[madra rua]

Dear all

I wonder if I could ask for some advice?
For the first time I have ogen melons in the poly tunnel, 4 plants that I've snipped in the right places, and are prolific with flowers, however no pollination. The poly tunnel is full of insects and I've been hand pollinating for weeks, still no melons. The books say you can identify the male from the female flowers as the females are swollen. All our flowers look exactly the same, does anyone have any ideas about trying to identify the two sexes? I'm baffled and as they are getting a little cosy with my peppers they may be for the compost bin if they cannot come up trumps!!
Cheers all

[Yorkie]

Welcome to the site madra rua (what an interesting name too  )

The flowers will look the same, I think, but the bit behind the flower indicates whether it's female or male.

Have a look at this thread

It's about cucumbers but contains photos which may help?

A poster on a recent thread about melons suggested taking the male flower off and rubbing it inside the female flower to encourage the pollination.

[madra rua]

Thanks, the flowers are very similar, I daren't pull off any flowers in case its the females I'm pulling off, I'll keep going with the paint brush for now and give them a few more weeks, maybe I should have trained them up instead of letting them trail, the insects may have taken more notice?
Cheers!