Re: How do you tell when a female bud is about to open

In a message dated 7/16/2003 9:28:12 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
esue53@hotmail.com writes:

> I have a question, this is my first year at trying to grow giant pumpkins
> and I have been reading everything I can find on the subject.  But , now
> this may seem like a silly question to most , but how do you tell when a
> female bud is about to open so you can pollinate it by hand.
> 
> 

First of all the female bud is the one with the pumpkin behind the bud... If 
it has a straight stem and the center looks like you are holding a finger up 
in the middle of the bloom that is a male. (There will be no baby pumpkin 
behind the flowrer)
When the Female turns to a flower and opens in the morning (usually beween 8 
AM and 11 AM ) You grab several (3 or 4) of the male blooms, they are usually 
toward the center of the plant. I try to grab them from another plant if 
available and write down the plant they came from along with the Female you 
fertilized (Plus the date)
I peel just the outer, upper edges of the male flower off (It looks like a 
shot glass) then turn them upside down over the center of the female flower. 
Next I give them a couple taps with my finger to shake the pollen down that is 
loose in the flower. 
After all the loose pollen is shaken into the bloom I peel the rest of the 
edges of the blossem off and take the center of the male blossem (stamen) and 
gently wipe the pollen all around the center of the Female blossem. After doing 
this 3 or 4 times per blossem then I go have a cigarette and try to recover to 
do it again tomorrow.(LOL)
Good Luck
Bill Garvey
Michigan 

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