[northfifeduckling]

This year I have 2 Hokaido squashes in the tunnel which are doing really well first time ever. Do I have to get the paintbrush out to pollinate these? I know I should help courgettes this way but not cucumbers. Which is it for protected squashes  

[Millwood]

  Hmm, well I've grown squashes in tunnels for the last two years & havent had to pollinate them myself, but I guess it couldnt hurt?!

[Fleecewife]

I tend to do the first few then let them get on with it.  I don't use a paintbrush, but break off a male flower, take off the petals and the green spikey things behind them, then take the pollen covered male bit and tap it into a female flower.  There are usually more male flowers than female, so breaking them off doesn't matter and you are likely to get better pollination than with a paintbrush.  I provide a rope for my pumpkins and squashes to climb then tie them in to the crop bars to give an upper storey of cropping 

[Womble]

  So how do you know which are the male flowers, and which the female then? 

[Fleecewife]

Female flowers have the little fruit which will turn into a big fruit behind the flower.  The male flowers have just a plain stalk coming up to the back of the flower.  Inside the flower, the male has a sticky up thingy (as you might expect   ) which is yellow and will be covered in pollen.  The female flower has another slightly different yellow sticky up thingy (you can tell I didn't do botany at school  ) which is divided into about 3 parts I think, which doesn't have any pollen on until it is fertilised.  Each female flower is open for only a day, in fact so are the male flowers, so if they are not pollinated then that flower will go brown and drop off, but lots more will form.

[tobytoby]

Squashes are a one night stand - if they only open once? LOL not much fun there then?