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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How to Plant Pumpkins

I got up at 5:30 and was able to plant a whole row of pumpkins. I wanted to get them in the ground before it rained this afternoon.

  
Step 1: Use your shovel and make a mound about 3′ in diameter. Break it up and smooth it out with your rake.
Step 2: Use your rake handle to press some holes into the soil. Make about 8 holes like your cutting a pizza and 1 in the middle

  
Step 3: place a pumpkin seed in each hole. These are Howden pumpkin seeds, Consistent excellent qualities that take about 105 Days to Maturity. I also planted some Jack Be Little pumpkin seeds Flattened, mini-pumpkins that take 90 Days to Maturity.
Step 4: Cover the seeds up with earth.

  
Step 5: Pumpkins are considered “heavy feeders” and do well with a little extra nourishment. One nutrient source that works well and is reasonably priced has the dismaying name “fish emulsion”. It is a concentrate of fishy by-products, rich in minerals, that smells a little like low tide. Spread a handful onto the top of the mound. The rain will break it down and push it tnto the roots.
Step 6: Take a picture of your foot to show the size of the mound. That’s a size 10 Addidas.

  
Step 7: Water and wait for the seedlings to pop up. Once they do, you can thin them out keeping the strongest vines.
Step 8: Coming soon, you’re going to want to put some more fish emulsion on them and make sure they’re pollinated.

Stay Tuned! In a few months they’ll look like this:

  

Howden and Mini Pumpkins

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