mmm some say some won't cross pollinate, me i dunno? so i'll leave that one alone, pumpkins are noted for cross pollinating and you never know when it has happened until you keep and grow from your own seed. X-s can be good fruit but have had some that are only good for wood carving unless you like pumpkin soup. i would say if you want to grow a particular pumpkin then source known heirloom seeds open pollinated. from planting to picking is a long gap if picked only when ripe. i have kent/jap and queensland blue's growing together (they are about the best eating)haven't decided what i am going to do about next seasons plantings as yet, a bit of effort paper bagging coming female and male flowers so i can hand pollinate then bag the female again until the next day. anyhow give them a try. a ripe pumpkin is great eating len Here is a link that might be useful: lens garden page

Hand pollination will work. You can grow all different varieties right next to each other with no problem.Even if they cross pollinate, they will produce gourds true to their type BUT the seeds from those gourds will produce a mixed type. If you hand pollinate some of the blossoms,then tag so you'll know which ones you did, these can be your seeds gourds. Works out great. There are some great web sites that explain this much better than I can and also Ginger Summits book, Gourds in Your Garden,explains hand pollinating and just about anything you would like to know about growing gourds. It's my favorite.

Since pepper flowers are capable of pollinating themselves, chaances are they they get pollinated soon after they open, before a different cultivar can cross with them. It is already fairly rare. To guarantee that crosses do not occur, you can bag the blossom with any number of materials. I have heard of people making little bags out of toole (a type of fine netlike fabric). You could probably also use some sort of women's nylons. Don't use a plastic bag though, as it may overheat and it traps moisture. As soon as the flower shows signs of a pepper, you can remove the bag, just mark the pepper to ensure you remember which one it is.

Ditto on the above. However, even vegetables that are self-pollinating - such as beans and tomatoes - can cross with others within their species, under the right conditions. Some species, though, require wind (such as corn) or insects (such as cucumbers and squash) to pollinate, and are very susceptible to crossing unless methods are used to isolate them. Unless there are other gardens in very close proximity to yours (such as in a community garden) you can grow one each: bean, pea, cowpea, tomato, eggplant, pepper, okra, and lettuce, and the seed will most likely be pure. All of those species are self-fertile. If given a little space & other crops between them as barriers, you can grow more than one of these, and the seed will still (most likely) be pure enough for home use. If saving seed to share, though, or if saving something rare, you can bag a few blossom clusters to guarantee pure seed. Carrots and radishes are insect pollinated, and might cross with wild relatives. Beets and corn might cross with pollen carried on the wind (although beet pollen is uncommon in most urban or suburban areas). Squash, cucumbers, melons, lima beans, and runner beans are good sources of pollen and/or nectar, and bees sometimes will travel great distances to feed on them, so crossing with those grown by your neighbors is possible. Squash is particularly challenging; my rural garden is more than 1/4 mile from other gardens, and I still got quite a few crosses in my saved acorn squash seed. The species Cucurbita pepo is the most commonly grown; most summer squashes, acorn squash, spaghetti squash, many pumpkins, and even warted gourds are C. pepo. Chances are high that nearby gardens will be growing at least one of those, and some degree of crossing is likely unless hand pollinating. The book "Seed to Seed" has detailed information on nearly every vegetable imaginable, and I highly recommend it for those new to seed saving. Southern Exposure has quite a bit of seed saving info in their resource library as well. It identifies the vegetables which are self pollinating; those are the easiest for the home gardener to save seeds from.