Pollination undercover.

[gill_s]

Has anyone come across a device for remotely shaking the plant supports to aid tomato pollination?

A device like this used on a timer would free up the odd few days to get away for a break.

Do all you undercover gardeners hand pollinate in the absence of bees/hoverflies?

[maf]

A fan on a timer, maybe set to blow for one minute every hour or half hour during daylight hours, would likely do the job in a small to medium greenhouse.

[Heritage]

Gil,

I water all of my greenhouse tomatoes with a garden hose (they are in containers) so, as I am watering I give the trusses a few gentle shakes. I try to do this around noon when the plants and air are at their driest. Missing a few days doesn't hurt. This works well for me.

Steve

[gill_s]

Hi
I do use the fan only of a fan/heater in the Summer but this is suspended from the roof so the direct blown air is certainly above the level of the earlier trusses. I am not sure whether the general air movement only, would do the trick.

Maybe I am looking for the impossible( a holiday in the Spring!) I know the commercial growers now have bumble bee hives in the greenhouses(Belgian bees, not available to the hobby gardener!) They used to use devices to periodically shake the strings.

[dice]

Yield differences using hand-held blower vs vibrating pollenator:
http://horttech.ashspublications.org...1/104.abstract
(Not quite the same as blower vs shaking the strings or stems,
since the vibrating pollenator is touching each truss.)

Bees are said to be more efficient than other greenhouse methods,
but are not necessarily affordable for the home gardener.

[ZachAttacksPHX]

I've just been using my old electronic toothbrush but then again I have a pretty small greenhouse.

[CarolynPhillips]

I just shake the plant and the plants are loaded with tomatoes. I love the plants that are in cages cause I just shake the cage. jiggle jiggle jiggle - done.

[dice]

Bees may be getting more affordable:
http://www.groworganic.com/canned-bees-kit.html

[tgplp]

It super easy, unless you have a lot of plants. Just shaking the trusses, as everyone has said, is easy and it works. But you can also use an electric tooth brush to shake the blooms. I leave a window open on sunny days, and flies and bees come in. I barely ever have to do anything except open a window and let the breeze and bugs come in!

Taryn

[Keiththibodeaux]

Originally Posted by dice

Bees may be getting more affordable:
http://www.groworganic.com/canned-bees-kit.html

If that is affordable for 20 bees, I would hate to know how much they cost before.

[CarolynPhillips]

That was interesting link about the Mason Bees.
If you want some extra bees in your greenhouse, you can hang some hummingbird feeders in the greenhouse. It attracts bees too. I have seen the hummingbirds and bees fight over the feeders.

[dice]

If that is affordable for 20 bees, I would hate to know how much they cost before.

I was not figuring it per bee. I was just thinking that the total cost was
not out of the question for a home gardener with a greenhouse. Reading
it in more detail, there do seem to be a lot of caveats with delivery.

[ZachAttacksPHX]

I had a helper this weekend.

By zjosey at 2012-01-23

By zjosey at 2012-01-23

By zjosey at 2012-01-23

[Worth1]

I have yet to see a Bee on my tomato plants, they prefer other flowers.
They love rosemary.

Worth

[jennifer28]

I keep bees for homegrown honey and also just to help around the garden. It's kind of a pain in the neck if you aren't really into the whole bee thing as much as you are into the tomato thing... I inherited these bees from the previous owner who also made his own honey and I am really quite fond of them. The only bees around here I don't care for are carpenter bees, and that's because they were eating my house. It is work to keep them and manage them. I don't think I would recommend it unless you want them for honey as well. And I don't know if I would ever keep them in a greenhouse. That seems like even more work for me. I say just find your own convenient way to shake the blossoms.