How to Pollinate and Grow Fresh Healthy Vegetables with no Bees
Take charge of your garden
Growing and picking your own vegetables in your garden is best so you know that you are eating vegetables and fruit completely free from hidden chemicals. They are not only fresher but you have a never ending supply right at your fingertips.
If you find that your garden is not producing enough vegetables or fruit for the amount of plants you have growing then this article may help you understand why and how to increase your amount of produce.
You have done all the right things, dug a great garden bed, used the right fertilisers and even added mulch to help keep enough moisture in the garden throughout the summer heat. And yet those beautiful green pumpkins, cucumbers or other healthy plants growing in your garden beds are producing little or no fruit on them at all.
Lack of pollination
In many areas the birds and butterflies help to pollinate our gardens for us. We also need need lots of help from the bees as they are the experts at pollination.
Lack of bees in your garden is the main cause of reduced produce because they pollinate your plants the natural way. So if your garden is not rewarding you with enough fresh vegetables then continue reading for a simple way to improve the amount of vegetables you can grow.
Yes, this will take a few minutes of your time every few days and I know that time is precious. But so is having chemically free fresh vegetables to pick from your garden to eat or to share with your neighbours. There is nothing better than nipping outdoors to pick fresh vegetables when you need them.
How to tell the difference between Male and female flowers at a Glance
You can tell the difference between the male and female flowers because the female has the beginnings of the fruit growing underneath the flower. The male shows a stem only underneath the flower.
Steps on how to Pollinate the female flower with the male flower
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Look for the female flower with the fruit showing underneath and open the petals
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Pick off a male flower and open its petals and remove the excess petals.
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Insert male stamen inside the female flower
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Close female petals over the inserted male stamen.
That's all it takes to pollinate your next pumpkin or vegetable of your choice and it was not very hard and yes it took only a few seconds to pollinate.
Pollinate same type of produce
Never pollinate a pumpkin female flower with a male butter nut pumpkin or similar. Always pollinate with the same variety of fruit or vegetables.
This procedure will not only save you petrol driving to the shops, it will save you money buying those vegetables. Plus, you are eating them free of chemicals and these are local grown products not imported from who knows where.
How to exercise and deter the white moths
White moths are so frustrating to any gardener. For years I have had a badminton or tennis racquet handy. Most of us need a little bit of extra exercise so why not arm yourself with a racquet and hit those dreaded moths.
You will be amazed how good you feel by taking that frustration out on the white moths, and reducing the chance of them laying their eggs on your fresh growing vegetables at the same time.
The extra exercise should help reduce the waistline too.
Once you have this technique perfected you don't want to waste any so you might want to learn how to start bottling or freezing the extra ones that you cannot eat while fresh.
Gardening in a small area
A small back yard does not mean you cannot grow fresh fruit and vegetables. You can still grow vegetables and miniature fruit trees in pots.
No pots then improvise
Not having pots is no excuse to not growing your own fresh vegetables. All you need to do is improvise by using what you have. Use old saucepans, wheelbarrows, boots, milk cartons to grow your beautiful fresh vegies.
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Comments
This was fascinating! I had no idea that you could hand pollenate plants!
Thanks Deborah-D yes and it only takes a couple of seconds to do each one once you get the hang of it and learn to pick the male from the female flower at a glance.
Much easier way to do it than I do. I use a damp q-tip, takes a lot of time. Going to try your way. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks lynsuz, yes it is easy thats for sure and even just do a couple every few days and you will be in front that's for sure
Fresh vegetables are best, if for nothing else than a stronger flavour. I love growing my own, but did not know about doing IVF on a plant! I will definitely be using this method on my Butternut squash this year.
Thanks DDraig, You will be amazed at how much more you will get. Just make sure that the male stamen that you use still has some on it. I looked at mine the other day and the bees or other insects had pinched it all so wasnt worth doing. Little devils eh
That's amazing! I didn't know pollinating your own plants could be so easy. I am lucky, I have many plants and bushes that the bees love, and they pay be back by pollinating my garden. Wow! I learned something else new today. Good article!
Thanks southerngirl, its great to learn something new. We are never too old to learn either. cheers
This is a really useful article and i'm sure it will help a lot of people pollinating their flowers. However, I'd also suggest that those with bigger gardens actually get bee hives as the world's bee populations are in quite a bad way at the moment and we need to encourage them to thrive.
Thanks Sam, That is a great idea, although like my husband he is allergic to bees and its risky with him in the garden with the bees we have. But yes as long as they know how to handle them they could do it.
What an inspiring article! My very first job was working at a seed research farm, pollinating corn!!! We did cross pollinate- it was great fun. Congratz on this feature.
Footloose, Your job would have been interesting then. thanks for commenting and the congrats. cheers
Sounds like a good gardening plan. Thanks for sharing!
Webaddict, Thanks for commenting, yes it definitely works and does not take long at all. very productive
I'd try it in a small backyard area soon. Thanks again.
Very effective use of photos to explain manual vegetable pollination.
Thanks Jade , yes I believe pictures say a thousand words and seeing it makes it so much clearer.
Very interesting article and great supporting pictures. Lots of informative details here!
Thanks shogun, glad you liked it. Hope you can produce some vegetables by using this method
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I have had times in my garden, when I had to hand pollinate a plant, in fact, it was the squash like you had in your photos. I have shared this article with my homesteading community, as I figure they could use the info.
Thanks katlupe, yes you can certainly incease your production by using this simple and quick method of polination, thanks for sharing this info.
I didn't even know that you could increase your output by pollinating your own plants. That's pretty cool. Our biggest issue is the heat and sun. :( Not a very easy place for a first time gardener to get their feet wet.
thanks aiden, Glad you have found a new way of pollinating your plants now. Yes the heat is hard to cope with if no shade protection. Don't give up with gardening you can grow lots of your own fresh vegies in a small area.
This is an awesome article, i never thought its possible. Great idea. I will show this article to my mom too :)
Thanks Camile, hope it helps you and your mum to produce more. thanks.
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