Matchmaking in the Greenhouse

Turns out it wasn't because they'd been shaded by the achocha that my greenhouse squashes didn't fruit. I was leafing through the HDRA catalogue and I found "Pollination is needed for good fruit set". Now they tell me.

Well, this is all new to me. I found this article useful, though I could as well have gone local. This also gives a guide to what the anatomy means. On closer inspection I discover that my squashes put out both male and female flowers. Each flower has half of the equipment shown in this simplified diagram.

The female flowers look like this from the outside. Notice the bulge on the stem just at the base of the flower, which is the embryo squash.

The male ones look like this. Notice no change in shape of the stem.

Seems like all three squashes put out both flowers. And I think that at any given time each squash is putting out either male or female flowers. Presumably this is to avoid self-fertilisation and keep the gene pool stirring. But in the absence of insects it also means they need my help to get the pollen from the male to the female.

As instructed, I cut away the petals from the male flower. You can see the pollen - a mess of yellow dust. Presumably, referring to the handy diagram, that's the "stamen".

The inside of the female flower looks like this - evidently this must be the "pistil":

And... is it me... or is it rather hot in here? I mean, I'm the last to see an innocent image as suggestive - I'm English for heaven's sake - but there really is something undeniably sexual about flowers. I always thought calling them "male" and "female" was just a terminological convenience. Now I see why. I'm sorry if I anthropomorphise too much here, but hand pollination felt rather like invading their privacy. But I'm not going to get any squashes to eat otherwise, and we do worse things to our plants in the name of food. So anyway, I brushed the pollen onto the pistil in the female flower, then retired tactfully.

I was a bit late figuring this out, and I fear Autumn may make a start this weekend, so perhaps I won't get much out of it. But I'll let you know if my endeavours bear fruit.

Also because of imminent Autumn I'm rethinking my lettuce strategy. As I mentioned I planted some lettuces. And here's a funny thing. The seeds I harvested from my bolting lettuces came up and the commercial seeds didn't. But before I got all superior and organic, I did a little inspection and I think the pigeons had them. The earth seemed disturbed - and I have seen pigeons there. Bah. Rats with wings, that's all they are. How can something so fat and unmelodious go to the bother of digging up tiny little lettuce seeds to eat? I tried again, with a cold frame, but was rather undisciplined about covering it up - same result.

But it's funny, isn't it?, that the homegrown seeds didn't all get eaten. Why can that be? Perhaps pigeons just like junk food. I could believe it.

So anyway, now I changed my strategy and planted lots of different lettuce seeds (as well as my homegrown Pandero seed I also harvested some Lollo Rosso) in trays on the window sill and on the Aga (or for anyone who finds that puzzling I should say the Aga, though I hasten to add mine is old and battered). And this week I'm doing some more heroic pruning in the greenhouse (so I got some more green tomatoes and could try karinsa's recipe - it was yum). By the time the lettuces come up in the trays, there'll be some greenhouse room for them. I expect to have a homegrown salad on Christmas day.

Also I got some Kale going - late, I know, but maybe it works? - and planted that out. The vegetable patch is taking on more of winter aspect.

In other news, the greengages are at their best -some dropping rotten to the ground but many more just delicious and sweet. I think greengages are nicer than grapes. And they're very rarely sold in shops. They're heaven on muesli or in pies or with ice cream, or just in a bowl on the desk as one works. I want to do some pruning this week or next to make sure I get a good crop next year.

There are also a lot of apples, mostly cookers. And the Victoria plum had a reasonable year. But the thing of it is, I still have plums and stewed apple in the freezer from last year (last year was one of those years when the plums were so many they actually broke some branches). So I've been trying to find excuses to make plum and apple crumble.

If I can spare some time from cooking and eating - I'll try and get some pruning done.

More by jbr | Oct 13, 2005 | | TrackBack ()