Something i've always wondered...
if i want to try a two or 3 varieties of say pumpkins, would i need 2 plants of each variety (CT Field, Cinderella, New England, etc.) for them to be pollinated and produce?

Does it work to only have one of each kind of tomato plants of say Roma, Dr. Wyche's Yellow, and Purple Casbah?

Pollen isn't really that specific, right?

Curious, only because i could save soooo much more room in my garden to satisfy my thirst for growing a new to me variety each year and still keep around the ones i like.

Of course, i am just kidding myself, i could live on 20 acres and still not have enough room to plant all the things i'd like to.

As long as you are not planning to save seed, you are okay with one plant of each.

thanks, Meshelle...your advice helps alot!

Whit, most vegetables do not need cross pollination (two types of the same kind of vegetable.) If you have trouble getting flowers pollinated with one plant, then it's the bees/pollinating insects that are having the problem. You can help a tomato by tickling the flowers when they are newly opened, or using a Q tip on a squash, collecting pollen from the male flower and rubbing it onto the stigma inside the female flower. If the flower still drops off, then night temps might be too cold. There are some tomatoes I can't grow no matter what because my nights are chilly in July.


It's fruit trees that need a second type of tree that blooms at the same time to get fruit.

The only time you'll really need more than a single hill of a storage squash is whem you eat more than one hill makes.

Inasmuch as all mellons-squash-cukes are insect pollinated if you grow more than one (cultivar) AND are saving seed, you will need to use a barrier and hand pollinate.

I left the philosophical part off I meant to mention!!

But it is biodiversity that makes the world a safe and balanced place. You can plant 5 Ace tomatoes and get tomatoes, but if you plant 5 different types of tomatoes, your chance for success is better, it's better for the insects, it's better for the soil, there different nutrition in different tomatoes. So in that respect, having as many varieties as you can fit is a good thing.