How to Pollinate Summer Squash

Summer squash plants produce male and female flowers.

Squash plants have female and male flowers. For fruit production, the female flowers must be pollinated with pollen from the male flower. Normally this is done by bees and other insects. If you are growing squash indoors or in an area that has been treated to eliminate insects, you must hand pollinate the plants. Female flowers have the beginnings of a small fruit behind the flower. Squash fruits that have failed to pollinate will grow to be 2 to 3 inches long before shrivelling and dying.

Things You'll Need

• Sharp knife or scissors

Instructions

1. Locate a fresh male flower. Male flowers are at the end of a thin stem, with no ovary behind the flower. Cut the flower, leaving a portion of stem attached for easier holding.

2. Remove the petals from the flower, exposing the pollen-containing stamen.

3. Touch the flower to the inside of the female flowers, rolling the pollen into the centers of the female flowers.

4. Repeat the process every morning whenever flowers are present. Squash flowers open in the morning and need to be pollinated the same day.

References

• University of California: Honeybees are Necessary for Squash Production
• University of Delaware Cooperative Extension: Crop Pollination--Squash, Pumpkin and Gourd