On cucumber plants, there are two genders of flowers; male and female. Normally, in the summer months, there are a lot of bees and bugs that can help to pollinate the flowers. But, unfortunately, some summers we have fewer bugs, pests, bees, etc. This year, is one of those summers. To ensure that we get as many cucumber fruit as possible, I need to help the process along. With a dry cotton swab/Q-tip in hand, I gather some pollen from the male flower and then place that same swab in the female flower.
It is super easy to tell the males from the female flowers on cucumbers. The male is merely a flower on the end of a stem, but a female is a flower on the end of a baby cucumber. Dip the swab all the way into the base of the male flower and twirl it once, then do the exact same to the female, and voila, the baby cucumber is now fertilized and should mature on the vine. If the baby cucumber is not fertilized, it will drop off the vine and never mature.
Every two to three days, we need to go look over the plants to find new baby cukes with flowers that have opened, and fertilize them. Takes all of about five minutes time and soon there are a bunch of cucumbers growing on the vines.
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| Two baby cukes. |
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| Close up of the female flower with baby cucumber |
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| There are three cucumbers on plant in blue bucket. |
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| There are only male flowers on plant in orange bucket. |
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