How to Pollinate a Pumpkin by Hand

Due to the declining population of honey bees, some plants are having a bit of difficulty in pollinating. If you find that your pumpkin plant is not producing fruit, you may need to try to pollinate by hand and although it's not a perfect process, it will typically do the trick.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Pumpkin plant with both male and female flowers present.

1. You will first need to identify which flowers are male and which are female. Males tend to be longer with thin stems, while females grow closer to the main stem of the plant and will have a small immature pumpkin under them.

2. Once you have at least one of each sex of flower, you will need to wait until the female flower opens and is ready for pollination. It is best to do it in the morning as soon as you notice the flower open.

3. Remove the stamen from the middle of the male flower, if some small specks of dust come off, then it means that it is ready to pollinate.

4. Rub the stamen on all parts of the inside of the female flower. If you'd like, you can even leave it inside of the flower. Hand pollination is complete and the results can be seen in a couple of days if the fruit starts to grow.

Tips & Warnings

• If honey bees are scarce in your area, you may have to hand pollinate each flower.