No-pollen (was Re: Lord of the Gourd)

Ron Leaverton wrote:
>...
>Apparently, in my over-zealous aspirations for a new
>PB, I goofed up my soil. None of my male flowers produced pollen, and hence
>no fruit set.

I can't conceive of this happening.  If your soil supports plant growth, and
it produced
male flowers that opened, then surely there was pollen.  The bees likely
beat you
to it, and stole all the pollen before you got out to the garden, that's
all. They become
active pretty early.  On certain days, all my pollen is gone by around
7:30AM.

You might also be looking too early for the pollen.  The flower usually
opens up,
then (usually) shortly afterwards, the anthers split open to reveal the
pollen.  If it's a cool,
dark, damp day, the flowers may be open quite a while before the pollen
becomes exposed.

To avoid problems, you can take male flowers that will open the next day
(they look yellowish-tinged),
pick them the night before, bring them inside, and put them in a vase of
water.
They will open early the next morning, and there won't be any bees to steal
it.

-Rick I.,
growing near Rochester, NY

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