Poll on % of female flowers on squashes that are sucessful

[silkiechicken]

So, just out of curiosity, what percent of the female flowers would you have to say get pollinated on your squashes? And if you hand pollinate or not.

About 10% of the females on my accidental pumpkin get pollinated, about 20% of the acorn squash. I haven't hand pollinated yet but I just may. Season is bad and the zucchinis are just starting to make male flower buds. Season ends in about 4 weeks...

 

[DrakeMaiden]

I honestly haven't been paying attention. :|

I have had to break off a few newly formed pumpkins in order to let the first ones grow better, so our pollination rate seems good here.

My zucchini was really slow too, but we finally have some coming regularly. I think you'll get some before your deadline. Good luck!

 

[silkiechicken]

Ironically, the days with the most flowers I've seen in a long while just some how are the days like today where it's pouring rain. Go figure! They are all water damaged now and the pollen washed off. Not even the flies are out!

 

[DrakeMaiden]

I wonder if they made all those flowers because it was so warm last weekend?

We seem to keep getting extremes this year and not much of the average temp days. :/ I was thinking maybe by September we might even out a little, but now I'm wondering if the extremes will just get more pronounced like it was this spring?

I think you need squash tents.

 

[silkiechicken]

LOL, we just need huge green houses to cover our gardens. Protection from the cruddy weather and a bit longer season!

Maybe some mini umbrellas would help out in the mean time.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Only in the Seattle area will you find gardeners growing produce under umbrellas! LOL If you set that up, be sure to get some photos!!!

Yes, a decent greenhouse is a gardener's best friend around here. It saves one from cursing the rain, anyway, and helps stretch that all-too-short "summer" for the warm season crops.

 

[Rosalind]

80%. I hand pollinate in the beginning of the season until I see that the bees are taking over, then let the bees and other six-leggeds do their thing.

Got some nice little punkins coming along already...

 

[bills]

I find it varies, depending on the squash planted. My zucchini's are almost 100% pollinated. My Hubbard, butternut, and pumpkin are the lowest, with only about 25%. My buttercup, and spaghetti, are somewhere in the middle at about 55% pollinated.

I leave all the pollination to the bees, of which I notice this year are made up mainly of the big bumble bees, not honey bees. I do have some Mason bees, and have been encouraging them by hanging up the tube nests they like.

The mason bee may be the future for gardeners, if the honey bee populations keep declining. I read that in the prairies, where canola is a big money crop, they are having a terrible time with pollination. Just not enough bees, even though they hire bee keepers. Not a good sign!:|

 

[silkiechicken]

So I started to hand pollinate the pumpkin and acorn squash and I guess I'll see if I get more than one of each this year. So far I think it may have been success in about 3 or 4 females which haven't turned yellow and fallen off yet!

 

[nccountrygirl]

My squash and Zukes did awful this yr. I had a lot of male flowers and very few females, my mama and brother gardens in SC were the same way. Mama hardly got any tomatoes this yr, she said there were no bees this yr.