If you are one of the many people who have ever grown melons or squash, you’ve likely encountered the problem of unproductive plants. One of the common causes of lack of fruit production in these families of plants is lack of pollination. In my case, we seemed to lack pollinating bugs like bees this year and so my poor garden was suffering. The solution? Hand-pollinating!
Fortunately, with Butternut Squash, pumpkins, zucchini, and other cucurbits it’s easy to identify and manually pollinate your plants! To illustrate hand-pollination I have included photos from my recently hand-pollinated Butternut Squash!
When to Hand Pollinate..?
You will find that the flowers, especially the females, are generally only opened during the cooler morning and evening hours of the day. Because of this morning and evenings will be the ideal times to take stock of what flowers are on your plant! I often take a quick peek out my window and look for bright yellow splashes against the large squash leaves.
Identifying Male and Female Flowers
Perhaps the biggest factor in successfully pollinating your Butternut Squash plant by hand is identifying and understanding the difference between the male and female flowers.
The male flower will typically stand up straight and high to be seen above the plant leaves. You will recognize a male flower by the single, powdery coated anther or stamen displayed in the center of the yellow petals. Especially towards the beginning phases of your Butternut Squash flowering, you may notice you only observe male flowers. This is because the male flowers actually serve two jobs: alert and attract pollinators to the plant, and provide pollen to then transfer to the female flowers.
Male Butternut Squash Flower 
Male Butternut Squash Flower and Stem
In contrast, the female flower looks a bit different. The stigma is clustered in the center where an orange-yellow tacky coating captures the loose pollen powder, and deposits it down into the lower pocket and the ovary at the base.
Female flower top view 
Female flower ovary/beginning fruit
Hand-Pollinating Methods
There are several simple and easy ways you can hand pollinate your plants once you identify male and female flowers!
Method 1- Cotton Swab
You can take a clean cotton swab and gently transfer some of the orange pollen off the anther of the male flower. Once you have your freshly collected pollen simply identify a female flower and gently rub the swab against the sticky center of the flower. I like to give the swab a little shake to allow loose pollen to fall down into the ovary of the flower as well! That’s it! Easy as pie!
Method 2: Use Your Fingers!
One of the most versatile tools God gave humans is their fingers. Some prefer the cotton swab method to this one to avoid yellow tacky fingertips, but I like the purity and simplicity of this version. The premise is much the same as the cotton swab: gather pollen from the male flower onto your finger, then transfer it to a female flower. Done!
Method 3: Direct Flower to Flower
If you have many male flowers to spare, another efficient method is to actually pluck the male flower to direct transfer the pollen! Simply remove the flower using sanitized sheers or scissors for a clean cut and minimal damage to the plant. Take the male flower you have gathered and remove the petals to expose the pollen-coated anther. Now, dab the anther onto the sticky female flower to transfer that yellow pollen powder! This can be a great choice if you have many female flowers to pollinate, and don’t want to go back and forth from male to female; instead you can complete several hand-pollinations in quick succession!
Nervous About Trying it Out?
Don’t be! As long as you are gentle you aren’t going to hurt the plant. Hand-Pollinating works by imitating the natural processes that would occur between pollinators and self-pollinating plants like cucurbits. When I first tried it I took it slow and only hand-pollinated one flower! Then, when I saw results within just days I felt rewarded and have since enjoyed watching healthy fruit grow from an otherwise unproductive squash plant!
Hand-Pollinating Experience?
I would love to hear your preferred method of hand-pollinating Butternut Squash and other cucurbits! What works best for your garden?
