Allotments 4 All

Hi all,

Been out to the greenhouse this morning and lots of flowers on my cucumbers  ;D Have just looked up how to work out the male and female flowers so i can hand pollinate them.

I was just wondering how you do it some say to pick off a male flower to do it and some say to use a brush.

Im growing Crystal lemon and Green fingers.

Thanks lucy

Just read that green fingers is self pollinating! Is this correct? Also forgot to mention im growing them in the GH.

Thanks lucy

This is a very nice pictorial guide on how to do it.  It is for squashes, but the principles are exactly the same for cucumbers.  The only difference is that cucumber flowers are smaller.  Perhaps a blossom bag, (a bag made of something like fine net curtain material) might be the easiest solution to isolating cucumber flowers.  I tie up my flowers but cucumbers are small and more difficult to work with.

If you decided to use a fine brush rather than picking off the male flower and do both varieties on the same day with the same brush, you stand the risk of having contaminated the second handpollination because the pollen of the first will stick to the brush.  I now even wash my hands between pollinating 2 different cultivars of the same species, because pollen can stick to hands too.

Cucumber pollen is not as visible as squash pollen.  Good luck with your project.

Here is the url:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/gourds/msg0611545713356.html

I apologise for making a reference to material from another gardening group, but this pictorial course is so helpful it deserves to seen by as many seed savers as possible,  I think.

Quote from: mummybunny on July 03, 2010, 08:02:55
Hi all,

Been out to the greenhouse this morning and lots of flowers on my cucumbers  ;D Have just looked up how to work out the male and female flowers so i can hand pollinate them.

I was just wondering how you do it some say to pick off a male flower to do it and some say to use a brush.

Im growing Crystal lemon and Green fingers.

Thanks lucy

Don,t make yourself extra work just leave the cucumbers to get on with growing and producing fruit, there is no need to pollinate them or remove the male flowers they are self pollinating. The only thing you need to do is water regularly, feed once a week and decide which way you intend to grow them IE letting the side chutes grow and nipping out the growing tip or nipping out the side chutes after two sets of leaves and let the growing tip continue. I do not let any fruit grow below the first two feet so all the energy goes into the plant growth.

Sorry if I have confused you.  When you said handpollinating two different varieties, I assumed you wanted to handpollinate in order to save pure seed from them.  My misunderstanding, probably.

If you want them for eating and not for saving seed, then davyw1's advice is exactly right - just leave them, they'll be fine.

Quote from: davyw1 on July 03, 2010, 14:18:33

Quote from: mummybunny on July 03, 2010, 08:02:55
Hi all,

Been out to the greenhouse this morning and lots of flowers on my cucumbers  ;D Have just looked up how to work out the male and female flowers so i can hand pollinate them.

I was just wondering how you do it some say to pick off a male flower to do it and some say to use a brush.

Im growing Crystal lemon and Green fingers.

Thanks lucy

Don,t make yourself extra work just leave the cucumbers to get on with growing and producing fruit, there is no need to pollinate them or remove the male flowers they are self pollinating. The only thing you need to do is water regularly, feed once a week and decide which way you intend to grow them IE letting the side chutes grow and nipping out the growing tip or nipping out the side chutes after two sets of leaves and let the growing tip continue. I do not let any fruit grow below the first two feet so all the energy goes into the plant growth.

My Davy, you feed them weekly?!

Quote from: GrannieAnnie on July 04, 2010, 04:14:51

Quote from: davyw1 on July 03, 2010, 14:18:33

Quote from: mummybunny on July 03, 2010, 08:02:55
Hi all,

Been out to the greenhouse this morning and lots of flowers on my cucumbers  ;D Have just looked up how to work out the male and female flowers so i can hand pollinate them.

I was just wondering how you do it some say to pick off a male flower to do it and some say to use a brush.

Im growing Crystal lemon and Green fingers.

Thanks lucy

Don,t make yourself extra work just leave the cucumbers to get on with growing and producing fruit, there is no need to pollinate them or remove the male flowers they are self pollinating. The only thing you need to do is water regularly, feed once a week and decide which way you intend to grow them IE letting the side chutes grow and nipping out the growing tip or nipping out the side chutes after two sets of leaves and let the growing tip continue. I do not let any fruit grow below the first two feet so all the energy goes into the plant growth.

My Davy, you feed them weekly?!

I don,t see any need to feed them any more than that, the two types i grow are Burpless Tasty Green for eating and Carmen for the show bench as well as eating. I don,t go with letting every cucumber grow i find i get better results by taking of every other fruit.

At first I thought that this was an entry asking  'will I go blind doing it'.??

Q tips (cotton wool buds) are the best thing to use. Be gentle Just go round touching everything and to make sure......Do it twice.

Remember your action should be just like  a tender  butterfly kiss not like chiminey sweep.

Thanks all will take your advice  ;D

Harry (AKA Cucumber nose) is checking progress every morning he thinks im fibbing about round cucumbers  ;D

Cant wait to see his reaction when he spots the first one.

Lucy