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Mid Michigan

Ok....another stupid question. How do you know if the pollination worked, and what do you look for? Any sure fire signs? Just start watching for pumpkin growth?
How long before you know if it took? Sheesh....the suspense is killing me, and i only pollinated it 3 hours ago!! The longer i sit here the more questions i come up with.
Cuzbiker

6/30/2001 10:11:19 AM

Long Island,New York

Sure fire signs? Sure fire? The only "sure fire signs" on this topic would be next year when you grow the seed from that pollination and that seed developes normally !! Anything less than that isn't sure fire. But, what your really asking is will the fruit develope now....after a week or two, while the fruit continues to grow, it will remain shiney on the surface. This is good, Although they can abort any time, most do so by basketball size. Your out of the woods on October 6 Cuz....no earlier !....

6/30/2001 10:59:16 AM

derry n.h u.s.a.

Hey Cuz:
After pollination it takes about 5 or 6 days and your(pumpkin)should be the size of a softball or baseball depending on it's growth.You should see a glossy sheen on it's skin it should look shiney basically.After you know you have a good one on the vine and it's over 20 pounds or so you can start to adjust the pumpkin to the vine so the fruits stem is perpendicular to the vine.once your fruit is 50 lb or so you might want to cut the root under the stem and the roots on each side of the pumpkin and level your pumpkin and stem(i use dirt or sand on each side or the back of the pumpkin to hold it in place)hope this helped.
Best of luck . John G...

6/30/2001 11:09:32 AM

Mid Michigan

Ok John, thanks. It's a little over the size of a golf ball this morning, so i'll start watching for more growth, and a "shine" next week. That's what i was getting at, what signs to look for that the pollination took.
I had a real early female on a big max plant, with no males.......it shriveled after about 5 days, so i know what to look for in that sense.

6/30/2001 11:49:52 AM

Roanoke Il

Cuz hard to really tell they can get as big as a basketball an not be pollinated. If they start to get big they almost all a pollinated about 4-5 days mark (3).

6/30/2001 6:50:41 PM