How To Hand-Pollinate Squash
Learn how to easily hand pollinate squash plants for more bountiful harvests!
Are your squash plants just not producing the way you’d like them to? Maybe they’re growing little tiny fruits but then they just rot off and die. It’s possible this could be from a mineral deficiency like calcium, but more likely it’s due to failure to pollinate.
If a female squash blossom isn’t properly pollinated, then the fruit simply won’t grow. So in this article I’m going to show you exactly how to hand pollinate squash plants so you can harvest healthy fruits all season long!
Check Out Our Squash Pollination Video on YouTube!
Why Aren’t My Squash Plants Being Naturally Pollinated?
If you suspect your squash plants aren’t getting properly pollinated on their own, you’re probably right. Due to an alarming decrease in the population of pollinators like bees and butterflies, the risk of your plants going un-pollinated is much higher than even a couple years ago.
There are ways to help naturally attract pollinators to your garden though. For instance, you could plant flowers like beebalm around your squash plants to entice bees and other pollinators to your garden. This is a great example of companion planting flowers and vegetables.
You could also consider starting a beehive near your backyard garden which will drastically help improve pollination of your plants. These solutions do require some work however, especially the latter. So for now, we are going to focus on a simple and easily achievable solution; hand pollinate your squash plants. You can effortlessly hand pollinate squash plants and achieve the same outcome as if they were pollinated naturally.
Squash Plant Anatomy
Before we jump right in, let’s talk really quickly about the anatomy of a squash plant. In order to successfully hand pollinate squash plants, the most important thing to know is the difference between male and female blossoms.
Unlike many flowers which have both male and female reproductive organs (stamen & pistil) in each blossom, squash have imperfect blossoms, meaning some have stamens, and others have pistils. This makes pollination a little trickier.
It’s very easy to tell the difference between male and female flowers. The male flower blossoms are located at the end of a long, thin stem. These blossoms contain the stamen and anther, which is the part of the flower that produces pollen.
The female flowers on the other hand, grow on the end of the fruit, so you will see the start of a tiny squash under the blossom. The female blossoms DO NOT produce any pollen. Instead, they have a different organ called a stigma, which is the part of the pistil that needs to be pollinated by a male flower.
How to Hand Pollinate Squash Plants
There are a couple different methods you can use to hand pollinate, so choose whatever works best for you. Whichever route you decide to go though, the goal is the same. Transfer pollen from the male anther, to the female stigma. Here are a few methods for you to choose from, though I’m sure there are plenty of others out there.
Method #1- Pick a Flower
The first way to hand pollinate squash plants, is to pick off one of the male flowers, gently pull the petals back, and rub the anther directly onto the stigma of the female flower. This method will definitely work, but I tend to avoid this approach because I prefer to keep my male flowers intact, both for bees and also for future hand pollination.
Method #2- Q-Tip Pollination
The second method that I’ve personally used is the Q-tip method. That is, take a Q-tip and gently rub it on the anther of a male flower to collect pollen. Then, transfer the pollen to a female stigma. This method works well, but one drawback is that the Q-tip holds onto a lot of the pollen in its cotton fibers, so not as much gets transferred to the stigma.
Method #3- Use a Paintbrush
This method is my personal favorite to hand pollinate squash plants. It’s very similar to the Q-tip method, but the soft bristles of the paintbrush do a much better job letting go of the pollen so more is able to be transferred to the stigma. Just gently brush the anther with a small, soft paintbrush, and then brush it onto the stigma of the female.
And that’s it, no matter what method you choose, it’s literally that simple to hand pollinate squash plants! Your squash plants will definitely reward you.
A Few More Hand Pollinating Tips
One more little note on hand pollinating. You may notice you have a whole bunch of female or male flowers, and none of the other. This is a relatively common occurrence when growing squash plants. Early in the season, a plant may be very female heavy, and then the male flowers slowly catch up, or vise versa. This could pose an issue for pollination.
One way to avoid this issue is to plant several squash plants. This will increase the odds of having a mixture of male and female blossoms, which will improve pollination.
And if all else fails, you can also cross pollinate your squash with other varieties of summer squash, like zucchini. So if you’re having trouble finding a male flower in your yellow squash, take a look in your zucchini plants!
Finally, squash blossoms tend to open up in the morning and close by early afternoon, so it’s easier to hand pollinate squash in the morning. You can still do it in the afternoon, but you’ll have to gently open the blossoms by hand.
Conclusion
Learning how to hand pollinate squash plants is a very simple task, and will benefit your garden greatly! It takes virtually no time, and it will drastically increase your squash yield. So get out there and start transferring some pollen!
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Happy Gardening,
Cody
Thistle Downs Farm