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Newbie here, love the site.

Got me a couple of big plants. Finding it hard to the fruit pollinated. Think I am doing it right but they never seem to grow. And the plant keeps making more females. Am I just pollinating wrong?

7/23/2014 4:10:20 AM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

Explain how you are pollinating, and at what time of the day? How hot is it?
Things to try:
Shade the Fruit until it is bigger than a basket ball. Using a chair or even white sheets

7/23/2014 7:30:01 AM

Kentucky, U.S.A.

I had this problem year before last. It was a scorcher, I learned to shade the female I hoped to pollenate and put ice jugs nearby , but not touching the set. I did manage to get a small pumpkin, but it was my personal best!

7/23/2014 11:40:12 AM

That would make sense. Although in Ireland the weather has been unbelievably hot and sunny, uncharacteristically so.

I would cover the female flower and a male before they would open and then when they opened I would leave them covered for a day to mature and then pollinate the female with pollen with a soft painters brush.

I would do it in the mornings.

The pumpkin might grow to a yellow baseball size then stop and shrink a bit. They never rot away or that. Just stop and slowly shrivel a bit.

Thanks for the cooling and shade advice guys!

Tom

7/24/2014 8:47:06 AM

Farming- a bunch of catastrophies that result in a lifestyle

You need to pollinate the female within, I think 4-6 hours of opening. Odds of getting a 'set' after that go way down.

7/24/2014 10:06:04 AM

Hinckley MN

I peel the petals off the male and use the stamens to directly pollinate the female.

7/24/2014 10:27:32 AM

Anamosa, IA BPIowegian@aol.com

LB and Ben have it right. Be out in the patch to pollinate just as soon as they open, right after sunrise. It doesn't hurt to gently open the female flower just a little if it isn't fully open. I peel the male flowers back and apply the pollen directly. I prefer to use at least 3 males, but have had good pollination with just one when that was all I had. After pollinating I tie the female shut with string to keep bees out. If you pollinate before the flower is completely open it is easier to tie shut.

7/24/2014 1:17:34 PM

Springfield, VT

If you are not planning to keep the seeds or into open pollinations let the bees into the flower. Sometimes it is the only way to get a successful pollination.

7/24/2014 4:55:11 PM

Massachusetts

ice baby ice...

7/24/2014 7:48:16 PM

So I upped my pollinating game and used three males into a barely opened female and tied it and kept it shaded and cool and one of them has taken! I hope. On one of the plants anyway (Jezebel). I have a good feeling about this one! It's about the size of a cantaloupe already!

7/26/2014 5:23:24 AM

Bristol R.I. USA

Hope you're not using a high nitrogen fertilizer. Shade the newly pollinated pumpkin. Make a small ice house around it by adding bags of ice. You gotta keep it cool and help it along.

7/29/2014 8:36:15 PM

Been using a fairly high N feed, Ill change to a lower N and higher k. The weather has cooled down alot but Ill keep the two in my polytunnel cool with ice. Thanks!

8/4/2014 10:57:17 AM

The one in the polytunnel is basketball sized now. This is exciting.

8/4/2014 10:58:18 AM