Can I pick a flower from my pumpkin plant and save it for future hand pollination? Grasshoppers are devouring every new flower that shows up on my pumpkin plants. I was hoping to pick a flower and keep it for pollination when the opposite sex flower opens. If it is possible to do this, how would I keep the flower safe? How long can I keep it for it to still be viable? Does anyone have any reliable resources or links they could send me to learn more?
From: Nectar and pollen production in pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo L.) (.pdf) From: Pollination and Pollinators of Pumpkin and Squash (Cucurbita maxima Duchesne) Grown for Seed Production in the Willamette Valley of Western Oregon (.pdf) From: Pollination of Squash Before and After the Day of Anthesis (.pdf) Information on hand-pollination: 20.4 Pumpkin - PlantBreeding Perhaps the flowers can be protected from insects using gauze bags as shown in the last article. Only when the flowers are at anthesis are the bags then removed. Pollination can then be done by hand or by insect, after which the bags can be replaced for the female flowers.
