Flower mortality on vegetable crops

Flower mortality on vegetable crops was observed this past summer around the Metro Vancouver area (Surrey, Abbotsford, Pitt Meadows), leading to a reduction in fruit production. Unfavorable weather conditions were reported for June; although July and August were dry and sunny, the number of unfertilized dead flowers remained high. Concurrently, a generally low collision rate of insects with car windshields was observed during the summer, which may indicate lower insects/pollinators numbers.

AI Comment from GPT 5:

The pattern of many unfertilized flowers alongside low summertime insect windshield strikes is consistent with concerns in Lack of bees, pollination limiting crop yields across U.S., B.C., which reported that shortages of wild and managed bees were already limiting yields on B.C. farms.

Recent posts also describe crop losses tied to weather extremes during sensitive reproductive stages. In the Fraser and Okanagan valleys, the 2021 heat wave “cooked” fruit on the branch, damaging cherries, raspberries, and blueberries. More recently, producers in the Okanagan faced record losses after a sudden cold snap described as “weather whiplash”, which severely affected peaches and grapes.

Unusual plant timing has also been noted regionally; Garry Oak Leaves and Flowers Opening in November documented out-of-season flowering in Saanich, an example of phenological shifts observed in coastal B.C.

Taken together, these posts highlight two recurring pressures on crop reproduction in B.C.—pollinator availability and weather variability. The observation of widespread flower mortality despite sunny July–August conditions aligns with the previously reported risk that limited pollination can reduce fruit set [94EFA601-5417-4207-ACDD-D0ED448F20DC], while the mention of unfavorable June weather echoes how timing and extremes can affect flowering and subsequent yield [B3615C39-68ED-4C74-8187-4A7C93630952; 241FA11E-6477-4C60-88C0-39CBEEB70F1E].