Hi All,
I am a new zucchini planter this year. My plant is big and green, but I only see male flowers and one small zucchini fruit. In my research I decided to try to hand pollinate but here are my questions.
One, when there is a small fruit with a blossom on the end, does that mean it's already been pollinated or does that flower still need to be pollinated even though the fruit has already started to grow?
I thought maybe it still needed to be pollinated, so I attempted to hand pollinate this morning when the male was wide open, but I wound up knocking the female flower right off the fruit. I only touched it ever so gently with a q-tip! Did I destroy my only fruit?
Also, anyone know why I have only male flowers? As I mentioned, I had one female, but she is now a goner. I will continue to check each morning to see if any new females appear.
Thank you for your insight!
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- Greener Thumb
- Posts: 921
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I wouldn't worry too much about it. For me, some years I only have female flowers first, other years only males for a while. Maybe that fruit is pollinated, maybe not, but you will probably have many more shortly. At least, that's how it works for me!
A fruit with a blossom on the end always starts out that way, it may or may not be pollinated. I'm no expert on all this, but that's what happens for me every year!
A fruit with a blossom on the end always starts out that way, it may or may not be pollinated. I'm no expert on all this, but that's what happens for me every year!
- rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
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- Location: TN/GA 7b
Funny thing happened...I was so worried about my zucchini per above, and then one day I came home and the entire plant was eaten along with my cucumber and parsley. A groundhog is to blame - I think he burrowed under my fencing. So disappointing! Looks like I don't need to worry about pollinating, and I'll definitely be investing in a better fence next year.
See groundhog threads for solutions....I suggest small caliber firearmsdillonm wrote:Funny thing happened...I was so worried about my zucchini per above, and then one day I came home and the entire plant was eaten along with my cucumber and parsley. A groundhog is to blame - I think he burrowed under my fencing. So disappointing! Looks like I don't need to worry about pollinating, and I'll definitely be investing in a better fence next year.