Lo and behold! A female cucumber flower has appeard.

Much sooner than I expected the cucumber plant has presented me with its first female flower. That is all well and good, except I have been removing the male flowers to redirect energy back into the plant.

As soon as I saw the female bud beginning to form I stopped removing the male flowers. Fortunately, there were still a few male buds remaining, so I have been collecting pollen on an artist brush to use to pollinate the female flower.

If possible, I will use a male flower to pollinate the female flower by removing the petals and transferring the pollen from the male anthers to the pistil of the female flower.

Still, I wish I had used the little leaf variety, as this parthenocarpic plant produces cucumbers without pollinators.