Re: Can't get female flower pollinated!

Can this method be used on the female flowers BEFORE they open to be pollenated?  I am a new grower and a lot of my female flowers are withering and falling off even before they mature enough to open.  I read that it might be because of the heat.  I live in Texas and we have 90 degree & up weather quite often.  Or is there something else that would be causing this and what can I do about it?  Any and all advise is appriciated.  I have learned quite a lot since I have joined this list.

Thanks!

<<< Bob and Alice Attaway <attaboy@mail.atl.bellsouth.net>  7/24  3:47p >>>
I used mikes method and was successful at setting 2 pumpkins at 97 here in the
deep south.
Bob Attaway

Mike Nepereny wrote:

> Here's something I've been doing this year to help pollination in high temps
> :
>
> The day before you expect to pollinate, fill either 2 liter plastic soda
> bottles or 1 gallon plastic milk containers (whichever happens to be in the
> garbage at the time) and put them in the freezer. After you hand pollinate
> in the morning, put a paper lunch bag over the flower. Put one frozen
> container on each side of the flower. Then, put a styrofoam cooler over both
> bottles and the flower. Wrap your wife's best bathroom towels around the
> bottom of the cooler to seal it. Finally, throw a tarp over the whole thing
> to further insulate it. I'll do this around 7:30 in the morning before I go
> to work. When I get home at six, there is still ice in the bottles and the
> flower is nice and cool even on days when the daytime temps are in the mid
> 90s.
>
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