Some fanmimi vegetable enthusiasts grow vegetables on balconies, often including some types of fruit vegetables. Raising these vegetables in an enclosed balcony, especially on high floors, makes pollination a challenging task, which can lead to fewer or no fruits, largely due to the need for artificial pollination.

Why is artificial pollination necessary?

Balconies typically lack the pollinating insects required for natural pollination, such as bees and butterflies. These insects are widespread in outdoor environments and help with the transfer of pollen. However, in enclosed indoor environments, these insects cannot enter.

Pollination can also rely on wind, but balconies often do not have enough wind to effectively spread pollen. Weak wind or obstructions can prevent pollen from being adequately dispersed onto the flowers.

So, when growing fruit vegetables on a balcony, due to the limitations of environmental conditions and the lack of pollinating insects, artificial pollination may be necessary.

How to perform artificial pollination for fruit vegetables?

1. Timing

It is appropriate to perform pollination around the 2nd to 3rd day after flowering, usually in the morning on a sunny day.

2. Determine the flower type:

Understand the flower type of the fruit vegetables you are growing, including unisexual and bisexual flowers. Unisexual flowers are divided into male and female flowers, while bisexual flowers have both stamens and pistils.

Unisexual flowers: Stamens and pistils grow on different flowers;

Bisexual flowers: Stamens and pistils grow on the same flower;

Common fruit vegetable flower types:

Cucumbers, watermelons, winter melons, loofahs, sponge gourds, pumpkins, etc., are basically unisexual flowers;

Tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers are bisexual flowers.

3. Collect pollen:

Use a thin brush or cotton swab to gently collect pollen from open male flowers.

How to distinguish between female and male flowers:

Female flowers will have a swelling at the bottom, looking like a small fruit; male flowers do not have a small fruit at the bottom, they are just a flower.

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4. Pollination:

Gently apply the collected pollen onto the stigma of the female flowers. You can repeat this process to ensure sufficient pollen is transferred to the female flowers.

You can also directly cut off the stamens, remove the petals, and then hold the stamens and gently rub them on the pistil, evenly applying the pollen onto the pistil's stigma.

Precautions:

Since rain can wash away some of the pollen, affecting the pollination rate, if it rains within 2-3 hours after pollination, consider re-pollinizing.

Be extremely gentle with your movements, do not rub hard, as it can damage the structure of the female flower and cause pollination to fail.

Regarding how to perform artificial pollination for fruit vegetables and why it is necessary, fanmimi has shared this much. If you have any questions about growing vegetables, please leave a message or join the vegetable planting group.

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