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How can you tell?

Posted by daikon_tomato 7A (My Page) on
Tue, Jun 19, 07 at 10:25

I have these four muskmelons abundant with flowers but they keep dropping off and no melon! I was thinking about helping the boy flowers find the girl flowers with a little paint brush but the problem is I can't tell the difference between the two. I know with squashes, the female flower has a bulb underneath the flower but it doesn't seem to be the case form cantelopes. Also they ALL seem to be either the female. How can I help the process a little bit? I know that technically muskmelons are a fruit but I figure you guys must be familiar with the male/female flower issue.

Thanks
Roger


Follow-Up Postings:

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RE: How can you tell?

Muskmelons ar a bit unusual - they bear some flowers with both male and female parts (called perfect flowers), and some with only pollen-producing male parts (called pistillate flowers).

The fruit develop from the perfect flowers only, and there is a visible immature ovary just below the flower (it's quite small).

Usually the male flowers start blooming a while before the perfect flowers - wait a while and you should see them begin to come through.


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