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Sat, Jun 7, 14 at 13:06
| So I am walking around my garden with toothbrush helping my tomato flower pollinate. Now at the end of the round there is still plenty of pollen that ended up on the toothbrush itself even if I am trying to touch only tops of the flower. Am seeing occasional puffs of pollen dispersing into air I am not planning to collect seeds now but will do it later in the season when bees are less active... so no toothbrush for those ones, right? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| That is fine, Linda. As long as you do not intend to collect seeds from those tomatoes. On the other hand most probably your tomatoes do not need you or the bees to get pollinated. They are self pollinating, b'cause both male and female parts are present in any given flower. I only hand pollinate cucurbits (cukes, squash, gourds, melons..). They have separate male and female flowers. If you don't do it and there are no bees then there will be NO FRUITS. |
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| oh cukes and zukes! This is first year I got in trouble with cucumber beetle! Joys of gardening at community gardens that everything eventually will find you. I am planning to switch to parthenocaripic varieties from now on and keep summer cover on. Too much trouble! |
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| The toothbrush should help set fruits for those that missed the bees/lack of wind. I always get larger yields when hand pollinating using a powered toothbrush. It just ensures more flowers will set fruit. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Pollinating tomatoes for maximum yield
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