plants and in the soil. Larvae are whitish with a brown tail tip and a brown head. Identify cucumber beetle damage by checking inside eaten blossoms and wilting plants. The beetles will congregate inside what is left of the flower, as well as all over the plants. Tapping plants will usually send them flying and falling from the plants. Treat infestations with neem oil or pyrethrum sprays. Avoid spraying when pollinators are active. One way to treat without killing honeybees is to water the plants, knocking the beetles to the soil, and then applying neem or pyrethrum to the base of the squash plants. This prevents the blossom from contamination.

Western Corn Rootworm

• As plants produce pollen, the Western corn rootworm loves nothing more than to eat it. The western cornworm beetle is 6 mm in length, yellow-green in color and has three dark stripes down its back. Its larvae reach around 12 mm long and are threadlike and pale yellow to white in color. This pest usually attacks corn, squash and cucumbers. They will sometimes infest pumpkins. Avoid planting pumpkins near their preferred foods.

Animal Pests and People

• If your blossoms are disappearing, it might be the work of a bird or other animal. Dogs like to chew on what their owners tend, so the family pet may be the culprit. Even people eat pumpkin blossoms. Check with your family and neighbors and see if they have been sneaking a nibble.