How to Hand-Pollinate Your Pumpkin Plants

06.06.2023 - 15:43 / gardenerspath.com / Laura Ojeda Melchor / Winter Squash

To me, pumpkins are the paragon of autumn, my favorite season. So this last winter, I decided to grow a few varieties indoors in early spring for a summer transplant into the garden.

But the gourds began to flower while they were still inside.

Frantic, I researched pumpkin pollination. Sure enough, they need bees in order to be pollinated.

Alas, there were no bees to be found in my house in early May.

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What comes next is a story of determined lovers, along with tips for what to do if your flowers aren’t as romantic as mine.

Ready to unlock the secrets of Cucurbit pollination? (Because yes, everything you’ll learn here applies to zucchini, squash, gourds, cantaloupes, and more.)

Here’s what you’ll discover:

Before we get started on how to hand-pollinate your pumpkins, let’s dive into the nitty-gritty details of pollination for this gorgeous member of the Cucurbit family.

About 50-55 days after your seedlings germinate, the first yellow, open-throated flowers will appear.

These are the male, or staminate, blooms. They usually start blooming a week or two before the female, or pistillate, flowers. And unlike the females, they contain no visible teeny tiny baby – aka the ovary – at the base of the stem.

That’s right  – pumpkins and other Cucurbits are monoecious, meaning they have separate male and female flowers on the same plant.

In order for the baby ovary to grow into a mature fruit, pollen from the male flower’s stamen must be transferred to every portion of the female’s pistil.

How does that typically happen? You guessed it. When your plants are growing