Help with winter squash please.

[Gerry]

I am growing Hunter winter squash in my greenhouse and there are lots of female flowers but not one male flower to pollinate them.

Should I remove the female flowers (until I get some male flowers) or just leave them on the plants.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Regards,
Gerry.

[FelixLeiter]

For female flowers to form first is unusual. The usual course of events is for male flowers to appear first, with the female flowers forming later as temperatures increase and stabilise. I would leave the female flowers on. They'll drop off naturally if they are not pollinated, alternatively they may get pollinated with pollen from another nearby squash if there is one present and in flower. Which is unlikely: I only planted mine out last week, and they're still wee.

[Gerry]

Thanks very much Felix.

Yes, on four plants I must have sixteen female flowers and not a single male flower. However some males seem to be showing signs near the base of one plant, but of course they are not developing as quickly as I would like as I watch the female flowers dying.

Regards,
Gerry.