Sexual Inequality!What to do?

[Harcourt]

My zucchinni plant is sufferring a sexual imbalance. I will get 1 or 2 female flowers bloom overnight, but no male flowers. One or two nights later, a male flower will bloom, but by that time, the female flowers have withered and closed.....and of course, the male flower will wither before any more female flowers come out.

Is pollination neccessary for fruit to develop? I suspect it is because many fruit get no larger than my little finger before they droop and wither.

Can I harvest the pollen and save it for a few days to brush onto the female stamens? Does it have to be refrigerated?

Thanks for any advice.

[Harcourt]

Wow! I've never seen a thread get so many views in such a short time.

I wonder why

[roundeye]

Wow! I've never seen a thread get so many views in such a short time.

I wonder why

You will see that as u get older you become more interested with things that droop and wither

[bina]

)

)

do u want me to put the word zuchini in the title so maybe more veggie experts will take a look and less gui (issaan banana) experts will answer ?

bina

israel

[Mosha]

Come on Bina, it's not often we get any excitement down here.

[Harcourt]

)

)

do u want me to put the word zuchini in the title so maybe more veggie experts will take a look and less gui (issaan banana) experts will answer ?

bina

israel

Thanks Bina, yes please...it is a serious question, although a deliberately amusing headline.

[canuckamuck]

Cut the male flowers off when they are in full bloom, put them in a paper bag and put that bag in a sealed plastic one. when the female flowers are wide open take the petals off of the male flower, (careful you will lose some pollen here do it over a white piece of paper. you can then rub the male parts on the female parts (be gentle) also if you lost a lot of pollen into the paper bag or on to the sheet of paper, you can sprinkle that extra pollen on the female flowers too.

Tell the females that you will call tomorrow (of course you won't) and then just wait for baby zuchinis.

It helps if you can tell a male flower from a female one, because you can't do this in reverse. Have a glance at google if you are not sure.

[kloghead]

That's ^^^ the way I used to pollinate my ladies and it certainly works. But...I've found a bit easier method. The only catch is it involves using paper bags again. The ONLY place I can find them is Burger King, MacDonalds, etc. The purpose of paper bags is they "breathe" which keeps the plant healthy.

1) Cut the male flower stalks off just below the secondary stems when a few pods are open and dropping pollen. The pollen clusters will live long enough to continue producing love-dust for a few days.

2) Put the cut males in the paper bags and secure the bags over the female buds with a rubber band or twist-tie and gently shake the bags a few times each day. This will ensure the pistils get pollinated fully and evenly.

The advantage of this method is no worries about pollen flying everywhere and less manual labor.

Both techniques work equally well--I'm just a lazy bastard

Edited January 12, 2010 by kloghead

[Harcourt]

Thanks alot canuckamuck and Kloghead.

I do know the difference between the sex of the flowers.....and now I know to say pistil instead of stamen.

[kloghead]

Sorry Harcourt, I missed your question completely. Yes, pollen can be stored for up to 3 months if frozen but it must be used immediately after removing from the freezer because it will 'defrost' rapidly. Moisture and light are the enemies of pollen.

A few grains of uncooked rice or a bit of silical gel will act as a desiccant to keep the pollen dry.

[jaideeguy]

I've grown zucchini here in the past and got good germination.......fast growing, productive plants but very short lived.....can't remember the variety. This year, i grew some exotic black zucchini and I'm having problems with germination as well. Out of 12 plants that are quite mature, i have only a couple of fruit. Plants started quite vigorous and healthy, but are starting to drop leaves and shrivel up.

Making me think that our problem may be either the variety is not suited to tropics, soil or maybe the timing of planting???

With these exotic falang seeds it is hit or miss......some work good and produce well, but some don't.