Back in early July, I was getting really concerned about my zucchini plants. The plants were huge, but I had no zucchini. The pollinators were on vacation I suppose. I decided to hand pollinate my zucchini. For zucchini to grow, the beautiful yellow flowers that are produced have to be pollinated. There are two types of flowers, male and female. My female flowers were closing without being pollinated, shriveling up and falling off. I decided to intervene. When the flowers opened in the morning, I picked a male flower which are the ones with the slender stem. I pulled back the petals off of the male zucchini flower and put the stamen on the end of a cotton swap where I had removed the tip. Then, I spread the pollen on the stamen around the inside of the female zucchini flower. The female flower is the one with the stigma inside and an immature zucchini at the base, which will not develop if the flower is not pollinated. I’m glad I intervened because now I have lots of zucchini!