Worms inside seed pods?

JessieC

Hello I found these in my seed pods yesterday. It’s been relatively dry and most of the pods have been closed up for a couple of weeks or more. Any ideas?

It’s my first year attempting to save seeds and I thought I’d check them. We have (maybe) a few weeks left before frost. I saw little white eggs too but only managed to get a photo of the brown one. The eggs are about 3-4mm, and the worms maybe 5-8mm.
🤢
Thank you!

Bessie

JessieC the discovery of worms is what prompted me to start harvesting seed pods that were borderline ripe. I harvest, dig in to the seedpod, and removed the worms. In another post I mention how I've started squeezing the pods in hopes of killing any caterpillars/worms. When I dried roses many decades ago, I was so disappointed when the stored roses started to be devoured by worms of some kind. I found that freezing the dried roses killed the worms without hurting the dried roses.

Teddahlia

Yes, worms are in seed pods occasionally(3 or 4 in a year). None this year , so far. They do seem to eat immature seeds. Not much of problem really as we have never seen them in a hand pollinated seed pod and there more than enough seeds from open pollinated plants.

JessieC

Bessie oh thank you Bessie and Teddahlia ! I must have seen your other post at some point, Bessie, but I couldn’t find it. I thought I’d heard of this happening. Any thoughts as to a cause or a solution? I doubt anything is close to ripe in these seed pods yet.

Bessie

JessieC, moths or other caterpillar making insects lay their eggs on the flowers or seed heads. The idea came to me that the moisture inside the seed pod may be a protective mechanism. It may be worthwhile to cover seedpods with organza bags, however the eggs may already have been laid. A preventative spray or powder for killing caterpillars may work on larva emerging from an egg. I've noticed if the flower disk starts turning dark brown in an irregular pattern, there might be a larva eating deep in the disk.

Bessie

Common stalk borer is the insect I think I have in my garden affecting Dahlia flower heads. Very widespread😞.
https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/pubs_ext_vt_edu/en/3104/3104-1567/3104-1567.html

AndreaB

I only lost 2 to the borer this year. I’m super grateful for that, but not happy that one of them was Bloomquist Pumpkin. I finally got my hands on a tuber and it was one of my fastest growing plants until it succumbed to the borer. I had to cut it all the way down to the ground (until I saw solid stem again). It regrew multiple stems and reached 4ft high. Since we’ve been graced with an extended season this year, I was pretty optimistic I’d get to see it bloom. Only problem is, I didn’t convey my plans to my husband and the plant got chopped down. Crap 😳
So now I just have to hope it made tubers and I can get them to store. From what I know about BQ Pumpkin, that’s a tall task!

Bessie

AndreaB I think chopping it down when the borer attacked would have forced the tuber to get stronger. Good luck!