Re: Why do you have to hand pollinate a pumpkin? Please address these questions.

I am going to answer a few questions but i am not a "big hitter" as
duncan requested. so i'll take a few of the easier ones. ( at least easy
to me)


What does a female or  male flower look like?
female flowers:  flowers with a little pumpkin on the bottom.
male flower:  regular flowers with no  little pumpkin on the bottom.

Is it ok to pollinate more than one pumpkin on a pumpkin plant?

YES! you should pollinate several pumpkins.  some people do 4 or 5 other
6 or 7 or more as generally not all of them will take.  some might abort
(not grow, wither, die then fall off the vine)  after several pumpkins
have "set" ( not aborted- and growing bigger) then you have to decide
how big you want them to get before you cut some off. ( culling)  some
people wait till the pumpkins are the size of volleyballs or basketballs
before cutting back -others wait even longer and have 2-3 pumpkins up to
50 or even 100 pounds before cutting back.  keep track of when each
female was pollenated and how much it grows each day after that.  keep
track by measuring from stem to end and also around the middle. you
might not want to lift the pumpkin so just measure 1/2 of the middle
(put a sticker dot or post it note on each side). or from the ground on
one side to the ground on the other.  use the same measuring technique
for each one. then compare the size and growth rates of the pumpkins at
the same number of days from pollenation.  a smaller pumpkin, because it
was pollenated later, might have a faster growth rate and turn out
larger by the end of the season than a bigger sister who is not growing
as fast.  If a pumpkin is alot smaller and deformed then you want to cut
it off.  most big growers save only one pumpkin per plant - more
recently more growers have tried 2 or 3 pumpkins on a plant with
success, that is, all have seemed to reach thier full potenial.  growers
differ on this - some think one per plant is the only way to go.  others
think 2 or 3 per plant are fine.  if you are going for the world record,
1st prize at the local weigh-off, or the biggest you possibly can then
you probably want to go with just one pumpkin.  if you just want to grow
some big pumpkins, take them to a weigh-off and impress your neighbors
more than one would mostly likely be fine. 

Is it ok to pollinate a female flower on a secondary vine?

Yes- but, generally the biggests pumpkins are grown on the main vine-
but if all your main vine pumpkins abort then would you rather have a
pumpkin on a secondary vine or no pumpkin at all ??? easy question. 

Should I break off all the other pumpkins after I just pollinated one
pumpkin?

only if you want to have a plant with one pumpkin that might abort. -
then you would be days or weeks behind what you could have been waiting
for another female, or only have a nice big plant and no pumpkins.  

Gordon Tanner
Maple Valley, WA

still waiting for the Duncan update.  i think his visit to china was to
investigate rumors of and if true bring back seeds from super giant
pumpkins being grown there in the northern provences !!! (and that is
why he has been so elusive this year) 


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