Well, it’s for sure, now: The Roma tomato plants I bought this year were mislabeled and are “something else”. I guess we’ll see how the fruits fill out and mature, but so far the fruit shape looks like Celebrity tomatoes. That’s ok if they are (Celebs), as the Heatwave II’s are going to town*, and HW II’s have a similar bland / low acid taste like Romas; good for those uses. The Better Boys are doing “ok” (varies) and the two Best boys are doing well too: The “Best” Best Boy is over 7’ tall now, with several fruits half-way grown. I thought the seed pack said “determinate’ — at 7+’ tall and still growing fast??? I’m going to have to rig extra support for it!
*Even the HW II that was dying and I chopped off the lower stem and roots and part of the top, then just rooted the remaining stem & foliage, is doing well: It’s about 3’ tall and flowering a bit.
I have a big(!) ol’ volunteer pumpkin plant going too: It’s been flowering for a while but I don’t see any fruits started. Will a single pumpkin plant pollinate itself? If yes, maybe I need to find out how to ID male vs. female pumpkin flowers and help it out? If this thing can’t pollinate itself even with a little help, I should just dig it out, as it has to be sucking up a ton of water and nutrients... Even if fruits start now, how big will they get? Zone 7A.
So funny that you posted this! I had to explain the sex-life of a Zucchini plant to my 86 year old mother today, LOL!
Here’s a clear picture of a male v. female squash blossom. A Pumpkin is a squash, but not all squash are Pumpkins. ;)
https://extension.psu.edu/pumpkins-and-squash-what-are-their-pollination-needs
If you want to keep it, you can do some hand-pollinating. A Q-tip works just fine for this. Your plant SHOULD have both male and female flowers, though sometimes due to weather conditions their bloom cycles are a bit off, but they eventually get it together. Mother Nature, IN for the WIN!Transfer the pollen from the male flower to the female flower and you’re in like sin. ;)
Here’s a good tutorial on All Things Pumpkin from Farmer’s Almanac:
https://www.almanac.com/plant/pumpkins