Pumpkin Pollination Time!

Here’s a cool side-by-side picture of when I planted pumpkins on June 16th and a picture I took this morning July 24th. It’s pretty amazing what Mother Nature can do in just 38 Days.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pumpkin Pollination is the key to growing pumpkins. It all starts with the Male Flower which grows above the vines and opens about a week or so before the female flower. You can tell the difference between the Male and Female flower quite easily. Male is on the left below, Female is on the right.
   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Male is up above the plant and the female grows on the vine underneath the leaves. The giant leaves shade the fruit. Bees, birds and other insects take the pollen from the Male flower from the center stamen and place it on the female flower in the center of the multi segmented stigma. There was a lot of insects doing the pollinating this morning.
   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Due to the decrease of honey bees in certain areas, you can pollinate pumpkins yourself using a Q-Tip. Simply stick the Q-Tip into the center of the Male flower, and then place the Q-Tip (covered in yellow pollen) into the center of the Female flower.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
More Pumpkin Patch Pics….
   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Pretty soon, you’ll have a pumpkin growing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found this guy hiding underneath the leaves. The first pumpkin of the season!

 

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Pumpkin Planting, Watering and Chickens

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Uncle Keith came over last night to plant pumpkins with Max. He’s such a big help on the farm. Lucky to have a friend like him!

    

I’m planting Connecticut Field – Slightly flattened globe. Multi-purpose pumpkin that are really big jack-o’-lanterns for Halloween.

  
Hefty orange-gold fruits weigh 15-20 lbs. and have a flattened bottom to keep them from tipping. I hope they come in on time, This type of pumpkin takes 100 Days to Maturity.

   

I bought another hose (130′) to reach the rear field but still came up short. Need another hose to hook up to get to the watermelons.

   
I was able to water the corn, pumpkins, cucumbers, soybeans. It’s not going to rain for another couple days and I wanted to make certain those little seeds have a a bath.

   
The chickens enjoying the the cool evening breeze.

   
Grass Update: I cut it and now I just have to rake the excess straw away. If you look real hard you can see Max in the picture on the right. She loves coming to the farm with UK.

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