Pollination is an important factor in gardening. Pollination is the process where pollen is transferred from an anther to a stigma.

 

There are many garden plants such as squash, cucumbers, tomatoes,, berries etc that need to be pollinated in order to produce fruit. Some plants are self pollinators. The flower contains both the male (anther) and female (stigma) parts in the same flower. The pollen is transferred from the anther to the stigma and the fruit is set.

 

There are some plants (monecious plants) such as corn, and many varieties of cucumbers, and squash that have both male flowers and female flowers on the same plant. They produce fruit by having the pollen transfer from the male flower to the female flower.

 

Other plants need cross pollination which is when the pollen from the flower of one plant is transferred to a flower from another plant of the same species. Apples are a good example for cross pollination as you need two different varieties of apples in close proximity to each other for the tree to bear fruit.

 

There are different methods of pollination, including insects ( bees, wasps), birds, wind, animals, etc.

 

If a flower is not pollinated on a plant that needs pollination there will not be any fruit. This is becoming a problem for some gardeners as there seems to be a lack of bees.

 

Cucumbers and zucchini are a good example of this. There are lots of flowers but no fruit. These plants have both the male and female flowers on the same plant and need to be pollinated. The male flowers tend to grow first on the plant and the female flowers soon follow. The female flowers are identified by having a small fruit that grows behind the flower, while the male flowers do not. If the female flower is not pollinated the small fruit along with the flower falls off.

 

If you have this problem you can help ‘Mother Nature’ out by using a q-tip, small paintbrush, or feather and touch the male flower and then the female flower. This should help in the plant producing fruit.

 

Not all plants need insects for pollinating. Corn for example has a tassle flower (male) which contains the pollen that needs to get into contact with the silks that grow on the top end of the cob of corn. Each silk is linked to a kernel. Without proper pollination the kernels will not develop. The wind helps in transferring the pollen to the silk, which is why it is recommended that corn is planted in blocks, rather then one long row.

 

Tomatoes can have a problem with pollinating. Tomatoes are self pollinating with the flowers containing both the male and female parts in one flower. Sometimes, the fruit does not set, especially if the tomatoes are grown in a greenhouse, because there is very little air movement (wind). To help with the pollination process, the plants can be gently shaken to release the pollen. I have also heard of gardeners using an electric toothbrush and holding it by the flower clusters to gently shake the flowers. For best results do this in mid morning when the humidity is not too high and temperatures are not too hot which can affect the pollen.

 

If you have plants that are not producing fruit, then perhaps it is due to poor pollination.