By: Zvi Howard Wener / Chief Agronomist / Zviw@zeraim.co.il

Indoor squash has mainly pistillate flowers and only a very limited amount of male flowers. Pollination is done by spraying the crown of the plant (the flower bud is in the head) with a hormone every 5-7 days. However, there are some growers that prefer spraying the stigma on the day of an thesis (the day the flower bud expands into an open flower). Never spray open flowers.

The hormone is based on the auxin indolacetic acid (IAA) and other derivatives of this acid. Some of the commercial products are called: fruiton, agriton and proton. In general, the recommendations are 0.06% - 0.10% (6-10g in 10 liters of water. It is highly recommended to check the manufacturer's recommendations.