It's always something

[Timomac]

I've had different issues over the last couple years that have caused me grief in the garden. The primary culprit has been early blight. I have a small area to garden and am stuck with it. Plastic mulch has been a godsend. It does the job for me. No signs of the crud. Such a relief.

One season, after getting the soil tested, I think an attempt to lower the pH of the garden caused a little trouble as well.

But, this year though, I had things pretty well dialed in and was primed for my best year since contracting blight...

And it has rained for three weeks straight. Things are not pollinating well at all. I'm trying to pollinate with an electric toothbrush aid... not sold yet but am hopeful.

So, I'll keep trying regardless, because my tomato OCD runs deep.

[DRT0MAT0]

Not to make fun of you- but, i think it's halarious to think of people out in the fields with elec tooth brushes trying to polinate their tomatoes.
Can you imagine in Toleado, Oh in the farm fields that supply Heinz ketchup factory, all these little migrant workers with there elec tooth brushes trying to get tomatoes to polinate.
love it!
I got the same weather you get. Toms are getting curled leaves and a little yellow from all the rain, but little tomatoes are starting to form.
Going to add copper spray, along with the Daconal. Saw in my great grandmas cook book that she had a newspaper clipping from 1948 about useing fixed copper. So if it worked back then, I'm going to try it.

[Timomac]

Dr. Tomato,

I hear ya. I've got some tomatoes already but not what I'd expect by mid-June. The toothbrush thing sounded a little dubious until I started getting concerned about pulling unripe tomatoes at the end of the season. I've read up a bit and it makes sense. I'm not beneath spending $5 and trying it out on my paltry little garden of 16 plants. Large scale - no thanks. But if the vibrations the toothbrushes create works and helps release more pollen - happy day.

Some folks, like Heinz (Berkshire-Hathaway) and Monsanto are taking mechanical pollination seriously as the bee issues persist. No joke - Monsanto is researching mechanical bees.

Here's the thing about the plastic mulch - I need no fungicide whatsoever. I'm a fan. Spraying helps, but I prefer not needing it at all. The copper sprays help, provided you stay ahead of the infection. As it washes off with enough rain, that's a lot of spraying during a season like this. Once you're infected, good luck. I've tried it, Daconil, Actinovate, Excel LG, compost tea, and others. None of them have been as successful as the plastic barrier between my leaves and the infected soil.

I've never had as difficult a time growing tomatoes as I've had at my most recent home. I've learned a lot and try to share a little. Good luck.

[DRT0MAT0]

You have any nut trees around? like walnut

[Timomac]

No trees in my yard. The previous owner never planted any.

I'm sure it's the soil we have. Seventy years ago my area was a bog/forest. It's so soft that the houses have pylons set below the footings so they won't sink when the ground is wet. When the soil dries, it turns to cement.

The soil is considered muck soil. It has a Cation Exchange Capacity of 26.32. It traps everything - including fungi - thus the constant battle, I believe, with the crud.

So, lot's of organic matter, and this year, pine bark fines. The size and vigor of the plants (and worms) tells me the added soil structure, and complete lack of disease of course (plastic mulch), is helping.

I'm just stunned how many flowers are not producing tomatoes. So, I'm putting the mechanical pollination to the test.

The tomato crazy is strong in my family...

[BigVanVader]

I used the toothbrush method this year and I have the largest amount of fruit set I ever have. What I like about it is I can see the pollen come out so I know its working.

[Timomac]

Right? I watched a few videos on YouTube that showed the same - pollen dropping like crazy.

I'm hoping that it helps me set fruit despite the excessive amount of rain this Spring.

[Gardeneer]

QUESTION:

At what point do you interfer mechanically to pollinate ( brush or anything else) ?.
I ask this b/c not all the flowers on a truss open at the same time.

Another Thing: Most tomato flowers are upside down. How does the falling pollens from the stigma get on the anthers ? I would thing that a breeze can be more effective.

[PA_Julia]

When a blooms petals are full open and facing fully back back towards the plant itself the bloom is in a prime pollination time frame.
Usually this time frame will last approx. 48 hours depending on the weather.

When the plants are damp like at dawn or dusk as well as when dealing with high humidity the pollen will stick together and will most times will not pollinate the bloom.
I manually stimulate blooms at approx. 10:00 AM before any strong heat buildup and again between 4:00 and 6:00 PM.

I will also use the electric toothbrush on blooms that might not appear fully ready or a bit past prime as a fail safe.
My schedule is everyday twice a day depending on the weather to manually pollinate blooms.

The increase in tomato yield directly due to using an electric toothbrush to stimulate pollination has been impressive to say the least.

[JamesL]

What Big Van and Julia said.
No, you don't need to buzz them, but you get more tomatoes to set, and you get much better pollination in the majority of set tomatoes. What's not to like?
If I am out there I always take 5 to buzz. Seeing the pollen fly means I am getting more tomatoes. More tomatoes for me is a good thing.... (He said greedily whilst gleefully rubbing his hands together...)

[CamuMahubah]

I think I get so much wind that any added stimulation would hurt my plants so I don't do it.

I might give the cage a little rattle as I walk by but that is all.

[Gardeneer]

By just making an statement/claim that "I used tooth brush and got more tomatoes" is not a logical convincing statement which is not backed by a proof.
I would consider it IFF (if and only if) someone takes 2 plants (same variety, same garden and growing season) and does tooth brush on one and leaves the other one on its own. And then collect data in a scientific unbiased manner ( eg. by number of tomatoes per truss, total number of tomatoes ..by weight.). Then if the difference is significant , I would believe it. But if the difference was just like 10 -15% ( 5 tomatoes, 10% by weight ?) , to me it would not be a worthwhile practical approach to increase production.
YMMV

[ginger2778]

I haven't done it, but keep wanting to try. You can get a cheap electric toothbrush at the Supermarket for about $6, and it only takes a few seconds. Not too much to lose.
I hear they have electric toothbrushes at some dollar stores now.

[ddsack]

I hear they have electric toothbrushes at some dollar stores now.

Yes, I stumbled across one last fall and bought it on a whim, batteries included ... but I have no idea where I put it. Easy come, easy go! $1

[Bipetual]

Originally Posted by ddsack

Yes, I stumbled across one last fall and bought it on a whim, batteries included ... but I have no idea where I put it. Easy come, easy go! $1

I know how to find it! Just go out and buy a other one and poof, there the old one will be!