It’s time to get intimate with your squash blossoms. Have you ever wondered how exactly squash plants are pollinated? Don’t worry, most people haven’t either, but did you know that you can pollinate squash plants by hand? Some people may think it is just the mystery of nature that allows a plant to grow and then magically have fruit appear. For many types of plants that is almost the case. These would be “self-pollinating” plants that don’t need any help from bees or wind once the blossom has formed, these plants include tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, green beans, and a great deal of other plants that you would find in a typical vegetable garden. However squash is not one of these plants and they need a little help. This is usually where the bees come in. Bees do a great job of diving into these flowers, gathering up pollen, then moving to the next one and so on. This results in the bees mixing the pollen between plants and fertilizing the female flowers so that the fruit will grow. This is one of the reasons we wanted bee hives, because we love their help! However it is wildflower season in Texas and the bees from our hives are busy enjoying the plentiful supply of flower pollen. This leaves our squash blossoms in need of some attention in the meantime. It seems like a waste of perfectly good plant energy to not jump in and give them some help, plus we are a little impatient to get some fresh veggies from the garden.
This is where the intimate part comes in. When the bees are busy elsewhere, we chose to step up and play the role. It is a pretty simple process that anyone can do and will help ensure that your tiny fruit will turn into a hearty piece of squash or zucchini that you can enjoy.
First things first, find the man flower. That’s right there is a male and female flower and it is important to know the difference. The female flowers are easy to spot because they are attached to a tiny piece of fruit (squash, zucchini, etc). They also have a “female” type structure inside the flower, called a stigma, which receives the pollen. The male flowers are on longer stems and have anthers inside, which more closely resembles a “male” part. Once you have those spotted, then you can put two and two together to get that baby squash fertilized.
How to Pollinate Squash Plants by Hand
Step 1: Find Male Flower
Step 2: Cut the flower off the plant. Remove the petals from the flower using a pair of sharp scissors or snips. Be careful not to disturb the pollen in the center of the male flower.
Step 3: Take the male flower anther and rub it around the female stigma
At this point, if you look closely, you should be able to see the pollen on the stigma. This will hopefully pollenate the fruit and get some early squash on your dinner table.
Other options include:
- Using a cotton swab to distribute the pollen to the female flower, but it can be a bit challenging. The cotton tends to stick.
- Small artist paintbrushes can be an easy alternative as well. Just apply the same basic steps as above.
Happy Pollinating!!!
