I’m not sure if we have any pumpkins growing yet, but there are plenty of flowers blooming. Many of our pumpkin plants have blossoms now.  Remember that the female plant needs to be pollinated.  This can only happen with the help of an important organisms. Check out the video below to see how this might occur.

Sometimes these plants don’t get pollinated. If they don’t, a pumpkin will not grow. Do you know the difference between a female pumpkin flower and male flower? The female has a small ball below the flower blossom. The male is a straight stem. See the pictures below. Can you tell which one is a female and which is a male based on the pictures?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you think of other ways these plants might get pollinated?

I’ll finish with documenting that there’s still a big difference between Garden 1 plants and Garden 2.  Can you see the differences below?  Also, what are the factors that might contribute to the difference.