Cross Pollination Facts
go.ncsu.edu/readext?805520
en Español / em Português
El inglés es el idioma de control de esta página. En la medida en que haya algún conflicto entre la traducción al inglés y la traducción, el inglés prevalece.
Al hacer clic en el enlace de traducción se activa un servicio de traducción gratuito para convertir la página al español. Al igual que con cualquier traducción por Internet, la conversión no es sensible al contexto y puede que no traduzca el texto en su significado original. NC State Extension no garantiza la exactitud del texto traducido. Por favor, tenga en cuenta que algunas aplicaciones y/o servicios pueden no funcionar como se espera cuando se traducen.
Português
Inglês é o idioma de controle desta página. Na medida que haja algum conflito entre o texto original em Inglês e a tradução, o Inglês prevalece.
Ao clicar no link de tradução, um serviço gratuito de tradução será ativado para converter a página para o Português. Como em qualquer tradução pela internet, a conversão não é sensivel ao contexto e pode não ocorrer a tradução para o significado orginal. O serviço de Extensão da Carolina do Norte (NC State Extension) não garante a exatidão do texto traduzido. Por favor, observe que algumas funções ou serviços podem não funcionar como esperado após a tradução.
English
English is the controlling language of this page. To the extent there is any conflict between the English text and the translation, English controls.
Clicking on the translation link activates a free translation service to convert the page to Spanish. As with any Internet translation, the conversion is not context-sensitive and may not translate the text to its original meaning. NC State Extension does not guarantee the accuracy of the translated text. Please note that some applications and/or services may not function as expected when translated.
Collapse ▲Through the years, on several occasions I have been asked questions like the following: “How far apart should I plant my pumpkins from my squash so that my pumpkins don’t get messed up?” This question arises from a misconception that cross pollination of “like” crops will harm the quality of the harvested fruit of the crops being grown near one another. The truth is that cross pollination within like crops is not an issue unless you plan to save the seed for next season’s planting. Cross pollination has no effect on the quality of the harvestable fruit. For example, let us say you are growing straight-necked and crook-necked summer squash in the same garden. If they cross pollinated one another, you are still going to get straight-necked fruit on your straight-necked plants and crook-necked fruit on your crook-necked plants, but if you save the seed from any of this fruit and planted it next season, you are most likely going to get mixed results.
So, if you are only concerned about the quality of this season’s harvest, then spacing is not an issue; however, if you are saving your seed, spacing is an issue and the spacing requirements vary between crops. However, there is one crop where spacing is an issue on the quality of the harvestable crop and that is sweet corn. The quality of your sweet corn harvest is affected if it crosses with other varieties and types of corn. For example, if field corn crosses with your sweet corn, then the sweet corn you harvest is going to be tougher and less sweet than you would expect. Even crosses with other sweet corn varieties will influence the quality of your harvest. If you are growing more than one variety of sweet corn, it will be necessary to maintain a distance of at least 400 yards to prevent cross pollination. This is not possible for most home gardeners. Another method of preventing cross pollination is staggering the plantings of these varieties so they are not blooming at the same time.
For more information about the pollination and cross pollination of vegetable crops, please visit the following links:
Pollination of Vegetable Crops
and