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Pondering Possible Pollination Problem...

Gardening Reference » Gardening in 2006
by chrissy fair on June 28, 2006 03:53 PM
My Zucchini have flowers on it. I'm not sure if I did pollination thing right or not, but we will see. Can some one go here and let me know if these flowers opened yet or not. I'm at work all day for 9 hours and am not sure for how long they open up for. I think I missed them opening already [scaredy]

Also my Green Beans are looking nice these days, my husband has been saying, "they taste like green beans" (he has been trying them out every few days to see when they are ripe), which reminds me....how will I know WHEN to pick them??

Look on my Hobbies page for more pictures...
[flower]
by johnCT on June 29, 2006 01:26 AM
I don't think so Chrissy. Most of those look like they are yet to open. Some look like they have though. What I usually do is clip off the entire male flower and peel back the petals exposing the stamen. Then I just swab it on the female flower's stigma. You can do multiple female flowers with one male flower. Sounds kinky, but it works... [Big Grin]

You can really pick your beans at any stage, but if you let them get too big they won't be as tender. Also, if you harvest them every day or so, they will continue to produce. What variety are they? They look great!

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John - Zone 6
by cookinmom on June 29, 2006 09:20 AM
Nice pics Chrissy!

quote:
he has been trying them out every few days to see when they are ripe
That's what my mom calls a "quality check"! I love the taste of a just-picked green bean! Yummy!

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Real women don't have hot flashes -- we have power surges!
by chrissy fair on June 29, 2006 03:11 PM
went out today to do just what you said, and guess what, there were bees in my flowers. Not sure why they where stuck in the closed flowers, but it was a surprise!! HOPEFULLY they'll have done the job that they were there for...lol.
Thanks John!

*Goes bean picking*
by johnCT on June 30, 2006 02:27 AM
Bees stuck in the flowers?! [shocked] Wow, never heard that one before. They musta stopped to take a nap.

Hopefully no cuke beetles. Those little buggers love to hang out in my squash flowers. [Mad]

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John - Zone 6
by Sorellina on June 30, 2006 01:17 PM
Ciao Chrissy,

What Carol Deppe, the bigtime plant breeder advocates if you want to do your own squash pollination for seed-saving practices or if you want to purposely cross your squash into something different, is to masking tape them closed the night before they're about to open (you'll need to do a bit of plant micro-management to figure this out) and then in the morning, first thing, untape them and do as John says, take the petals off the male flower and use it as a pollen applicator. It should have yellow fluffy-looking pollen clinging to the anther. Brush the pollen from the male anther onto the female stigma. Then tape the female flower closed again. She says bees will sometimes bite into taped flowers so check for holes in the taped flowers and don't use the fruit for seed-saving if you see holes. Be sure to tag the female flower for future reference so you'll know which fruit to save for seed.

I got Carol Deppe's book "Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties" for my birthday. John, you should get this book if you don't already have it.

Cheers,
Julianna

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by johnCT on July 01, 2006 01:11 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Sorellina:
John, you should get this book if you don't already have it.
No I don't. Sounds interesting. [thumb]

How extensive is the tomato information?

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John - Zone 6

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