The Manual Pollination of Vegetable Plants

Male flowers contain pollen and female flowers develop into fruit.

While root and leaf vegetables produce food on their own, other vegetables require a hand in the pollination process to produce fruit. Bees and hummingbirds are common garden helpers, but when they are not present, a human touch is required.

Types

All vegetable plants that produce flowers require pollination; however, the plants that produce separate male and female flowers are the ones that usually need to be pollinated manually. Candidates for manual pollination include zucchini, cucumbers, squash and melons.

Identification

Male flowers generally appear first on vegetable plants. These flowers have a stem, petals and an anther that contains pollen inside the blossom. Female flowers develop shortly after male flowers, and although the blossom itself looks like the male from the outside, female flowers have a stigma instead of an anther and their stems expand into a tiny fruit just below the blossom. For example, the female cucumber blossom has a small cucumber for a stem.

Process

Pollinate vegetable flowers with a clean, soft-bristled paintbrush. Brush gently around the inside of male flowers, then brush around the inside of female flowers. Use a different paintbrush for each vegetable variety. For fruits and vegetables that do not show distinction between male and female blossoms, follow the same procedure, brushing inside of each flower.

Warning

Some fruits and vegetables have a short pollination window. Check your plants daily for new flowers. If only male flowers are blooming, cut a few and place their stems in a cup of water so you will have available pollen when female flowers bloom.

References

• University of Florida Extension: Home Vegetable Garden Techniques: Hand Pollination of Squash and Corn in Small Gardens
• North Carolina State University: Vegetable Pollination