Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
• tape or plastic clothespins
• labels
• time the evening before pollination and time the morning of pollination
Preparation
. To avoid inbreeding and to increase the chances of a successful pollination, prepare
flowers from several plants: at least one female flower and three male flowers from another plant. It is
necessary to pollinate one plant with the pollen from another plant: though a female flower can be pol-
linated by a male flower of the same plant, this usually results in sterile and/or poorly developed seed.
The fruit that develops after self-pollination may also be deformed. It is important to prevent insects
from accessing flowers before they can be hand pollinated. Ripe flower buds will have just begun to
turn yellow and can be further recognized by their swollen size; they are set to open in the early morn-
ing hours. Prepare by taping ripe flower buds shut the night before they open, therefore, to keep insects
out. Take special care to tape female flowers in such a way that they can be reopened the next day
without damaging the flower (which could result in insects having access to the flower); Lukas Heil-
ingsetzer recommends using plastic clothespins instead of tape.
Implementation
. The next morning, select one of the female flowers you taped shut the previous
night and pluck three taped male flowers of the same variety but not from the same plant as the female
flower. Make sure the flowers are dry and that they look as if they will burst open on their own. Re-
move the petals from the male flower, thus exposing the pollen-carrying anthers. Now remove the tape
from the female flower, which should then open on its own, in slow motion. Be careful at this point
that no insects suddenly fly by and in, pollinating the flower before you do! Tap the stigma of the fe-
male flower with the anthers of the male flower, then quickly re-tape the female flower (again, to keep
insects out). Flowers close naturally at midday, so pollination should take place before then, and on hot
days in the very early morning hours.
For hand pollination, the flower bud on the right is too young and the bud on the left too old. The bud in the middle has just
turned yellow and is to be taped shut in the evening for the next day's hand pollination.
Further hand-pollinating tips:
