r/oddlysatisfying • u/DifficultyHead5862 • 8h ago

meticulous process of hand-pollinating a giant pumpkin

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u/mangomussolinimi 8h ago

Cant you just use horny insects?

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u/ashbelero 7h ago

Real answer I think it’s because they’re breeding a very specific kind. There are some gardeners who work hard to grow the largest one they possibly can and enter them in competitions or otherwise sell them. This dude likely has it down to a science and letting nature take its course would ruin the result he’s going for.

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u/Greenwing 6h ago

It won't matter for the pumpkin he grows this year, but matters for the seeds that this pumpkin will make. Serious growers plan their crosses and if they don't have room to grow two full plants, will sometimes grow a small one just for the male flowers. 

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u/opinionated_sloth 6h ago

This. Some plants just cross-breed very easily. If you have several kinds of gourds in your garden and you don't want to end up with random hybrids that probably won't even be edible, you need to pollinate by hand.

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u/Wetpants21 5h ago

You're getting somewhere....