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Vegetable Gardening

pollinating squash by hand

kawaiineko_gardener

13 years ago

I tried to grow squash last year; little immature fruits appeared on the female plants, but unfortunately shriveled up and died due to lack of pollination.

People have suggested pollinating by hand, however when should I do this? I was told that for squash plants and melon plants, the males blossoms always appear before

the female blossoms is this true?

Also I was told if you overcrowd the plants, that you'll get more male blossoms than female blossoms? The other question I have in regards to that is if you overcrowd the plants, are the immature fruit more likely to die, due to putting stress on the plant, or is it simply because of lack of pollination, or is it a combination of the two?

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Comments (6)

digdirt2
13 years ago
Here is a link to the FAQ here on how to hand pollinate squash. It answers all your questions except the over-crowding. Yes overcrowding stresses the plants but it does not increase the odds of self-pollination. So yes it is a combination of both.

Here is a link that might be useful: Squash pollination FAQ
jolj
13 years ago
Do you have a native bee habitat near your garden?
You can pick one up at a garden center or though a seed catalog.
I made one out of bamboo shorts with one half inch holes in the bamboo. Cut the 5/8 dia. bamboo about 6-8 inches long.
Leave the natural partition in the middle, with each end open, so the bees can nest.
Tie the bamboo in bundles of 20 or so.
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You don't necessarily have to hand pollinate for seed saving, but there are good reasons to do so: 1) If there are other squash varieties around, they love to cross-pollinate, and then you end up with a completely different, maybe not so good, variety. 2) If the bugs aren't doing such a good job of pollinating, you may have to. And even if they are, they may bring pollen from anywhere. If you do hand pollinate to save seed, your going to have to isolate both male and female blossoms by sealing with masking tape or enclosing in sandwich bags. They cannot be exposed to insect contact. Doing it first thing in the morning isn't good enough, the bees may beat you. There are some good threads in the pumpkin/squash forums about this, if you can find them.
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This year, I planted some cilantro and it produced some very nice flowers that seem to lure - not only honey bees, but small wasps that love the flowers. I'm hoping to harvest a goodly amount of the seeds for drying and use in cooking (coriander). I see very few green worms in my cabbages this year - (but quite a few earwigs - that I missed late in the season - bad me - cuz wrapped up newspaper would have controlled them). I also kept bees in prior years - and they still return to pollinate my fruit trees - and veggies. Several years ago, I planted borage near my fruit-bearing trees to attract them - and have always have had good fruit set since then - as borage re-seeds easily. So - yes, I'm impressed with the cilantro this year and will continue this - have never tried marigolds. Bejay
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Muddypaws, If you are trying to get pure seed, then you need to go out to the garden the afternoon (after 3 PM) or evening, before you want to do the hand pollination. Tape shut the flowers which will open the following day. Varieties differ as to what they look like the day before they open. But with a couple tries, you should get it figured out. Then, do your hand pollinations before noon the next day, earlier is better. The pollen is ready for use by sunrise. When the day gets hot the pollen may become ineffective, or the female flower may lose its receptiveness. As weirdtrev has already mentioned, the female flower may have been pollinated, albeit without protection. Time will tell. George
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I am curious what you mean by opened partially? If you open the flower a day early it won't work and if you open the flower after it blooms at like 5 in the afternoon it won't work. You should pollinate the flowers when they are open. You definitely want to hand pollinate before 10 am, the earlier the better. The later it becomes the less pollen is left on the flowers. If you really want to be sure you get all that valuable pollen tape a flower shut the day before or put a bag over the male flower until it tries to open and you can use all that pollen. Rain could be an issue but it probably wasn't unless your plants are surrounded by sitting water (like puddles). I am sure in the very near future you will start getting all those wonderful squash.
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grant_zz
13 years ago
i've found hand pollination easy and effective. at small scales. obviously its a hell of a lot of work if you're dealing with a lot of plants... bees, bees, wonderful bees... provide wildflowers and water and they will come.
ladybugsmom192
13 years ago
hi there!

as a newbie last year, i found it pretty easy, and here's what i did:

once i figured out which were the male and female flowers (beautiful aren't they?), i realized that yes, the males came before the females.

so i snipped the male flowers and put them in a large zippy bag, no more than two per bag.

as soon as the females appeared and opened up, i'd grab a male from the fridge, pick or snip the petals off where the yellow met the green, leaving the 'tip' with all that glorious pollen.

then i'd 'tickle' the inside (the stamen??) of the female with the 'tip' of the male.

it worked EVERY TIME! and i noticed that the more pollen i covered the female with, the quicker and bigger the fruit was - could have just been a coincidence!

good luck and i really hope this helps!
thisisme
13 years ago
kawaiineko_gardener They say a picture says a thousand words. I hope you find this link helpful.

Here is a link that might be useful: Squash & Pumpkin Pollination
thisisme
13 years ago
Even better yet how about a video? I know the video is of a winter squash. However summer squashes are the same except that the female ovum may not be as large. Its still noticeably different than the male though as seen in the pictures in the link in my previous post.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gardening How-To: Pollinating Winter Squash

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