How to give bees a hand and pollinate squash, cucumber, melon and pumpkin flowers.
See the largest open flower on the right? That’s a female flower. All the flowers on the long stems at left are male. Fully open male blossoms work best for hand-pollinating. Best time to do this is in the early morning. Kathy Morrison
Cucumbers, melons and pumpkins also are having this same problem – lack of pollination.
Members of the cucurbit family (squash, cucumbers, melons and pumpkins are all related) have male and female flowers. They need something – usually a bee or other insect – to physically move pollen from the male flowers to the female blooms.
Bees and other pollinators do this accidentally as they collect nectar and pollen for themselves. During triple-digit heat, these pollinators tend to be a lot less active if at all.
Or the bees may be having a hard time finding your squash and melon vines, especially if they’re surrounded by non-flowering plants.
Another sign of lack of pollination: Baby zucchini start to form but stop when only about 3 inches long, then brown and fall off. That squash was insufficiently pollinated, so the plant aborted it.
When bees don’t do the job, pick up a paintbrush and give pollination a hand.
A soft-bristled artist’s paintbrush, such as a watercolor brush, is perfect for this job. (A small makeup brush will work, too.)
First, determine which flowers are which. The female flowers have an obvious swelling at their base. That’s the baby fruit, waiting to be pollinated. In the center of that flower, the female stigma (its lady parts) will be prominent and clearly visible.
The male flowers have no swelling at their base; on squash, they tend to have long stems. The male blooms are filled with pollen-topped stamens.
Take the paintbrush and lightly swish it around those bright yellow stamens. The brush will quickly be covered with yellow dust; that’s the pollen.
Then, open up the female flower and gently stroke the stigma with the pollen-covered brush. That’s it; you’ve pollinated the flower. (You can buzz like a bee while doing this, of you like.)
Do this over and over until all the female flowers have been “dusted” with your pollen paintbrush.
If you don’t have a brush, try this alternative: Remove a male flower and pull back the petals to expose the stamens. Then, use the stamens to “paint” their pollen onto the female flower’s stigma.
Either way, baby squash (or melons or cucumbers or pumpkins) will soon be on the way.
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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3
November still offers good weather for fall planting:
* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.
* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.
* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.
* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.
* Plant garlic and onions.
* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.
* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.
* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.
* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.
* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.
* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.
* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.
* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.
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