(no subject)

[ru]

Dear Female Pumpkin Flowers,

You all suck. Here I am, getting up earlier than the already ungodly hour I get up just so I can go outside in the near-dark with a q-tip (since I couldn't find my paintbrush, and I was too tired to care) in hand and pollinate you all, and you're not open. All the males are open, and there are a ton of them, oh yes, but you, YOU, you all are nowhere to be seen, and those of you that are out are still shut, despite looking ready to open. It is not cool to deprive me of precious minutes of sleep like this. Remember who waters you all in this scorching heat.

No love,
Ru

P.S. Y'all are lazy bitches.

Comments

[tsaiko.livejournal.com]

How can you tell the difference between male and female flowers?

[lighthawk.livejournal.com]

That's a question that just BEGS for a smart ass answer. But I'd be damned, I don't know the difference either.

[peppermintberry.livejournal.com]

Well, I'd say the smart ass answer would be, "You run up to them and lift up their skirts!" :p

[peppermintberry.livejournal.com]

Well, in the case of pumpkins, since they seem to be closed most of the day, you have to rely on exterior features. The two I find are the most indicative are that 1.) The male flowers are borne on much longer stems and subsequently reach up higher than the females. 2.) Since pumpkins have inferior ovaries, they're visible from the outside, and you can see them on the females just underneath where the petals grow out. They're rather large, proportionately, and do look a bit like a baby pumpkin nuzzled up underneath the flower.

I think the female flowers are smaller in general, but because they're being so pokey about maturing, I'm not sure I can really compare sizes at this point. Hopefully they'll open soon and I'll be able to find out.

[gekizetsu.livejournal.com]

YOU TELL THEM, RU.

[peppermintberry.livejournal.com]

DAMN STRAIGHT!

[gekizetsu.livejournal.com]

Now is NOT the time for female pumpkin flowers to be staging a feminist gourd movement.

[liich.livejournal.com]

hey, i had random mini-gourds growing last year (out of the compost so i really don't know exactly what they were...narrower at the top and big round on the bottom) and, tho they didn't really turn out to be much (they kept rotting before they ripened) they did manage to fertilize themselves all on their own...many many times.
also, i'm pretty sure that the farmers around here who grow pumpkins all thru their orchards don't go around manually fertilizing everything. :D :D :D
don't worry, they'll be fine.

[peppermintberry.livejournal.com]

Hm, well, perhaps then my pumpkins can follow your gourds' examples and go about creating lots of wee pumpkins! Or at least as many pumpkins as there are female flowers. There're still precious few. Hopefully more will grow, especially if I keep them hydrated. The heat here has gotten brutal, and the leaves definitely show it in the middle of the day. I have to fight the urge to go outside and douse them with water.

From what I've read, farmers with pumpkin crops hire bee hives to do their pollinating. Since I only have a few plants, maybe there are enough pollinators around such that they'll get the few females there are and get them growing. I think I'll still try and pollinate them myself, since at least then I'll know they got hit with pollen, but I'm gonna try not to panic if I miss the females opening. ^_^;