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Ohio

Hi All......I'm new to this forum & came here to get help with a situation I don't know the solution for.
I'm trying to grow some " Big Moon" pumpkins here in Ohio.....the weather has been bad.......here's my problem:
When the females opened their flowers , I went to get a male to hand-pollinate it & found that none of them had any pollen......the fruits withered & fell off.......this has been happening for about a month .......any ideas why this is happening???...........or what I can do about it.
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

7/7/2008 12:04:04 PM

Www.extremepumpkinstore.com

What time of day are you getting the males?

7/7/2008 12:49:56 PM

Ohio

Thanks for reply........between 7:00 & 8:00 A.M.

7/7/2008 1:20:35 PM

San Jose [email protected]

best way to have pollen is to cut the males the night before, put them in a vase in your house, in the AM they will be open and full of pollen

7/7/2008 1:38:21 PM

Ohio

OK , thanks , I'll give that a try............I sure hope it works...........I hate to see all those little pumpkins wither up & fall off.

7/7/2008 2:24:03 PM

Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Have you been covering your females? If not, the missing male pollen may have been used by bees in your garden. I would think that if that is the case, some of the females would be successfully pollinated. Has it been very hot for you lately?

7/7/2008 4:24:27 PM

Ohio

No , I don't cover the females.........I'm curious about why the bees have not polinated too............actually , it's been colder & extremely rainier than normal........there's been flash flood warnings all around.

7/7/2008 7:04:54 PM

Windsor, Ontario, Canada

So the females are getting wet the morning they open? That would cause a problem.

7/7/2008 10:18:07 PM

Upstate S.C.

Zip, I have the same problem. When I get ready to take the male to the female, I pull the petals off and there isnt ANY pollen dust NONE. I thought well maybe you cant see it but its there. So I run my finger alone the stamen and NO POLLEN POWDER. But i pretty sure me and YOU are getting to the male well after the bees and the weather have gotten into it. To my understanding it doesnt take long for the pollen to be blown, wet or used. I thing we must get to the MALE as soon as it opens. Like the FIRST day it opens. Keep and eye on a male that hasnt open yet and the night before it does either cover, tie or cut it and take it in. Then the next day when it does open NEW POLLEN WOW

7/8/2008 1:07:03 AM

Ohio

I brought 3 "ready to open" males in the house last evening......they were open this morning & sure enough , NO pollen........maybe I should try some Viagra on them......it's only on these particular plants ( big moon )......the jack o' lantern ones I have in another part of the field are flourishing & are loaded with pollen......I've never seen anything like this.

7/8/2008 7:22:28 AM

Bloomington, IN

Could it be one of those plants that are sterile and require a partner for pollination? If so, you could probably use the pollen from one of your other pumpkin plants as long as you don't plan on saving the seed from the pumpkin.

7/8/2008 9:27:52 AM

Ohio

I suppose that's possible , but I have 4 plants from two different seed packets...........could I have been THAT unlucky???........I'm going to use some jack o' lantern pollen the next time & see what happens...........thanks for all the suggestions.

7/8/2008 12:06:55 PM

Ohio

I'm about ready to give up on these big pumpkins.........I polinated one with pollen from a jack o' lantern & the fruit started splitting open under the flower............what causes that???

7/10/2008 11:15:21 AM

Bloomington, IN

Is there anything you've been doing differently with the Big Moons than you have with the Jack-O'-Lanterns before and as you started having these issues?

7/11/2008 11:02:03 AM

Ohio

Yes , paying more attention to the big moons.
If I get one pumpkin ( big or little ) from the BM plants , I'll consider it a success & will stick to jack o' lanterns.

7/12/2008 4:02:09 PM

Ohio

I finally got some plollen......I added Miracle Grow Bloom Booster & took the males in the house the night before & sure enough , the next morning , there was a bunch of pollen......I went & talked with a minister friend who is a Bee-keeper of MANY years & he set me straight about what those bees REALLY do.......they come to the flowers to take the nectar to make honey & they take the pollen back to the hive to feed the young bees( I didn't know the second part).........if they should happen to pollinate something for we humans , it's purely by accident.

7/14/2008 8:09:32 PM