[Arid_gardener] (no subject)

[Dick Gross]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <pspoulos at citlink.net>
To: <Arid_gardener at Ag.arizona.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2006 1:11 PM
Subject: [Arid_gardener] (no subject)

Response:

Look behind the blossoms. If there is not an imature, tiny fruit there, you are looking at boy blossoms. For some reason I can't explain, the first blooms tend to be males, in my own experience, but be patient. Females show up later to party.  I hope I have that in the right order. Bees and other insects carry pollen to the fluffies inside the female from the stamen in the male to provide pollination.  This is a prosess that you can easily do by hand, by the way, if insects are scarce in your yard or even if they are not. I have done it for years and if that procedure is foreign to you, let us know and we will let you in on the "secret". Ah, won't make you wait. You have to remove the male blossom and petals and engage the stamen vigorously with the fluffies inside the female. Both sexes will show up on the same plant and you can use both from the same plant without any thoughts of inbreeding nor without harboring any guilt over it. 

You can use one male to satisfy several females but if you have an abundance of males, just use one on one to be sure enough pollen is available.

If the female is not fertilized, the tiny fruit behind the blossom will just shrivel up and fall off.

Dick Gross, Master Gardener Volunteer
University of Arizona Maricopa County
Cooperative Extension

Bcc: AzCRFG, vosg, AZCRFG-COMP.



> why is our zuccini blossoming; but does not produce fruit?
> We live in Lake Havasu, AZ
> 
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