Pollination--Understanding Squash Sex

June 17, 2014

This year I only planted two zucchinis, down one from three last year. Overly ambitious or novice gardeners frequently plant beyond their household or neighborhood consumption level. Lesson learned.

I’ve never taken the time to understand the pollination of summer squash, though I’ve wondered about the flowers on the long, thin stem. So I was interested to read Barbara Pleasant’s blog post Mixing Up Summer Squash.

Her section Understanding Squash Sex begins–

Usually we don’t bring up pollination when discussing vegetable crops, but squash and other members of the cucumber family flaunt their sexual needs to their keepers, who may need to lend assistance in small plantings of fewer than four plants. Read more

So I’ll be giving my two zucchini plants a little help this summer.