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gregplantaine7

What type of cantaloupe flower?

gregplantaine7
9 years ago

Can someone tell me whether this is a male or female flower.
Would like to know soon.

Comments (28)

  • fruitnut Z7 4500ft SW TX
    9 years ago

    You need to look at the other side. If there's a little fruit already formed behind those petals it's female. With male just a bump holding base of petals.

    In watermelon I can tell from this side. But I'm not familiar enough with cantaloupe to be sure looking at this end.

  • gregplantaine7
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Here is the other side.

  • farmerdill
    9 years ago

    Male

  • daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
    9 years ago

    Geez. I ran outside to snap you a picture of a female flower, and in my cantaloupe patch there were about forty male flowers, and about four dried up onetime female flowers. But I found this nice generic squash blossom picture online that is very representative. That's a male on the left, and a female on the right. See the difference?

    No, that's not a real fruit on the right under the female flower. It's a proto-fruit. Yeah, there must be some real biological term for that thing, but proto-fruit is what everyone calls them. That proto-fruit isn't yet fertilized, so it isn't a real unripe fruit yet. If it doesn't get fertilized, it'll dry up and fall off. Not sure if my four female blossoms got fertilized. We'll see in a few days.

  • ZachS. z5 Platteville, Colorado
    9 years ago

    The botanical term for the "proto" fruit is an ovary. Aren't scientists an original bunch, lol.

    A way to tell from the front (and I admit it's much easier on the large squash flowers than on the small melon/cucumber flowers) is if there is a single anther (for males) or the multi-lobed stigma (females)

    This post was edited by ZachS on Sat, Oct 4, 14 at 1:53

  • daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
    9 years ago

    Ah yes, "ovary". That's right. Thanks.

    One advantage of identifying the sex of the flower from the rear is that you can tell before it opens. I do hand pollination of squash and melons, and I look for (in my general experience, the rarer) female flowers before they bloom, so I can anticipate doing that pollination. As in, OK, looks like tomorrow that flower will be opening ... ready, set ...

  • gregplantaine7
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    The male flowers on my cantaloupe look exactly the same as the female flowers from the front.
    I guess the back is the only way to tell them apart.

  • gregplantaine7
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Is this a female flower?
    again would like to know soon.

  • theforgottenone1013 (SE MI zone 5b/6a)
    9 years ago

    No, it's a male. As has already been said, a female will have a small fruit behind it, not just the skinny stem.

    Rodney

  • daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
    9 years ago

    I think I see your confusion. The picture you posted shows some kind of a green appendage in back of the flower. But I still think it is a male flower. Unlike the generic squash picture I posted about, cantaloupe male flowers do indeed have a bit of a green appendage on the back, as what you've shown. My female flowers don't look anything like your picture.

  • gregplantaine7
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Any idea on how long it will be till I see the first female flowers?

  • daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
    9 years ago

    The appearance of male and female flowers in cucurbits is a maddening topic. It's discussed in many posts here. It seems that either you get all of one, or all of the other. It is well understood that cucurbits pop out male flowers first in the season, as it is energetically more costly to the plant to produce female flowers (it's that ovary on the back end) so it is in the better interest of the plant to have male flowers around when they do.

    In my experience, male flowers ALWAYS vastly outnumber female flowers. Especially in cantaloupes. For squash, the female flowers are a little more common. I have just been noticing that my fall butternuts are popping out a lot more female flowers than they did in the spring. About a third. It used to be about a tenth.

    If you are in 7a, you're not going to have much time for your fertilized melon to mature once you get one. Just sayin' ... After my spring crop matured in the summer, I now have some golfball sized fruit, and I'm hoping they'll make it to the end before the first freeze.

  • springtogarden
    9 years ago

    Ahh, the frustrating aspect of the cucurbits - waiting for the darn females. It will produce them eventually. Dan is right! It takes much energy for the plant to produce females.

  • Peter1142
    9 years ago

    Zone 7a... a little late for cantaloupe for sure. Is it in a greenhouse or something?

  • gregplantaine7
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    It is being trellised and is growing nicely in my closet where it gets 5-6 hours of direct sunlight and temperatures range from the 60s-90s.

  • daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
    9 years ago

    Wow. Nice closet.

    Sounds like you won't have any trouble with frost. Oh, but if it's not outside, you won't have anyone doing pollination for you. So it's especially important to be able to identify male and female flowers. You need to get out your bee costume, start inspecting flowers, and take responsibility for pollination. Unlike tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants, melons are NOT self-pollinating.

  • gregplantaine7
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Each male flower also has a second small bulge to it so it will be hard to differentiate them from the female flowers.

  • daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
    9 years ago

    You may have some unusual kind of cantaloupe. In mine, the male flower has a green protrusion in back that is no wider than the base of the flower. I wouldn't call it a "bulge", and there certainly aren't two of them. But I'm pretty much describing what you have in your second picture above, in which the green protrusion is no wider than the base of the flower. In the female flower, the rear of the flower is bulb-like, and considerably wider than the base of the flower. They look quite different.

    I'm thinking that when you do actually get a female flower, the difference will be conspicuous. But if you don't have any yet, you're just trying to magnify details in the male flowers.

    Look, if you think you have a female flower, then just pollinate it!

  • theforgottenone1013 (SE MI zone 5b/6a)
    9 years ago

    Agree with Dan. It's not hard to tell the difference once you see a female flower in person. After you've seen one it will be very obvious.

    I found a pic of a female melon flower on the internet. I added the arrow to show where the flower ends and the small fruit begins. There is a very definite junction there.

    Rodney

    Here is a link that might be useful: Hand pollinating melons (this is where I got the photo).

    This post was edited by theforgottenone1013 on Mon, Oct 6, 14 at 14:46

  • daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
    9 years ago

    That's right. I forgot that the ovary-bulb on the back of a female cantaloupe flower is *fuzzy*. That shows up nicely in the picture you posted. The web page you linked to has some excellent female flower pix!

    I still can't find any open female flowers on my plants! One or two are now closed, and several others are done with, a few of which maybe have melons. Loads of male flowers. Sheesh.

  • gregplantaine7
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    After looking at a youtube video I can now see the difference.

  • springtogarden
    9 years ago

    How cool that you are growing this indoors! You will have to update on how they taste. I might try going a small melon indoors. I have grow lights and grow a few other veggies and fruits.

  • gregplantaine7
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I managed to grow two ripe sugar baby watermelons in the same spot. Although they were only two inches in diameter they tasted just as sweet as garden grown ones.

  • gregplantaine7
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    After 20 or more males 2 females appear on a cloudy and gloomy day.

  • daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)
    9 years ago

    10:1 is par for the course, in my experience.

  • gregplantaine7
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    First hand-pollinated female seems to have aborted.

  • gregplantaine7
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    A second female flower has opened on the same side shoot as one of the first female flowers. Should I also pollinate this one?
    I have 3 females currently pollinated at the moment.