Male/Female blooms?

dtlove129 · Wed Jun 20, 2012 8:42 am

My spaghetti and butternutt squashes along with my giant pumpkin do not have many male blooms. I don't think I see any on the giant pumpkin. Should I panic or will it just happen when it is time? The giant pumpkin had a female bloom and that little pumpkin on it didn't get pollinated and is shriveling up, so I'm sure it is due to the lack of blooms right now. Should I pull that little pumpkin off or just let it fall off?

I know my first zucchini didn't get pollinated well because they were a weird shape with the bloom end being smaller and kind of mushy, but the back half was strong. I think that was due to the bees not being in my garden at that time (they were in my flower beds), but now every morning I see them all over the zucchini and cucumbers so hopefully they are doing what I hired them for now.

hendi_alex · Wed Jun 20, 2012 10:08 am

The imbalance of flowers and pollination issues usually only last for a couple of weeks here in central South Carolina. Your observation is typical of my experience during the first two or three weeks of bloom for all members of the squash family.

GardenGnome · Wed Jun 20, 2012 2:33 pm

My plants are doing the same. No worries they will come.

rainbowgardener · Thu Jun 21, 2012 5:57 am

dtlove129 wrote:My spaghetti and butternutt squashes along with my giant pumpkin do not have many male blooms. I don't think I see any on the giant pumpkin. Should I panic or will it just happen when it is time? The giant pumpkin had a female bloom and that little pumpkin on it didn't get pollinated and is shriveling up, so I'm sure it is due to the lack of blooms right now. Should I pull that little pumpkin off or just let it fall off?

I know my first zucchini didn't get pollinated well because they were a weird shape with the bloom end being smaller and kind of mushy, but the back half was strong. I think that was due to the bees not being in my garden at that time (they were in my flower beds), but now every morning I see them all over the zucchini and cucumbers so hopefully they are doing what I hired them for now.

The issue of not having male and female flowers is typical at the beginning and it will just happen when it is time.

The zucchini with the mushy end doesn't sound like a pollination problem, it sounds like blossom end rot. There's a Sticky about BER in the Tomato section, but it applies to zucchinis as well.