The key to hand pollinating your pumpkin & squash flowers is being able to identify male and female flowers. Once you have identified and pollinated the flowers learn how to bag them to protect the tender young fruits from pumpkin or fruit fly damage.
Video Timeline:
00:00 - Introduction
01:17 - The difference between UNOPENED male and female squash/pumpkin flowers
02:48 - The difference between OPEN male and female squash/pumpkin flowers
04:07 - How to hand pollinate pumpkin & squash
05:31 - How to bag pumpkin & squash to protects again pumpkin & fruit fly damage
There is something joyful about growing pumpkins and squash in the home garden. Maybe it is the delicious food they provide, maybe it is the luscious, massive, green leaves they produce. All I know is I love growing them. However, growing your own pumpkin and squash at home can be frustrating due to a lack of pollination and pumpkin or fruit fly damage, which results in fruits falling off and not reaching full ripeness.
To be able to effectively grow your own pumpkin and squash there are some things you need to do.
Firstly, you need to learn how to tell the difference between male and female pumpkin and squash flower BEFORE they actually open. Why is this important? You need to be in the garden daily hand pollinating your flowers and to get an idea of how many flowers need pollinating you need to identify them before hand.
Secondly, you need to know how to hand pollinate pumpkin or squash flowers for increased yield. If you leave pollination 100% up to nature then you are going to experience disappointments as incomplete pollination is quite a common problem with cucurbits. Hand pollinating ensures your female flowers are all correctly pollinated, thus increasing your harvest at the end of the season.
Thirdly, you need to learn how to bag pumpkin and squash fruit once they have been pollinated to protect them from pumpkin and fruit fly damage. These pesky flies sting fruit from a very young age and can even sting the fruit the same day they are pollinated as they are attracted to the colour and the bright yellow flower is a beacon. Immediately bagging your pollinated fruits ensures that you can get fruit that reaches full maturity for you to enjoy.
Here is a video to learn how to prevent pumpkin and fruit fly damage on your pumpkin and squash fruits - • Stop pumpkin fly & fru...
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