pumpkin cross pollination

Question

I picked up some pumpkin starts, 1 each of Howden, Pro Gold, Spirit, 1st Prize varieties. My question is, will these plants cross pollinate or do I need to go and get another of each variety? Or is it ok to go from a male flower to a female flower from the same plant when hand pollinating?

Answer 1

It is fine to use a male from the same plant to pollinate the females on that plant. It will not affect anything. You can cross pollinate as well without creating any odd fruit, but the seeds of that fruit would show the effects of the cross pollination, should you plant them next year.