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Do I need to keep everything around the pumpkin cool for the pollination to take? I have heard of growers placing frozen gallon jugs around the pumpkin?? Is this necessary???

7/5/2011 2:52:55 PM

3 acre corner in Whittaker,Mi USA ([email protected])

Anything that improves the odds and is simple to do can't hurt at all. I personally haven't done anything other than shading them but each situation is different from plant to plant. You do have less aborts the cooler the weather is from my readings. Erik

7/5/2011 3:44:44 PM

canal winchester ohio

Make sure you don't get it too cold by doing the frozen gallon jugs. Too cold can be as harmful as too hot.
Here is what has always worked for me & you can adjust it to suit your needs. The night prior I'll freeze 3-4 1 litre bottles of water, after pollination I'll cover the female with a styrofom cooler & take one of the frozen bottles & wrap it in a dish towel & place it under the cooler . I wrap it so the space under the cooler doesn't get too cold. I'l probably chabge the bottle 2-3 times during the course of the day. This has worked no matter what the temp.

7/5/2011 3:54:31 PM

Unless it's already 75-80 the first thing in the morning when the blossom opens pollinate it then before the sun get's high and you should be ok.
If it is already hot 75-80 when the blossom opens then do like posted above.
Where I live when the blossom first opens in the morning temps are perfect in the mid to high 60's.

7/5/2011 5:40:50 PM

Forgot to say that I do shade the blossom after I pollinate it but I never used ice.
Not that hot here in the morning.

7/5/2011 5:48:09 PM

Upa Creek, MO

I'm not as concerned about the morning temps, but when you have heat indexes over 105 at 3pm which we had late last week, I used ice on either sides all day and like Huff mentioned not too close. I also shaded the female starting a couple days before.

7/5/2011 7:11:27 PM

Bristol R.I. USA

I pollinate the pumpkins then I tie them up. If its gonna be really hot, I make a tent like structure around the pollinated flower then have bags or blocks of ice on the outer edge. I try to keep the pollinations cool but not cold. It works for me...

7/5/2011 7:38:09 PM

East Jordan, MI

I thnk over 90 is the critical concern, a lot of people had over 90s last year during pollinations and there were a lot of problems with aborts.

7/5/2011 11:43:52 PM

Northern California Foothills

I don't think it is a serious problem. Most of the aborts are due to causes other than heat IMO.

7/6/2011 12:11:15 AM

Midway, UT

I don't think in my four years of growing giants that I've had a pollination that wasn't on a day over 94 degrees. My dumb luck is high heat when I pollinate but I have been pretty fortunate with few aborts all considering. Pollinated one yesterday and we hit 100 degrees mid-afternoon. Now we wait and pray that it takes.

I usually start shading the female a couple of days before it opens with a chair and then do the things that others have mentioned do keep the pumpkins cool and dry for the next 7-10 days.

7/6/2011 12:28:40 AM

Alex, IN

Both of my pollination's this year have been on days in the mid 90's and both have taken just fine.

7/6/2011 8:11:54 AM

Joliet, IL

Cooler is better if you can microclimatize on hot days in my area. Also a fenced in buffered area increases the heat higher than actual temp in my situation. If you google commercial pumpkin growing female aborts you will find many a study on how and why high heat affect pollinations from both the female and male sides. Hot pollen will mean chances of lower seed count as they journey through the tubes to the unpollinated individual seed sacks. They lose vigor from hotter conditions. If you can provide 5 degrees cooler, why not if it is over 85 degrees. Night time temps are also of concern when they do not drop below 70. For this reason on real hot stretches I will put a fan on the female with shade 3 day prior til 3 days after. It is not a bad idea if you have electrical access to run extension cords to those area anyways. Odds are you might have to use one for stem splits or late season stem issues that may arrise. Just some 2 cents on a slow Monday morning at work. These are things that over 10 years I have picked up from other hotter climate growers and tweaked a bit with my own nitwit brain. Lol.

7/6/2011 8:49:09 AM

Lexington, Ky

I completely agree with ArvadaBoy, start protecting potential females early on. Just before I pollinate, I apply a gallon of water on the soil, under the female, provide shade and sometimes I put a fan on the female. I have never used frozen water or chicken....

I also think that humidity plays a role here in the South in regard to aborts. If you use a plastic bag to cover females here, you're bag and lobes will be damp at a minimum, more often, soaking wet. I use brown paper bags and/or cheese cloth to cover mine. I use the same approach with males.

I heard alot of moaning last year in regard to aborts due to heat so I performed two experiments just for grins. I forced two females open and pollinated at 10:00 pm, both pollinations took.

7/6/2011 9:17:19 AM

Eastern Pennsylvania

That is extremely interesting about the 10 pm pollination.

7/6/2011 2:31:15 PM

Ohio

*1320....''I also think that humidity plays a role here in the South in regard to aborts''*

I agree with THE Wex

Jim, for the last 5 or 6 years I have always forced all my females open before 5am (its the only time I can pollinate before I leave for work) and have had great success with it, and all females this year have taken, last year was a different story because of the heat and humidity,

opening them the night before at 10pm might not be that much different (only 5 HRS) as long as the pollen you put inside the female stays good until the female is ready the next morning.

I'm going to give that 10pm pollination a try and see what happens,sounds real interesting to give it a try.

7/7/2011 7:24:43 AM

Lexington, Ky

I have to credit Brooks for thinking it would work! Brooks, I know that you know this but I want to be as clear as possible about night time pollinations...it has to be a female that would otherwise have an open flower the next day. The male pollen comes from a flower that would have opened a day previous, male flower stored inside, sometimes refrigerated. Sounds puzzling to read it as I've typed...

Scenario: Monday morning, collect male flowers, store inside. Monday night @ 10:00, force open female and dust.

You have to get good at "reading" your females especially if you have a shortage of male flowers.

Brooks, let us know if it works for you. If it does, you might be able to sleep in one morning...LOL.

7/7/2011 9:02:38 AM