Hand Pollination

Goodmorning gardeners,

Have you been noticing your pumpkin plants doing very well, having full looking leaves and lots of flowers but no fruit?

This could be because your local pollinators are not doing a full job. Bees are amazing when it comes to pollinating but sometimes they just don't get the full job done. So, to assist your plants reach their full potential and produce a max amount of fruit hand pollinating is a great strategy to help with fruit production. And it’s simple!

To begin the pollination process, identify which of the flowers on the plant are male and female. The male flowers typically have a long stamen that sticks straight out from the center of the flower to collect pollen. 

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On a female flower, there is a stigma that looks like a bunch of tiny stamens curled together. 

Now that we have identified the flowers we can begin the pollination process. The first step is to pluck a male flower from the plant and gently remove all of the surrounding leaves from the flower so only the stamen is visible.

Next, simply rub the stamen all over the stigma inside the flower to pollinate the soon to be fruit. 

The final step is to watch the fruit on your plant grow big and beautiful. 

Good luck on your pumpkins this spooky season and happy growing!

The Consumption Literacy Project