Pollinating zucchini by hand is ideal if you want to use row covers, save seeds, or harvest blossoms themselves. Inspect the base of each flower. Boosting Your Cucumber Blossoms for a Bumper Crop, Differences Between Male and Female Asparagus Flowers and Plants, Watermelon Blossoms – More than Pretty Flowers. You can use one male flower to pollinate up to three female flowers. Use a cotton swab to collect pollen from male flowers and apply it to the stigma of female flowers. They’re perfectly edible, and are even considered a delicacy. If the flower is pollinated, this will develop into a full-sized zucchini. If you grow other types of zucchini or other squash and want to be sure your female flowers aren’t cross-pollinated, pollinate each by hand and remove any remaining male flowers. Rub the anthers of the male bloom, which are covered in pollen, against the interior of the female blooms, advises the University of Florida Extension. Male flowers have a single pollen-covered stamen. Clip the female blooms shut with a paper clip to indicate which flowers were hand-pollinated. Too much fertilizer can cause female blooms to drop without setting fruit. Male flowers have a single pollen-covered stamen. Though each plant produces both male and female flowers, they’re typically located on different parts of the plant. Hand-pollinate the female squash flowers to ensure maximum fruit production, if desired. Zucchini plants produce two types of flowers. Garden. Row cover is a great defense against bugs, but of course it also keeps out the pollinators your plants need to set fruit. Squash pollen does not travel in the wind, it must come into direct contact with the female flower. from December 2016; to January 2017; last updated – posted 2017-Jan-2, 1:00 pm AEST posted 2017-Jan … If your plant produces more female than male flowers, harvest the male flowers and store them in a vase of water in the refrigerator for up to two days. Frequent picking, especially with summer squash varieties, encourages the plants to produce more blossoms and fruit. Another good reason to hand pollinate is to protect your zucchini from insect pests. Male flowers typically open first, followed by female flowers, so the first few blooms may not set fruit. Though the fruit produced from cross-pollination are fine, the seeds inside might grow into hybrids with unexpected characteristics. Female blossoms are somewhat smaller; at the base, you’ll see what looks like a miniature zucchini. Most varieties of summer and winter squash are hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture hardiness zones 3 to 11, according to North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension. Try zucchini blossoms: Flowers are best eaten shortly after they’re picked. menu Whirlpool Go to navigation. The female flowers tend to cluster nearer to the roots, often hidden beneath the leaves. © Copyright 2020 Hearst Communications, Inc. 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