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gorbelly · July 12, 2017

I always thought it made a lot of sense to start with male blossoms. They're less of an investment for the plant, and it takes a while for pollinators to realize there are squash in bloom. So they work to alert/attract pollinators before the more resource-intensive female blossoms are put out.

But there are some cucurbits that put out female blossoms first. That's always a head-scratcher for me. I always thought that maybe those species have some strong incentive to seek cross-pollination.

But now I learn that they can flip according to conditions. Nature is obviously not interested in making sense to me.

July 12, 2017	#6
gorbelly Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania Posts: 1,069	I always thought it made a lot of sense to start with male blossoms. They're less of an investment for the plant, and it takes a while for pollinators to realize there are squash in bloom. So they work to alert/attract pollinators before the more resource-intensive female blossoms are put out. But there are some cucurbits that put out female blossoms first. That's always a head-scratcher for me. I always thought that maybe those species have some strong incentive to seek cross-pollination. But now I learn that they can flip according to conditions. Nature is obviously not interested in making sense to me.