No pollen in zuke blossoms?

noinwi · July 6, 2015

Does high heat affect pollen formation? It's been unusually hot here in the PNW and now that my zukes are finally starting to bloom, the male flowers don't seem to have any pollen(I try to hand pollinate when I can). Is there anything else that can cause this? Plants look healthy albeit a little bit pale...I've been having to water a lot. I have given them a little MG and epsom salts(1 tbs/gal of water of each) to green them up a bit. I have four plants in a raised bed...was going for only two but couldn't bring myself to cull the other two. I only had one plant last year and only got two fruit all season due to poor male/female flower timing.

Bipetual · July 9, 2015

I think next year I'm going to try one of the parthenocarpic hybrids that don't require pollination. I liked the look of Easypick f1, which also comes in a gold fruited version. I just wish it had powdery mildew resistance. Maybe I'll try an Easypick and a pm resistant one. Early on, at least, I should at least have some squash. Totally Tomatoes sells it. High Mowing seed has one called Partenon which is pricier, but they have free shipping even if you just buy one packet of seed.

Edit: sorry I don't actually know about heat and pollen. I do think it's possible given that it happens with tomatoes.

Durgan · July 9, 2015

My cukes are starting to produce. At first all I had were female flowers. Then suddenly a few males appeared. Now there is a bit of production.

I attempted some hand pollination with one or two male flowers which appeared,but couldn't find any pollen so gave it up. A few bees must have appeared without my noticing them. Or possibly wind pollination. It also has been very cool.

My real problem is lack of bees, since the 'cides appear to be killing them off. I have excellent bloom of female flowers so am optimistic that I will have a good harvest all Summer.

noinwi · July 9, 2015

I guess I just needed to be more patient. The newer male blossoms seem to have plenty of pollen. Thanks for your responses.

Bipetual · July 12, 2015

Well, a season or two of lame production does that to a person. Hope you get boatloads of squash!

July 6, 2015	#1
noinwi Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: PNW Posts: 486	No pollen in zuke blossoms? Does high heat affect pollen formation? It's been unusually hot here in the PNW and now that my zukes are finally starting to bloom, the male flowers don't seem to have any pollen(I try to hand pollinate when I can). Is there anything else that can cause this? Plants look healthy albeit a little bit pale...I've been having to water a lot. I have given them a little MG and epsom salts(1 tbs/gal of water of each) to green them up a bit. I have four plants in a raised bed...was going for only two but couldn't bring myself to cull the other two. I only had one plant last year and only got two fruit all season due to poor male/female flower timing.

July 9, 2015	#2
Bipetual Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Illinois, zone 5a Posts: 579	I think next year I'm going to try one of the parthenocarpic hybrids that don't require pollination. I liked the look of Easypick f1, which also comes in a gold fruited version. I just wish it had powdery mildew resistance. Maybe I'll try an Easypick and a pm resistant one. Early on, at least, I should at least have some squash. Totally Tomatoes sells it. High Mowing seed has one called Partenon which is pricier, but they have free shipping even if you just buy one packet of seed. Edit: sorry I don't actually know about heat and pollen. I do think it's possible given that it happens with tomatoes.

July 9, 2015	#3
Durgan Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Brantford, ON, Canada Posts: 1,341	My cukes are starting to produce. At first all I had were female flowers. Then suddenly a few males appeared. Now there is a bit of production. I attempted some hand pollination with one or two male flowers which appeared,but couldn't find any pollen so gave it up. A few bees must have appeared without my noticing them. Or possibly wind pollination. It also has been very cool. My real problem is lack of bees, since the 'cides appear to be killing them off. I have excellent bloom of female flowers so am optimistic that I will have a good harvest all Summer.

July 12, 2015	#5
Bipetual Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Illinois, zone 5a Posts: 579	Well, a season or two of lame production does that to a person. Hope you get boatloads of squash!