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WHAT
TO LOOK OUT FOR...
Newly
opened tomato blossoms! That's how they look on the
picture on the left.
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TAKE
A CLOSER LOOK...
The
trimmer head with the central vibrating mechanism.
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THE
STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO POLLINATE YOUR FLOWERS
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STEP
1:
Bring
the trimmer head near an open flower and switch it on.
This will cause the flower to release its pollen through
sonic vibrations.
Tomato flowers are very specialised flowers where their
anthers (which hold the pollen grains) are located far
lower and inside the flower than the stigma (which receives
the pollen grains to form fruits).
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STEP
2:
Look
for the collected pollen. They are the yellow dust that
settles in the head of the trimmer.
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STEP
3:
Bring
your cotton bud to swipe around your trimmer's head
to collect the pollen grains.
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STEP
4:
A
cotton bud head full of tomato flower pollen.
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STEP
5:
Bring
the pollen laden cotton bud to other tomato flowers.
Rub
the cotton bud against the stigma of the flower (the
very protruding part), especially the end of the stigma.
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STEP
6:
Repeat
for the other flowers. Repeat for each flower as necessary.
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AFTER
SUCCESSFUL POLLINATION
If
pollination was successful, withn the next few days, the flowers
will start to wilt and the ovary of the flowers will start to
swell in size and the dried up petals will drop naturally to
reveal a mini tomato! See below...
Above:
Developing tomato fruits soon after pollination.
At
this stage its important to esure that soil is evenly moist
so that the fruit does not crack during development. Crushed egg shells can be added to the potting mix to prevent blossom end rot.
Above:
Ripening cherry tomato fruits.
If
you do not have an electric trimmer, use some other item that
is capable of sonic vibration, such as an electric toothbrush where one
use the attached brush or attach a cottonbud on it via masking tape and then
employing the same steps detailed above.
