Emasculated Bud Viability

marc_groleau · July 8, 2015

If a bud is emasculated before it's ready for pollination, will it continue to develop and mature to that point?
In an effort to reduce the chance that a bud is already pollenated, I would like to try and strip them a bit early and attempt to pollenate frequently for a number of days afterward. Could it work?

Thanks

bower · July 8, 2015

Marc,
This is pretty much what I do - strip off the anthers before the stigma is mature, and apply pollen the same day just in case and repeat a couple of days after.
You'll notice that the stigma changes as it matures. A little knob forms on top, and when it's fully mature it is sticky and the pollen sticks to it big time. If you're dragging the stigma through collected pollen, you'll see it leaves a bare streak in the pollen dish when it's gotten sticky, and that's the sign afaict that you've done the job.

marc_groleau · July 8, 2015

Great information Bower. Thanks very much.

July 8, 2015	#1
marc_groleau Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Rhode Island Posts: 444	Emasculated Bud Viability If a bud is emasculated before it's ready for pollination, will it continue to develop and mature to that point? In an effort to reduce the chance that a bud is already pollenated, I would like to try and strip them a bit early and attempt to pollenate frequently for a number of days afterward. Could it work? Thanks

July 8, 2015	#2
bower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Newfoundland, Canada Posts: 6,794	Marc, This is pretty much what I do - strip off the anthers before the stigma is mature, and apply pollen the same day just in case and repeat a couple of days after. You'll notice that the stigma changes as it matures. A little knob forms on top, and when it's fully mature it is sticky and the pollen sticks to it big time. If you're dragging the stigma through collected pollen, you'll see it leaves a bare streak in the pollen dish when it's gotten sticky, and that's the sign afaict that you've done the job.