Picture posting is enabled for all :)
Without meaning to prolong Galina's anguish, this made me realise that I haven't the slightest idea how many seeds I would get from a summer squash/courgette - a bit of a downer when I'm hoping to save seeds from a courgette this year! :) So, I guess the question is how many actual courgettes should I aim to produce for their seeds? If I understand the more recent posts correctly, we are looking at 5ish seeds per person in the circle, or roughly 100 seeds.Also, if I'm growing 4-6 plants to enable me to have enough flowers at the right stage and keep sufficient diversity, when it comes to pollinating the female flowers could I use the females from just one or two plants but the pollen from the rest...?
As far as I'm aware, pollen stays viable for a long time, so if you get male flowers before you get any female ones, you could dry the male flower in case you get female flowers later and no male ones.
Jayb, sorry I have never grown, let alone germinated, Mashua. They look and sound such an interesting vegetable. I hope you can get some joy from your seeds.250+ corn plants is a huge undertaking. I assume you are talking about seed saving. You need a lot of land to do it all in one year. The only practical way I know for smaller gardens/allotments, is to grow smaller patches and save over time. Perhaps 50 of a variety every year for 5 years. If you choose a variety that produces two or more ears you can eat one and let the other dry and freeze the seeds. Say you started with 250 seeds, you could grow 50 each year and save seed. Corn freezes well (with silica gel sachets begged from the shoe shop or baked rice).
Apparently 250 corn plants is the minimum amount to be grown for seed saving purposes to avoid inbreeding depression. Although on reading Seeds of Kokopelli manual, it hints at this may not be necessary for heritage types
The recommendations from the USA say to pollinate squash flowers after the dew has dried ....
from about mid morning on..but not for long.
The pollinatioin times for squash are to be able to catch the female at the right time.. it is not the pollen.. the female flower is only receptive for a wee while,,from about mid morning on..but not for long.XX Jeannine
I wonder how everyone else is getting on, its great hearing the progress?
Jeannine, don’t be daft, you are reliable
Jeannine, don’t be daft, you are reliable, just sounds like your weather has been very poor. Must be disheartening and incredibly frustrating when all you want to do is get going on your new plottie. Please don’t feel pressured to produce anything for the circle, but stay in and see how things go. I’m sure it will all pick up. I'm always amazed how quickly plants grow on and produce a harvest.