Pollinating

[longwinters]

On the asparagus thread a few of us got a bit off topic and got to talking about plant pollinating.  Have you ever had to pollinate your plants?  What were they and what did you do?


For me it has been summer and winter squash.  A Q-tip taking pollen from the male blossom and inseminating the female blossom with it keeps us in the squash since we have a real lack of bees.  It has to be done early in the morning before the sun hits the plants too hard.


Long

[cjclemens]

Dad keeps bees on the farm, so we've never had issues with pollination.  I guess if you have to watch for pollination, pumpkins, melons, and squash would be the main ones to keep an eye on.  Beans, peppers, and tomatoes self-pollinate.  Sweet corn is wind pollinated.  Come to think of it, sweet corn can be a problem if we have a really hot, dry spell right when they tassel.  Unfortunately, the only way to fix that is to hire a helicopter pilot to hover over the field for a bit...and thats well outside the garden budget...

[reliquary]

As I said on the other thread, I've had to do tomatoes, pomegranates, and acorn squash so far this year, and it looks as if I will have to help the melons along...nothing but blooms so far.   Earlier in the year, we had lots of bees, but as the year progresses and the fields & roadsides bloom, they get spread a little thin in my garden.  I plant a row of wildflowers in the middle of my garden and that helps.