RE: Pollination Time

Thanks Bart!

Steve Haberman


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-pumpkins@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On Behalf Of
Bart Toftness
Sent: Saturday, June 27, 2009 12:53 PM
To: pumpkins@hort.net
Subject: Re: Pollination Time

There are two things to consider when deciding how to protect the females
from bees.  I firmly believe the bees are attracted to the flowers by the
color(actually UV 'color') so if they can't 'see' them they can't find them.
If you cover them with something like stocking then they can still find them
so you need to be sure the covering is closed to physically keep them out.
I use brown paper lunch bags.  easy on , easy off and have never found a bee
inside...NEVER.  The instant I remove the bag to do the deed they come in
bunches and it can be challenging to keep them out while pollinating.  On
rainy days I cover the paper bag with plastic bags to keep them dry.


Bart

Steve Haberman wrote:
> I pollinated my first female today. She is on my longest main vine 
> about 18 feet from the base. I am letting my other mains go a little 
> longer as it is only June 27. The plant that I pollinated today is the 
> largest, healthiest plant I have ever had! I don't know exactly why it 
> is going nuts but i will take it. I am going to spray tomorrow even 
> though I haven't seen ANY insects yet. I have some other varieties of 
> squash nearby so I covered the pollinated blossom with a plastic 
> coffee can. Any other suggestions on how to cover these and prevent 
> gourds? Would a stocking work? My field pumpkins self pollinate (bees) 
> but I always manually pollinate my squash and AG's to prevent gourds.
>  
> Steve Haberman
> 
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> Pumpkin-growing archives: http://www.hort.net/lists/pumpkins/
> To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the 
> message text UNSUBSCRIBE PUMPKINS

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Pumpkin-growing archives: http://www.hort.net/lists/pumpkins/
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the message
text UNSUBSCRIBE PUMPKINS

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Pumpkin-growing archives: http://www.hort.net/lists/pumpkins/
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE PUMPKINS
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index