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The Cucurbit cousins – squash, cucumbers, melons, gourds, and pumpkins – have a reputation for poor pollination. You may find that your plants are covered with flowers, yet you get few fruits. Why? There are a number of factors that can contribute to pollination problems, but first, it helps to understand a little bit more about the Curcubit’s.
Members of this family have separate male and female flowers and in order to yield fruits, cross pollination needs to take place. This is when the pollen from a male flower is transferred to a female flower. It’s easy to tell the two types of flowers apart; male flowers have a straight stem beneath the bloom, while the female flowers have an immature fruit under the bloom. Only the female flowers will develop into a fruit. If no pollination takes place, that immature fruit will rot and fall off.
Savvy gardeners may also notice that when Curcubit’s initially begin to bloom, the plants produce only male flowers. Don’t worry! This only lasts for a week or two, with plenty of female flowers soon following.
What causes poor squash pollination?
- Too few bees and pollinators to move the pollen from the male to the female flowers.
- A stretch of very cool or very hot weather when the flowers are in bloom.
- Wet weather, or badly timed watering will affect pollen quantity and quality. If you must water, avoid early morning when the blooms first open. As well, irrigate only the soil, not the plant.
What’s a gardener to do?
As your Curcubit crops come into bloom, there’s no need to cross your fingers and hope for the best! Instead, give Mother Nature a helping hand by hand pollinating. Hand pollinating is quick and easy, and can seriously increase your yield.
Before you begin, grab a q-tip or a small bristle paintbrush, or pluck a just-opened male flower from the plant. If using a q-tip or paintbrush, press it gently to the anther of a fresh male flower and transfer the pollen to the stigma of a female flower. If you want to pollinate using a male flower, pick a good looking specimen from the plant and remove the petals to expose the anther. Then, simply press it against the stigma of the female flowers.
In my garden, hand pollinating cucumbers, zucchini, and squash results in more fruits per plant and an earlier harvest. Yet, for certain crops, like edible snake, bottle, and luffa gourds, it’s essential to hand pollinate. Many gourd flowers open at night, a time when there are fewer pollinators. Hand pollinating newly opened female flowers results in an excellent harvest.
For more on growing cucumbers, check out the following articles:
Do you hand pollinate your crops?
I am really having problems with my zucchini. I have 6 plants. They are getting really big and have quite a few blossoms, but the blossoms are not opening for me to pollinate. I am not seeing any bees around. Help!
Hey Kim, I wouldn’t worry about it as the plants often start with just male flowers before they get the female ones. I’d wait another week or so and likely you’ll find the flowers opening and bees visiting your gardens. If you don’t see many bees, do hand pollinate as I demonstrate in the article. Good luck! 🙂 – Niki
I have loads of male blooms but no female blooms. Also, my male blooms are not opening during the day. Eventually, they dry up and fall without opening up. I have only seen 1 bee around my garden. What can I do to improve this situation?
Can the male flower be used on more than one female?
Yup! Usually one male will pollinate at least 3 to 4 female flowers. Great question! – Niki
I have lots of female plants blooming but no Male plants blooming. Is there anything I can do to keep from losing the fruit I have.
Oh dear.. not really. I’d say just be patient, but instead of letting them go to waste while you wait for some male flowers, I’d harvest the female ones (with fruits attached) and use them in the kitchen. They can be dipped in tempura batter and fried as an appetizer, or stuff them with risotto, herbs, and/or cheeses and pan fry. So good!! – Niki
If you have a friend who also has squash plants, ask them for a male flower! Or even some green houses are willing to just hand one to you. If there’s anyone who understands the love of gardening and the heartbreak of only female flowers, it’s friends and greenhouses. They’re usually pretty willing to help out.
I just called my local library (we have a community garden) and asked if I could come grab a male flower. They laughed and said ‘of course, and happy pollinating!’
You’d be amazed at how many people help with this problem. 😉
Awesome artiicle! Thanks.
Glad I looked this up. I want to boost my current yields. Going to try in Butternut, cucumber and Kobucha.
Hello. Thank you for such excellent information. Is it ever “too late” to try to hand pollinate? My zucchini have been flowering for several weeks now (with no fruit).
Great question Leah! It can be too late if you’re within two weeks of your frost date, but at this point in summer you are fine to hand pollinate. Hope you get a bumper crop! 🙂 Niki
It’s never too late. Give it a try and let us know how it works for you.
When is the best time to hand pollinate? I always seem to be there at the wrong time when many of the flowers – especially the ones I think are female are actually closed. Does watering make the flowers close?
Good question! I tend to hand pollinate crops like squash, cucumbers and melons in the morning when the flowers first open. I don’t water before or immediately after hand pollinating as the moisture will affect pollen quality. For evening blooming crops like gourds, I hand pollinate after dinner. Hope that helps! Niki
Thank you for the excellent information! I have a single zucchini plant and it produces many flowers but no fruit.
Thanks for your comment! You can still get plenty of zucchini off one plant.. try hand-pollinating as detailed above 🙂
trying to send a photo of a plant in my garden how do i send it to jessica? i planted kale and this came up. what is it?