Hand Pollinating Zucchini

Hello Everyone out there. I have talked about it and now here it is. Your how-to on hand pollinating zucchini.

I am having to do this because we are not having much in the way of bee activity in the garden, which kinda of makes me sad because there are plenty of things to pollinate. Well a note to self, next year plant plenty of flowers to get the bees coming.

First thing when your zucchini begins to flower is being able to tell the difference between male and female flowers. Zucchini produces both, usually the male first.

The male zucchini flower has a large bloom and a small stem.

Male Zucchini Flower - Stem

The female zucchini flower has an ovary, or fruit, behind the bloom.

Female Flower - Small Zucchini

Remove the male flower from the plant.

Male Flower Removed

Pull off the petals. In some Asian cuisine the blossoms are delicacy that can be served as tempura. I have not tried this yet.

Once you have pulled off the petals it should look like this.

Using the male blossom stem as a paint brush, paint the inside of the female flower, thoroughly. Make sure every part of it is covered.

Using paint brush strokes, cover the entire inside

Once pollinated, the blossom will close on its own within a few hours. Then the process of making a zucchini begins. Within a few days, you will have a zucchini much like this one.

Hand Pollinated Zucchini

This is the Black Beauty Zucchini I harvested on Sunday.

Hope that was informative.

Joe