Cucurbit your enthusiasm

A vegetable garden is an amazing place for children to be in.  There are so many different things to learn and talk about.  I work in a collective garden as a children's coordinator with kids aged 2 to 8, and it's always interesting to see how they engage in the space.  I like to give informal gardening lessons to some of the older kids.  The cucurbit family (which includes cucumbers, melons, squash, and summer squash, like zucchini) is one of my favorite groups of plants to talk about.

These two cucumber flowers are male.  Note their very slender stems.

Cucumbers and their relatives have two different types of flowers, male, and female, which makes for an interesting conversation about pollination (They "boy" flower has to kiss the "girl" flower, and the bees help them...).  The first task is being able to tell the difference between male and female flowers.  Male flowers always have a very slender stem.  Female flowers have a thicker stem immediately below the base of the flower which resembles a miniature fruit.  The male flowers always come out first and in more numbers than the fruit-bearing female flowers.  The ratio of male to female flowers can also change on any given plant too.  Usually if the plant suffers from water or nutrient stress it will put out mostly male flowers and few females.  Bees play a critical role in all cucurbit fruit production.  Unlike tomato flowers, which can be pollinated by the wind, cucurbit flowers must be

This cucumber flower is female; the stem looks like a mini cuke

visited by bees between 15-20 times for successful fruit set. As the female flowers are often open for only a few hours on one day, timing is critical and it is very helpful to have a surplus of male pollen donors around.  If the female flower is not adequately pollinated, the fruit will not set and you will see the stem turn yellow and drop off.  If you're having problems with a lack of pollination, consider introducing bees to your garden or entice them by planting flowers.  Bramble plants (raspberries, roses, and blackberries, etc) are an excellent bee attractor with their abundant pollen and sweet smells.

When the fruit does come, having too much ripening on the vine temporarily slows female flower output.  Picking the fruit regularly (especially on cucumbers and summer squash) will encourage more fruit development.


Looking for cucumber beetles is another excellent activity.  These yellow and black striped beetles like to eat the flowers, fruits, and roots, of all cucurbit family members, and may even spread bacterial wilt disease.  They are often found on the flowers of cucurbits, which

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cucumber_beetle.jpg

provide an ideal mating "pad."  When the beetles are found, pick them off the flower (they don't bite) and squish them immediately!  It is important to check both open and closed flowers for the beetles as they may crawl inside and are not always immediately visible.  After a couple minutes and several beetles, the kids in my garden have become expert beetle spotters and squishers, and are eager to find the next one.