Yellow Pollen on My Female Plants That Are Flowering

Pollinators

• Potential pollinators include insects and many types of bees, but wind, water, gravity and even animals can deliver pollen to plants. Pollinators are attracted to flowers for the nectar or pollen they produce. For example, honeybees are generalists. They tend to be attracted to the most rewarding and attractive flowers first, and can visit several thousand flowers in a day. As bees enter flowers to gather pollen, they come into contact with the anthers and stigmas, and as they work, some of pollen sticks to their bodies and is brushed off onto the stigmas. The stigma of the flower is sticky, which helps it retain pollen.

Self-Pollinating Plants

• Self-pollinating plants produce blooms with both male and female reproductive parts in the same flower. These flowers may remain closed during the time of pollination to prevent the loss of pollen and aid in the transfer of pollen within the flower, However, some self-pollinated flowers receive pollen from other flowers on the same plant or from flowers of the same variety of plant growing nearby. The pollen you see may come from any of these flower sources.

Cross-Pollinating Plants

• Cross-pollinating plants develop separate male and female flowers. In dioecious plants, male and female flowers are borne on separate plants. The male flowers are usually first to open, so their pollen is available to pollinators for transfer to the female flowers when they open later. The flowers of cross-pollinated plants usually produce a heavier, sticky form of pollen.

Presence of Pollen

• The presence of pollen may signal that male flowers or flower parts on your male plants are healthy and productive, as they are producers of pollen, but the pollen you see is not necessarily just the pollen compatible for your plants. Pollinators can drop pollen from other plants as they make their way across your plants, and other methods of pollination can leave behind pollen deposits from other plants in your area.

Warnings

• Avoid applying pesticides in the garden around the time that your plants are flowering, and apply pesticides in the evening to avoid killing bees. Select an insecticide less toxic for bees. Water your plants during the early hours of the day to prevent disturbing or deterring pollinating insects from visiting your garden or flower bed.