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Old April 10, 2018   #1
DocBrock
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Default Trouble with hand pollinating cucumbers

I've never grown cucumbers before and thought I'd try hand pollinating a few flowers because I hardly ever see bees in my yard. Do cucumbers typically have less pollen than other cucurbits? I've pollinated melons before and seems like if you rub the male flower on the stigma of the female, the stigma is caked in yellow pollen. I'm having a hard time noticing if any pollen is transferring even when using a small paintbrush that has white bristles to collect pollen from the male. Seems like there is no pollen in the male. Is it possible that the first set of flowers don't have pollen yet? It's been 2 days since I first tried and I can't tell whether or not the pollination took. The variety is Boston Pickling Cucumber. Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer!
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Old April 10, 2018   #2
saltmarsh
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The female flowers are on the end of a lilttle cucumber. If it doesn't get fertilized the little cucumber will turn yellow and drop off.
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Old April 16, 2018   #3
MickyT
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I got tired of trying to hand-pollinate cucumbers so I only grow parthenocarpic varieties now..
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Old April 16, 2018   #4
KarenO
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Often the first blooms of regular OP cucumbers are all males. What variety? You can google photos of male and female cucumber blossoms to compare with yours.
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Old April 16, 2018   #5
Barb_FL
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Agree with KarenO; Give it more time; the bees will come.
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Old April 21, 2018   #6
DocBrock
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Bees showed up. There's so many flowers on these plants it's unreal. I kept more plants than I should of, but I couldn't help myself. They are Boston pickling cucumbers and I have them in an earthbox, with the recommended 4 per box, but I kept 2 plants per spot for a total of 8. They've grown incredibly with 2 square tomato cages placed side by side. I ended up adding 6' bamboo stakes at each corner because they grew too tall. I have about 8 bees that work on them all day and so far pollination seems pretty good. This week I harvested enough cucumbers to ferment 3 quarts of kosher dills.
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Old April 21, 2018   #7
KarenO
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DocBrock View Post
Bees showed up. There's so many flowers on these plants it's unreal. I kept more plants than I should of, but I couldn't help myself. They are Boston pickling cucumbers and I have them in an earthbox, with the recommended 4 per box, but I kept 2 plants per spot for a total of 8. They've grown incredibly with 2 square tomato cages placed side by side. I ended up adding 6' bamboo stakes at each corner because they grew too tall. I have about 8 bees that work on them all day and so far pollination seems pretty good. This week I harvested enough cucumbers to ferment 3 quarts of kosher dills.
Yay!! that is awesome
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Old May 8, 2018   #8
Gardeneer
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If you see bees, bumble bees, butterflies ,... probably there is no need for hand pollinating. But it is simple to do.
Pick a male flower, gently without shaking too much. Remove the petals , gently or fold back. Take it tofamale flowers and make them kiss and pronounce them husband and wife.
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