Melon flowers

[ameno]

Flowers open first thing in the morning, so that's when there's most pollen, so is the best time to pollinate, if you can.

[peanut]

Well, I'm not sure if that worked. I tried to pollinate by hand, but there didn't seem to be much, if any pollen on any of the male flowers. I did find and dispose of a pollen beetle a few days ago but haven't seen any for the last couple of days. Fingers crossed it was successful, time will tell...

[ameno]

Also, if you can, try to use a male flower from a different plant to the female one. Melons can be pollinated by pollen from the same plant, but pollination is often more reliable if you use pollen from a different plant.

[peanut]

Thanks so much Ameno

[ameno]

Oh fantastic! Now what do I do with them?

Hand-pollinate.
Once they open, find a male flower, pick it off, then carefully remove all the petals. Then rub the stamen of the male flower onto the stigma of the female flower, transferring the pollen. You can also use a soft paintbrush for this, but I find that less reliable.
I find that male flowers tend to have a rather variable amount of pollen, so you may want to check each flower for pollen before you try to use it for pollination. After stripping it of its petals, pass it gently across your finger. You should see some grains of pollen come off on your finger if that male flower has a decent amount of pollen on it.

[peanut]

Oh fantastic! Now what do I do with them?

[ameno]

Yes, those are indeed female flowers.
The second should open tomorrow, the first probably Thursday (assuming the photos were taken today).

[peanut]

Ameno! Are these female flowers?

[ameno]

Three female watermelon flowers open today. I (hopefully) managed to pollinate two of them. Didn't have enough male flowers for the third.

The first female flower on the volunteer melon plant opened today, so I pollinated it. I wonder what variety it will be? I also found that the male flowers on this one have much more pollen on them than the others I'm growing, so are excellent for pollinating.

The one stubborn Collective Farm Woman melon plant which wasn't producing female flowers is now finally producing them, and lots of them, too.

The banana melon plants are taking over; they seem to grow several inches a day. They also have dozens of female flowers, but so far none seem to have pollinated, sadly.

The six swelling melons now range from tennis ball to fist size.

[peanut]

You do realise you are now my go to, melon flower guru!

[ameno]

Oh b*****! I thought males had sticky out bits in the middle of the open flowers. Thanks for putting me right. I shall now hope for a female to make an appearance!

The stamens on cucurbit flowers are short, fat and fused together in a single block, so they end up looking not dissimilar to the stigma of the female flowers, although you can tell the difference once you learn what to look for.

[peanut]

Oh b*****! I thought males had sticky out bits in the middle of the open flowers. Thanks for putting me right. I shall now hope for a female to make an appearance!

[ameno]

Every one of those is male.
Female flowers have a fruitlet behind them. The fruitlet is about the same size as the flower bud itself before it opens.
Also, male flowers have long stalks, as you can see, whereas female ones have stubby stalks. Male flowers also often appear in clusters, as you can see there (they don't all open at once, but you can clearly see more buds growing in the same cluster), whereas female flowers always appear singly.

[peanut]

Here's a few pics of the flowers Ameno.

[ameno]

They should do. Although usually male flowers come first, so that is a bit odd. Can you at least see male buds coming?