Tomato Pollination Aide ... Is it Effective ?

[Gardeneer]

We know that technically and biologically tomato flower is self-pollinating and complete. It does not ( should not !) even need any intervention by insects.

But over the years I have read many stories as how gardeners' intervention ( as nature's hand ) can help to improve pollination and fruits setting.

I was visiting a commercial greenhouse past October. I noticed that they had certain kind of resident bee hives/hives scattered here and there to help with pollination. That made me thinking ...
One of the common tools that I have heard some gardeners use is Electric Tooth Brush. Guess what ? I bought one the other days. Cost : $7
Ive got a job !
Will my $7 investment have a pay off ? I am not sure. In that case I can write it off as an expense. .
After all the introduction and the humor, lets hear your point of view and experience. That is what the forums are all about : To share opinions ; Cons and Pros.

Gardeneer

[kameronth]

I always go around and flick the tomato flowers with my fingers. I use a small paintbrush for squash.

[ContainerTed]

I use my fingers as well. My daily tour thru the garden to inspect my plants includes making the flower trusses bounce a bit. Normally the wind shakes them enough. Bees vibrate the flowers. The whole process is meant to shake the pollen loose so that it can fall on the stamen and produce the fruit.

Doing the finger-flicking or electric toothbrush process slows down your inspection tour, and that means you'll find any disease, bad-guy critters, or other malady sooner and get help to your plants earlier. Yeah, it's definitely a "Win-Win" for the eventual BLT factor.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

We know that technically and biologically tomato flower is self-pollinating and complete. It does not ( should not !) even need any intervention by insects.

But over the years I have read many stories as how gardeners' intervention ( as nature's hand ) can help to improve pollination and fruits setting.

I was visiting a commercial greenhouse past October. I noticed that they had certain kind of resident bee hives/hives scattered here and there to help with pollination. That made me thinking ...
One of the common tools that I have heard some gardeners use is Electric Tooth Brush. Guess what ? I bought one the other days. Cost : $7
Ive got a job !
Will my $7 investment have a pay off ? I am not sure. In that case I can write it off as an expense. .
After all the introduction and the humor, lets hear your point of view and experience. That is what the forums are all about : To share opinions ; Cons and Pros.

Gardeneer

Yes, commercial greenhouse operations do have hives inside, but they are rented from the many commercial bee folks,most of them from the south,the same up here for rented hives in the many orchards.

yes,normally tomato blossoms do self pollenize,but if not all of the ovules in the tomato ovary are fertilized then cross pollination can occur.

The degree to which any of this occurs is dependent on the local native pollinators,and I've linked to several sites about NCP (natural cross pollination)many times here.

Some say they think they get better pollenization with any kind of vibrating something,toothbrush included, some say not.Well I remember the one lady who took a broom to her plants and gently wacked them each day.

So.....it really depends on location,natural pollinator populations,weather and the other variables that were discussed in those links I gave here.

Hope that helps,

Carolyn

[jhp]

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

We know that technically and biologically tomato flower is self-pollinating and complete. It does not ( should not !) even need any intervention by insects.

But over the years I have read many stories as how gardeners' intervention ( as nature's hand ) can help to improve pollination and fruits setting.

I was visiting a commercial greenhouse past October. I noticed that they had certain kind of resident bee hives/hives scattered here and there to help with pollination. That made me thinking ...
One of the common tools that I have heard some gardeners use is Electric Tooth Brush. Guess what ? I bought one the other days. Cost : $7
Ive got a job !
Will my $7 investment have a pay off ? I am not sure. In that case I can write it off as an expense. .
After all the introduction and the humor, lets hear your point of view and experience. That is what the forums are all about : To share opinions ; Cons and Pros.

Gardeneer

I used to just shake the tomato vines as I went around doing my daily inspection. Then a few years ago, I started using an electric toothbrush to vibrate the individual flowers. I get much more fruit set this way. Here is a slow-motion video I shot 4 years ago.

https://vimeo.com/44286909

Jen

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by jhp

I used to just shake the tomato vines as I went around doing my daily inspection. Then a few years ago, I started using an electric toothbrush to vibrate the individual flowers. I get much more fruit set this way. Here is a slow-motion video I shot 4 years ago.

https://vimeo.com/44286909

Jen

That is it, jhp, ...I am right behind you .
I did all that index finger , shaking, punching ... but i never got good pollination. Last yaer I had lots of tomatoes that stayed at pea size for ever. I think the did not get enough pollination to trigger growth order.

