How to self-polinate tomato blossoms?
Shifty
hearing that you can use an small artist's brush and dabble it in the
blossom. Has anyone here tried this? Does it work?
Shifty
The.Central.Scru...@invalid.pobox.com
I've tried both with very very poor results.
duncan vincent
"Shifty" <shi...@fakeAddress.net> wrote in message
news:ppNF6.2674$NH5.1...@news2.atl...
Shake the whole plant or even bettter shake the flower bunch directly. I
have had excellent results growing indoors where i know there was no bugs to
do it. Don't use those sprays. The results are spotty, the fruit have no
seeds, and you get dead spots inside the tomato.
Jack Allen
Shaking the plant is a h_lluva lot easier.
Dave Green
Funny how often it's said that tomatoes self pollinate, but always in the
context of ways to help them self pollinate, or reasons why they didn't self
pollinate. Oxymoronish isn't it?
The best pollinator for tomatoes is the original, a bee which "sonicated" at
the right frequency. Sonication, also called buzz pollination is when the bee
vibrates its wing muscles but doesn't fly; it just hangs on.
The reason is that tomato pollen is not in the exterior of the anthers like
most flowers, rather it is produced internally and then released thru pores in
the anther. Motion is required to release the pollen, and the greatest quantiy
is released by sonication of the correct frequency. However other bees with
different frequency, or even shaking by wind will release some pollen.
There are a couple problems: one is that the natural pollinator (a wild bee)
didn't travel with the tomato as it was spread throughout the world. The other
is that the flower is not very attractive to other bees, and when bee
populations are low the tomato generally gets ignored. Bumblebees are the most
often seen on tomatoes, though honeybees, when hungry enough will also work
them, as will some solitary bees.
Did you ever watch a bumblebee work a tomato blossom? When it does, it
pulls the flower down into a vertical position, puts its belly against the
stigma, and sonicates. The pollen that is released, now will fall by gravity
(since the flower is now tilting down) directly to the bee's fuzzy (and
statically charged) belly, which is rubbing against the stigma as it vibrates.
Tomatoes are self fertile, but the pollen can come from any other tomato that
the bee has visited, a bane for seed growers who want to keep varieties pure,
but lovely for the gardener who wants fruit.
The size of the fruit is dependent on the number of ovules fertilized, up to
the 100% mark. In other words, the more seeds, the meatier the 'mater. So we
want to get pollination as full as possible. This is the reason the bee is
best, it delivers the most grains of pollen, exactly where it is needed, on the
sticky surface of the stigma.
When shaking is done by hand, think about mimicking the natural resonances
of sonicating bees. Shaking should not be violent, just as close to the right
frequency as possible. Electric vibrators were long used in greenhouses for
tomatoes, but have been replaced, as bumblebees are found to be far more
efficient. Using an artist brush with tomatoes is very inefficient because the
pollen is not on the surface.
Yup, tomatoes are self fertile, but self pollinating?...only when conditions
are ideal...they often need help. "Self pollinating" is one of the myths of
tomato growers.
Polli...@aol.com Dave Green Hemingway, SC USA
The Pollination Home Page: http://pollinator.com
Disclaimer: Opinions aren't facts; learn the art of discrimination. Opinions
presented for your use and amusement; use at your own risk.
Vivek Subramanian
and tomatoes for several years with great success.
Vivek.
"Dave Green" <polli...@aol.comnospam> wrote in message
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The.Central.Scru...@invalid.pobox.com
>I've been using an electric toothbrush in my mini-greenhouse on both peppers
>and tomatoes for several years with great success.
>
cool idea. How long do you waggle each blossom? I've a greenhouse and would
love to have some success with container tomato gardening.
How much do you fertilize? I never know whether I'm over or under doing it.
What varieties have you had the best success with? I'm interested in three:
a largish sandwich tomato, a paste tomato for spaghetti sauces and salsa and
cherry tomatoes. Only with the last have I had any success (super sweet 100's).
JD
thanks
"Dave Green" <polli...@aol.comnospam> wrote in message
news:20010502073141...@ng-cd1.aol.com...
mag...@rahul.net
<jd...@excite.com> put fingers to keyboard and typed:
>wHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A HONEY BEE AND A BUMBLE BEE.
<http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=%22honey+bee%22+%22bumble+bee%22>
sheesh
jc
Dave Green
>wHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A HONEY BEE AND A BUMBLE BEE.
You can see pics here:
http://pollinator.com/Identify/whatsbuzzin.htm
Setzler
susan