SQUASH BLOOMS
If you are growing squash leaves and many squash blooms but no squash, your problem could
be, No Bees............... I am not sure but this is my own backyard study.
This is a female squash bloom. At the back side of this bloom there is a tiny
squash, this bloom is attached to the small squash.
This is a male squash bloom. You probably have a lot of these because usually
there are many more male blooms and at first and few female blooms. At least
this is my experience.
This close up of the female bloom shows where the squash must be pollinated.
The bee needs to first visit the male, gather the pollen and come back to this
female and pollinate this bloom. Otherwise the little squash attached under this
entire bloom will simply fall off. This is where you may need to step in if you
do not seem to have bees. You can take a small art brush and touch the male stem
inside the bloom and then go over to the female bloom and try and pollinate this
female bloom buds/eggs.
This is the male bloom. If you need to hand pollinate then take a small art
brush and try and gather this pollen and then place it on the female bloom.
This squash bloom was not pollinated
It appears that this one may not have been pollinated, however not sure. I will
know in a few days.......... This plant has been producing good squash and still
is producing good squash. Some just do not get pollinated or have rot.
I gave up trying to grow squash several years ago because I could not get the
squash to grow without rotting at the lower stem. However with each year another
new try and now we have squash that we can actually eat. We also have more bees
in our yard due to all the flowers that I have grown from sowing seed. Could
that bee the answer? Maybee :)
This is the same squash as above. It did get pollinated and did not rot. It
is growing well and should develop into an good squash.
This is another squash that did make a good squash.
Another squash that did make a good squash and did not rot. Notice that the
shiny, healthy look to this squash.
My study continues..............
I will try and hand pollinate the blooms that I think are not getting pollinated,
but this is not an easy thing to do. I have noticed that since I planted blackeyed
susans close to the squash and the many honey bees that are around things are
doing better.
These blackeyed susans were planted by seed sowed in early spring. They have
been just beautiful. Our first year of planting blackeyed susans and first year
to have any developed squash. Just a note that I though was important. MAYBEE
THE BEE"S?
