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nashville,tennessee,us

How important is it to select the blooms that you want to polenate? Why not just wait and let the bee's do it? You can tell I am new at this so any insight would be helpful.

6/22/2000 1:06:06 PM

Commack, NY

onlyme
you can definatly let the bees do what they do, and your pumpkin can be just as big as anyone elses. the main reason why competitive growers hand pollinate is to ensure the cross that they are making.
for instance, lets say you're growing two really great plants, for arguements sake let's say you've got a 567.5 mombert, and a 946.5 geerts, both outstanding seeds. you think that they would make a good cross. Now, how can you be sure that they will cross? the bees are just going from flower to flower, with no rhyme or reason, so you never know what you're going to get. that's when hand pollinating comes in. by hand pollinating, and then tying off the female blossom so that no bees can get in there, you are ensuring that you've just made a 567.5 X 946.5 cross.
just remember, only the seeds carry the genetic material from the mother and the father, the pumpkin you're growing is unaffected by the pollination. so whether you let the bees do it, or you hand pollinate from another plant, you're pumpkin's size will be unaffected.
then, next year, you can take those seeds and grow them, or give them out to other growers, and you know what they are made of. any pollination that is carried out by the bees is considered open pollinated, and in that case your pumpkin could have been pollinated by the 946.5, or the store bought seed that your neighbor down the street is growing that you dont' know about. when you had pollinate, you know what you're getting, and you are completely in charge of what's going on. pretty neat huh?

good growing
scott

6/22/2000 1:44:58 PM

Connecticut, USA

Don't forget, there is an article in the How-to section about hand pollinating.

6/22/2000 9:58:28 PM

Connecticut, USA

Another reason to hand pollinate is to get a pumpkin growing as fast as possible. When a plant first starts throwing blossoms there might not be many bees around. By hand pollinating you are ensuring that it gets done. If you don't care about the seeds then leave the female open after your done.

6/23/2000 1:01:28 PM