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Post by oxbowfarm on Nov 17, 2012 0:02:05 GMT -5
Hand pollinating is really not that big of a deal, especially for only twelve plants. I was hand pollinating 30+ plants of Ray's Pepita for a couple of weeks this year. Its about 30 minutes in the evening and a little over that in the morning. With only twelve plants you could really bang them out, especially if you space your plants further apart so you can easily tell who is who.
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Post by richardw on Nov 17, 2012 23:35:21 GMT -5
Well T, here is the update re my 'Blue Hubbard' pumpkin growing exercise. The reason for 12 plants is that the Koanga Institute need lots of seed to be available for members throughout NZ who may wish to purchase it. However.......the CEO of Koanga has just advised me that they will not be accepting the seed this season due to the perceived danger of crossing with pumpkins that may be grown by any of my numerous neighbours, particularly the kids immediately next door. So, I'll continue growing the strongest plants and give the truck load of produce to neighbours, family and friends. It looks like my future growing activity for Koanga will be limited to lines that are not subject to crossing, a shame really but I can't control what my neighbours are doing!! Yes it is a shame Rob and its not like you can grow your Blue Hubbard under pollen cages like you could with crops like parsnip,carrots etc which don't take up much room
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Post by orflo on Nov 18, 2012 2:33:22 GMT -5
I use old worn inner tires of bicycles instead of the tape, I cut these into pieces of about 10 cms long, put just a bit of tape on one end and cut a small opening incision one the other end, so it's easier to place them over the unopened flowers. It takes about 10 minutes in the evening to places some 30-40 'tires' over the unopened flowers, male and female of course, and it's very easy to remove these pieces in the morning, and to start pollinating them. I always use the same tires for one variety, just in case some pollen falls into the tire, which is quite unlikely, but it's the safest method. I do use tape when the pollination has been made. This doesn't take too long, and a pumpkin can have a good seed production. But do it not too early or too late in the morning, the quality of the pollen can be worse (or non-existant) when it's too late or too early...I only use compost for growing these, I don't want giant pumpkins but good-tasting ones..
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Post by raymondo on Nov 18, 2012 4:19:51 GMT -5
The risk of crossing is pretty small but not zero I guess. Shame really. You could of course just hand pollinate whatever you can. Should still be a considerable number of seeds.
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Post by Walk on Nov 18, 2012 11:06:37 GMT -5
I like the bicycle inner tube method - very clever. I don't like using tape for the initial step as it tends to rip the petals when opened the next morning to do the pollinations. I've been using some big, aluminum hair clips (used for hair styling back in the 1960's - I think they are still available). I think the inner tubes might be as easy and readily available.
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Post by richardw on Nov 18, 2012 12:24:51 GMT -5
How about these bag clips,would they work??
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floricole
gardener
39 acres, half wooded half arable, land of alluvial
Posts: 108
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Post by floricole on Nov 18, 2012 18:17:58 GMT -5
Well T, here is the update re my 'Blue Hubbard' pumpkin growing exercise. The reason for 12 plants is that the Koanga Institute need lots of seed to be available for members throughout NZ who may wish to purchase it. However.......the CEO of Koanga has just advised me that they will not be accepting the seed this season due to the perceived danger of crossing with pumpkins that may be grown by any of my numerous neighbours, particularly the kids immediately next door. So, I'll continue growing the strongest plants and give the truck load of produce to neighbours, family and friends. It looks like my future growing activity for Koanga will be limited to lines that are not subject to crossing, a shame really but I can't control what my neighbours are doing!! too bad, take a look at Baker Creek tunnels to control pollination rareseeds.com/blog/test/2011-grow-outs-isolation-tunnels/
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Post by mayz on Nov 19, 2012 3:36:39 GMT -5
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