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pollinating pumpkin flowers

• Message 1. 

  Posted by MerryDebsGarden (U14906111) on Tuesday, 14th June 2011

  For the first time I have started with growing pumpkins this year (I do not know the variety, but the fruit looks like this: , commonly available at supermarkets in the autumn; I collected a few seeds out of a pumpkin and simply planted them). However, because of lack of space, I could manage only three pumpkin plants. Given that the flowers are either male or female, I made a policy that I will not take chances by insect pollination, rather, will pollinate by hand early morning - the same morning the flowers come up.
  
  The problem however is that because there are only three plants, so far there the male and female flowers have not blossomed on the same day. I have let the first female flower already wither away. For the second one, I pollinated a pumpkin female flower with a courgette (black beauty F1 variety) male flower (the other option was to let the second pumpkin flower to again wither away), thinking that they are of the same family, so it was worth a try. Does anyone have experience if such cross pollination across species can actually create a fruit?
  
  I have also been told, for both pumpkins and courgettes, that I could harvest a male flower and store it in the fridge for pollinating a later female flower. Last year, this experiment performed on courgettes did not yield any successful fruit, even though the male flower stayed in the fridge for only one day. Has anyone had first-hand experience with this?

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• Message 2

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by Italophile (U12516505) on Tuesday, 14th June 2011

  I haven't tried storing pollen but I know people who have. They don't store the flower itself but carefully shake the pollen onto a piece of paper. It has to be kept absolutely dry, sealed in an air-tight container of some sort. Any dampness and mould will set in. It works - mostly - for them.
  
  I'm surprised that you don't have sufficient male flowers with three plants. They're all I get a lot of the time. Unless I'm misinterpreting what you wrote, the male flowers don't have to open on the same day as the females. The males are usually good for a couple of days.
  
  You can cross-pollinate courgettes with some kinds of pumpkin. Not all (what we loosely call) pumpkins are the same species. I can't get your link to work so I can't tell what you have.

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• Message 3

  , in reply to message 2.

  Posted by MerryDebsGarden (U14906111) on Tuesday, 14th June 2011

  Hi Italophile,
  
  Thanks for your message.
  
  Last year with courgettes I did indeed try to shake the pollen off the male flowers and store on a piece of dry paper in (old fashioned) camera-film boxes. I also saved just the stem. None of the courgette flowers I pollinated with these pollens ended up being fruits. I guess I should just try again (with pumpkins).
  
  The plants do have plenty of male flower buds, but surprisingly, so far it has been only female flowers (two so far)! That I find weird: normally plenty of male flowers blossom before the first female appears. Today came the first of the male flowers (of all three plants), and if I'm not mistaken, the next female flower will be up tomorrow.
  
  As for the link - and that holds for all people who would like to respond to the thread - your browser will complain that the link is broken. If you get rid of the comma at the end of the web address and reload the page, it'll load. The comma was supposed to have been a part of the text, but the thread interprets it as a part of the web address. I only saw it after I posted the message, but couldn't correct it.
  
  Deb.

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• Message 4

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  Posted by DiggerSean (U14704361) on Tuesday, 14th June 2011

  Sorry to be the bearer of bad news Deb but pumpkins will cross polinate with any other type of pumpkin/courgette/squash so you won't get exactly what you had previously.

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• Message 5

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  Posted by Italophile (U12516505) on Tuesday, 14th June 2011

  It's going to be interesting if your cross-pollination takes, Deb. If your source seed was from a hybrid pumpkin (the one in the shops), you'll have a first generation grow out. You could get some interesting results, though most - crossing fingers that you get fruit - should resemble the parent.
  
  Apart from that, I wish I had your luck with female flowers! My bloke flowers outnumber the girls about ten to one.

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• Message 6

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  Posted by Tee Gee (U10012255) on Tuesday, 14th June 2011

  Regarding find male / female flowers!
  
  Patience is required!
  
  With all the curcubits they pair up in their own good time!
  
  Come into 'heat' if you like
  
  
  
  Pumpkin culture;
  
  Manual Pollination;
  
  Method;

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• Message 7

  , in reply to message 6.

  Posted by MerryDebsGarden (U14906111) on Wednesday, 15th June 2011

  Thank you all for sharing your thoughts. I had cut out a full male flower yesterday, dipped its stem in water, and put the whole thing in the fridge. The flower stayed surprisingly fresh, and by the looks of it, the pollen dry. This morning - I knew already that a female flower would be out - I cut out the male stem and brushed it on the female flower's ovary. Some pollen had fallen off, and collected at the base of the petals of the male flower; these I collected using a brush and gently rubbed the brush on the ovary.
  
  Now it's time to wait and see if anything happens. Meanwhile, for the flower I pollinated with courgette pollen, the fruit at the base seems to be starting to swell (but I may very well be seeing things)... so I'm curious what sort of Frankenstein pumpkin this would be!

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• Message 8

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  Posted by DiggerSean (U14704361) on Wednesday, 15th June 2011

  The fruit that you get is already decided no matter what you pollinate your flowers with, that was already coded in the seed. It's the next generation that will carry the genes of your already hybridised pumpkin/courgette cross.

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• Message 9

  , in reply to message 8.

  Posted by Italophile (U12516505) on Wednesday, 15th June 2011

  That's right. The interesting part of this cross-pollination is whether the planted pumpkin seed was a hybrid or heirloom (pure) variety.

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