Pollination and Exponential Growth

The longer days of June have been filled with tons of growth and progress. The last frame of the animation below was taken on July 1st and the first frame was taken on around June 10th. The difference is staggering and the plants are 10 times larger (if not more)!

At this point in the growing season, I’ve gone through 2 gallons of fish emulsion and it’s worth noting that I focused more of the fertilizer on the plants that were off to a slow start. That includes the three plants on the left side of the patch. I went a bit heavier on those and it’s obvious that they had a major growth spurt. Now I just need to fertilize the Atlantic Giants since their growth seems to be stunted a bit.

In addition to all of the growth, the flowers have started to bloom, and with each flower comes the possibility of a pumpkin.  Pumpkins are monoecious plants and have separate male and female flowers. The female flower can be identified by locating the ovary below the base of the flower. Based on my experience, for each female flower that opens, there are usually 2 male flowers. This is not always the case, as I’ve also seen a female on one plant without any males.

If I can’t make it out to the pumpkin patch to manually pollinate the females, the bees will do the job. They fly from flower to flower collecting pollen for themselves and by chance they end up getting male pollen on their bodies which then rubs up against the female stigma. I’m sure there is more to it, but it’s important to note how important bees are in the grand scheme of things.

I’ve also spent a bit of time burying vines on the varieties that grow secondary root systems on the outer vines. Not only does the secondary root systems help the pumpkin from flopping around during storms and/or periods of high wind, but it also helps them absorb more nutrients which helps growth. Want bigger plants and bigger pumpkins? Bury the vines. Below you’ll find an images that shows the beginning of the secondary root systems. It’s ALIVE!!

Note: Earlier this week I pollinated 18 females. That is on top of the 3-4 pumpkins that are already growing.