🌸 Male vs. Female Flowers | Why your Melons & Squash Might Not Be Fruiting

Megan Webb

🔥

Jun 11 • 🪴 General Discussion

Take a look at these two flowers from my cantaloupe plant.

Can you spot the difference?

The first image has a tiny little "fruit" at the base.

The second one is just a plain flower with a straight stem.

Oooh, I wonder what that means?😉

🌿 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗰𝘀

Some of the most popular vegetables we grow are called 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 plants, a.k.a. the plant grows both male and female flowers on the same plant, but as separate flowers.

The 𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀 show up first, usually by about a week or two. They have a simple, straight stem and a small central column inside the flower (called the 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯), dusted with pollen.

The 𝗳𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀 come a little later. The dead giveaway is the tiny "baby fruit" sitting right at the base of the flower. That little bump is the 𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘺 (the part of the plant that becomes the fruit if everything goes right). The center of the female flower (called the 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘮𝘢) looks a bit sticky and bumpy, and its whole job is to catch pollen.

Vegetables you'll see this on include: Cucumbers, Zucchini, Summer and winter squash, Cantaloupe and other melons, and pumpkins.

🐝 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀

A female flower 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 turn into fruit on its own. Pollen from a male flower has to be transferred to the female flower. In nature, bees and other pollinators do this job when they go flower-to-flower looking for nectar.

But if pollination doesn't happen?

That little baby fruit at the base of the flower will turn yellow, shrivel up, and drop off. If you've ever wondered why your plants are blooming like crazy but producing nothing, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘺.

✋ 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱-𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲 (𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻'𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗽)

If you're not seeing a lot of pollinator activity in your garden, you can do the job yourself. *cue romantic music*

𝘔𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥 1: 𝘘-𝘵𝘪𝘱 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩

Gently rub the tip of your chosen device inside a male flower to pick up pollen. Then dab it around inside the female flower. Done.

𝘔𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥 2: 𝘗𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳

Snap off a male flower and peel back the petals so you can get to the pollen-covered center. Then rub it directly inside a female flower. One male flower can usually pollinate 2–3 female flowers.

The best time to do this is in the morning, when flowers are freshly open.

🌻 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗜 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝘃𝗲𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗻

The more pollinator-friendly flowers you have nearby (things like marigolds, zinnias, borage, and sunflowers), the more bees and other pollinators you'll attract. More pollinators mean better, more consistent fruit set without you having to do anything.

(𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯! 🐞)

𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗶𝗽: Female flowers can only be pollinated while they're open, and most varieties only stay open for 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺. So if you're hand-pollinating, don't wait; check your garden every morning during peak blooming.

Have you ever noticed your baby fruits shriveling and not knowing why?

Or have you tried hand-pollinating before?

13 comments

🌸 Male vs. Female Flowers | Why your Melons & Squash Might Not Be Fruiting