Introduction: How to Hand Pollinate Tomatoes for Larger Production and Harvest


Gardening tips: how to hand pollinate tomatoes for larger production of your container garden. Many gardeners leave pollination to the bees, but if you want to see the best harvests, you can take matters into your own hands.

In this video I am going to show you the best way to hand pollinate your tomatoes. All you need is a electric toothbrush and a few minutes of your time.

Many edible plants such as tomatoes are self-fertilizing or self-pollinating. This means that you only need one plant in the garden for fruit to set. In the case of tomatoes, the male and female parts are contained in the same flower. This truly makes tomato plants a top contender for container gardening.

Self-pollinating plants will produce without any intervention on your part, but you can help nature along to really reap the rewards. Wind and bees normally move the pollen around the plants, letting pollination occur, but what happens when nature doesn't cooperate? Poor pollination happens all too often. High temperatures, humidity, and too much moisture can severely hinder your crop. So why not take matters into your own hands?

We all spend hours in the garden planting and caring for our little green friends, so I say lets go the extra step and pollinate by hand. Hand pollination of self-fertile plants is easy and does not require much time or money. All you need is an electric toothbrush and you are ready to hand pollinate. Just like the wind or a bee, the vibrations from the toothbrush loosen the pollen from the flower and allow pollination to occur. Simply turn on the toothbrush and gently place it behind the open flower. This will distribute the pollen to the flowers stigma. You will often see puffs of pollen shoot out of the flower when you do this. You should see the results of your hand pollination in a day or two. I like to repeat this process every other day for the best results.

If you are like me and you want to get the most out of your garden, then try to hand pollinate your tomatoes. I am sure that once you try it you will never go back. For more gardening tips and projects visit my blog http://www.getforked.ca .