Gardeneer

I watched the video: Man you could see the pollen coming out like a tornado.

[PureHarvest]

I was at a farming conference in January and got to see data on this first hand.
I will try to dig up the study, but basically the guy did a bunch of replications in high tunnel grown tomatoes.
He used an electric leaf blower.
It was: no blowing (control), blow for 5 seconds, 10, and I think 30.
All of the air blown plants showed an increase in yield, with 5 seconds (if I recall) showing something like a 20% increase in marketable weight.
Bottom line, he showed that assisting pollination was a plus.
Commercial greenhouses buy bumble bee hives as they are the best at vibrating. Honeybees are not built to do the acrobatics necessary to pollinate a tomato.
Hives last for a about 4-6 weeks, and they have to keep a steady supply coming in.
I'm looking to get mini hives for my relatively small greenhouse for this winter's crop.
Vibrating trusses would work but it's too much labor cost. Especially when the bees are superior, work from sun up to dark, and most importantly, will not pollinate a flower unless it is time and the humidity is correct.

[gorbelly]

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

Last yaer I had lots of tomatoes that stayed at pea size for ever. I think the did not get enough pollination to trigger growth order.

I thought pollination was pretty binary--either it is successful or it isn't. Do more pollen grains making contact with the stigma actually stimulate faster/better growth in the fruit? What is the mechanism behind this?

Mind. Blown.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by gorbelly

I thought pollination was pretty binary--either it is successful or it isn't. Do more pollen grains making contact with the stigma actually stimulate faster/better growth in the fruit? What is the mechanism behind this?

Mind. Blown.

Self pollenization is not always complete. The more ovules in the tomato ovary that get fertilized the better it is, and that can lead to smaller fruits.

But the real concern for many is that if not ovules in the tomato ovary are fertilized,then those not fertilized can lead to cross pollination with pollen from another variety.

Carolyn

[ginger2778]

Love this thing. Got it for a Christmas present. I got the 5 speed one. I buzz 2-3 times per day. I have a fantastic fruit set going on now that it finally cooled off enough and the rain stopped.
It is smooth so no brush bristles to hold pollen. I am afraid of cross pollenation with an ETbrush.
It has a cool Dr. Who sonic screwdriver kind of thing going on.

[gorbelly]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

Self pollenization is not always complete. The more ovules in the tomato ovary that get fertilized the better it is, and that can lead to smaller fruits.

But the real concern for many is that if not ovules in the tomato ovary are fertilized,then those not fertilized can lead to cross pollination with pollen from another variety.

Carolyn

Thanks for the explanation, Carolyn.

Let me see if my understanding is correct:

Gardeneer did say that they were "pea-sized", so that does mean they had already become fruit, albeit very immature. So they were successfully pollinated but just stayed underdeveloped because their maturation was not prioritized for some reason. And one possible explanation is that fewer of the ovules were fertilized, so the plant may have not "wanted" to invest resources (i.e., received signals to put nutrients and energy into their development) in those fruits over more fully fertilized fruits.

Is that about right, or am I totally off base?

[Scooty]

There's also a spray to induce fruiting (auxins) regardless of getting pollination. Though using it may cause the fruits may come out seedless and deformed. I hear the flavor profile doesn't change though. It seems like it's basically induced parthenocarpy.

[AlittleSalt]

Gardeneer, I pet my plants by rubbing my hand over/on them. I've never used an electric toothbrush or vibration tool.

I have wondered about this too though.

[Gardeneer]

My understanding is that every ovule needs one male pollen, to result in one seed. Simple explanation is corn. Every silk is an ovule, if pollinated , a kernel will result. .

My impression is that if not enough ovules are impregnated, the plant will not support that fruit. I could be wrong.
Then they have developed the "parthenocarpic". In this care the plant is fooled and does not care if ovules are impregnated or not, it supports and grows the fruit.

Gardeneer