Where have all the (female) flowers gone?

7 years ago

I'm in St Louis Missouri. I have several different types of plants planted in containers. Earlier this year the zucchinis for flowering like crazy. There were both male and female flowers. I was hand fertilizing, although it seems like I wasn't doing that great of a job since only 3 of the many I tried to pollinate set fruit. Even though I have 6 plants there are only male flowers now. What's up with that?

Additionally I wanted two types of cucumbers. I have two of one type (either pickling or straight eight) that was producing tons of female flowers. The three other cucumber plants don't seem to have produced any at all. Is that type? Will some cucumber plants produce all male flowers for several weeks before making females?

And finally my son is growing pumpkins. We have quite a few flowers on them but I'm not really sure what I'm looking for as far as male female flowers. Do female pumpkin flowers look like they have little pumpkins on them like the zucchini look like they have little zucchini?

Featured Answer

digdirt2

7 years ago

Don't know that it is a secret to plants but they do reproduce in cycles. Often when there are several developing fruit on a plant it will quit creating female blooms or even blooms of both kinds. And when it is stressed for some reason the reproductive cycle can be throw out of kilter. And plants growing in containers are subject to all sorts of stressors.

So if you have zuke plant producing all sorts of flowers, both and male and female and even hand pollination isn't working then it is a very unhappy plant for some reason. Would need to know much more details on size of container, potting mix used, feeding and watering regimen, pest issues, etc. Photo would help too.

Same could be the issue with the cuke plants. Pumpkin females have shorter, thicker flower stalk than males and a small, round swelling just below the blossom. The center of the bloom looks very different from a male bloom too.

Dave

Comments (11)

daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
7 years ago
If you have a lot of plants, it all evens out. In general, male flowers are produced first, in order to attract pollinators, since female flowers require more activity by the plant, and by the time those come out, you want the pollinators to be around. Those little fruit on the back use energy and nutrients to create.
fortunerose_6a
7 years ago
Ya know, that has always been the case with mine..... "male flowers are produced first"... however, this year my zucchini are loaded with the starts of females... and I don't see a single male in sight... Very odd.
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daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
7 years ago
On my Seminole, I had ONE female followed by lots of males, followed by TWO females, followed by lots of males. I think they're playing hard to get.
Crystal Meaux
Original Author
7 years ago
Yeah, I had lots of females to start and now none. It is weird. And I just don't know about the cucumbers. I have dozens of females on the one type and none on the other.
theforgottenone1013 (SE MI zone 5b/6a)
7 years ago
If anyone finds out the secret to cucurbit flowering habits be sure to let the rest of us know. I've given up trying to figure it out. They never seem to act the same two years in a row...

Rodney
Peter (6b SE NY)
7 years ago
Apparently the mystery of women extends to the plant kingdom ;)
Crystal Meaux
Original Author
7 years ago
Oh, I think they are very unhappy plants. I have 6 zucchini plants. 4 of them are living in a small kids pool of MG potting mix. Sadly the mix settled since I planted them, so I think they don't have as much soil as they would like. The other 2 are in a larger kiddie pool I bought for my son's pumpkins. I didn't think the pumpkins would live since I was transplanting them, so I filled the pool 1/3 full of dry leaves and the rest of the way with MG garden soil to avoid wasting $ on plants that wouldn't survive. I threw the 2 zucchini plants I had left to transplant into one side of the pool. After I read you guys say that garden soil isn't meant to be planted in without mixing with regular soil I threw some more soil from the yard into the pool and mixed it in the top few inches. The weird thing is that while I wound up with 6 large zucchini plants, the ones in the large pool (leaves and garden soil) are way healthier looking than the ones in the small pool. Apparently more crappy soil is better than less better soil.

The cucumbers are actually very happy. I've got them growing in a city pickers box and they seem to be loving the constant supply of water. I originally had 6 cucumbers (3 of straight eight on one side, 3 pickle barrel hybrid on the other) planted in the box and asked you guys what to do about thinning. I built a little trellis in the box and cut out the weakest looking one, which seems to have been a mistake. The two on the side I cut are producing a TON of male and female flowers and the three plants on the other side are only producing male flowers.

Oh, and I went an checked out the pumpkin flowers this morning. There were 6 flowers and they were all male.
Crystal Meaux
Original Author
7 years ago
Zucchini

Cucumbers
Peter (6b SE NY)
7 years ago
They were all over here... all females!
albert_135 　 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
7 years ago
A wild tangent - sorry I couldn't resist : Peter, Paul and Mary - Where Have All the Flowers Gone (25th Anniversary Concert) - YouTube - Peter, Paul and Mary - Where Have All the Flowers Gone (25th Anniversary Concert)