Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Caould someone please give me an idea on how to hand pollenate tomatoes. I have read lots of use a vibrators etc, but does anyone know how the flower actually gets pollenated. I have some good strong flowers on my tommies in the greenhouse, and although I have seen bees in there, I wouldn't mind helping them out
Ta

I alway thought tomato flowers where closed flowers (a plant can only be pollunated by iteself through vibration) I think this is why you can grow mutliple varieties together and still maintain the tomatos strand in seed. Maybe an aircompressor from a distance would work.

I'll shut up now!

Don't do that!

Toms certainly do cross polinate. I see evidence of this at my place all the time.

i am with asitis on this one

chauk up a next use for the compressor

Wonder if the vibrations from a chainsaw in close proximity would work??

(Don't tell EKB I said that)

LOL

or is this how you terrify the plants into pollinating?

Maybe this is the problem I have with 2 of my tom plants. I have lots of flowers put no fruit. However the plants in the growbed next to the one with no fruit has lots. Different type, but still not sure what the problem is. I need to go cough at them and scare them.

I'm sure you're not that scary Joyce

You haven't heard this cough. It even scares me.

healing thoughts >>>>>>>

Thanks, I can use all those I can get.

Good grief...all this banter and no useful answers!!

Take a small paintbrush (stolen from your children?). Gently brush the center yellow part of a flower a few times. Find another flower. Repeat.

You are picking up grains of pollen on the paintbrush bristles, just as a bee would pick it up on the fuzz of her body. Passing the grains of pollen between flowers is pollination. Observe whether you are picking up the pollen. Some flowers need to be open a few days before the pollen loosens.

This works for most any flower. Things like corn are best vibrated or tapped gently (no chainsaws). Then the pollen rains down from the tassle at the top of the plant to the silk on the ears of the corn.

Air compressors are just likely to scatter the pollen. That's fine if you have a lot of pollen to spare. In a greenhouse, I don't think you would.

thank you very much Janet. Kids paint brushes I have!!

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load ... 23.html?10

just found this thread on a hydro forum