Re: Cutting the bud = Rot
It does seem obvious that energy is spent on the male bud, but that that energy is significant and takes away from growth of the fruit is not obvious and depends on the energy budget of the plant. If the energy spent on the male bud is decreases the size of the fruit by 1%, then it's not worth cutting it if doing so risks disease. I don't know the real answer about the effect of cutting the bud. Maybe Gabe or someone knows of a proper controlled, replicated experiment that addressed this question.
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