So I played Mother Nature

Playing Mother Nature

Most of us that enjoy puttering in our gardens are aware of the bee shortage. 

There are many theories out there as to why, but nothing definite.    I even planted some flower seeds near my garden that were supposed to attract bees for pollination.    At this point, I do not notice any bees coming to the flowers.  :(

The reason I am discussing this is............my zucchini !   The plant that you hear people complain about  because it produces so many green squash!

I noticed that some of my zucchini were begining to turn yellow at the blosson end,   I was concerned that I possibly had an issue with my soil.   So..................GOOGLE........what did we do without you years and years ago?

Did you know that there are male and female zucchini flowers?   I didnt, until I Googled it !!    My zucchini were turning yellow, due to poor pollination.  DUH......I had never thought of that.   So I learned the difference and how to pollinate my female flowers with the male flowers.  

In this photo the center flower is the male,   See the long stem without any fruit at the bottom of the flower.   You can also see the 2 female flowers, each have fruit beginning to grow,

Here is where the fun part comes.   The flower on the left is the male    Early in the morning, you pick the male flower and peel back the petals.   Wear gloves because you do not want to get the pollen on your clothing.      Then when the female flower is wide open, take the male flower and rub the structure at its center, covered with yellow pollen, into the center of the open female flowers.   This must be done in the morning because pollen is only viable for one day.

I did this on a few of my female flowers and it does work.

Its been a good day, I learned something new !!

Garden update:   I have picked 3 cucumbers, 5 zucchini and a large handful of string beans.     :)

and no groundhog........shhhhhhhhhhhhhh   

Be well, be happy.

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