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Pollinator gardens are the talk of the town these days. Flowers that are known to attract bees and butterflies are purposefully planted in the garden to encourage pollination, which is essential for encouraging the production of flowers, fruit, and seeds across all plants.
But what happens when there are no pollinators? If you’re growing a garden inside, there aren’t bees buzzing around waiting to spread pollen from one plant to the next. While some plants can self-pollinate, this isn’t the case for all. If you have lavender, mint, or berries, among many others, you’ll rely on those pollinators for a successful growing season.
What Is Pollination?
Plants have male (stamen) and female (stigma) parts, and, for fruit and flower production to occur, the female part must be pollinated. In nature, this occurs via bees, butterflies, and insects landing on one flower, and then another, or through pollen transfer by wind.
How To Pollinate At Home With A Paintbrush
While you likely don’t have insects buzzing around your home, transferring pollen from one flower to the next, there’s a simple way to make sure your indoor garden is pollinated and ready to produce a bounty of flowers and fruit.
“All you need to pollinate plants indoors is a small paintbrush or Q-tip,” explains Vanessa Minton, author of How to Grow Medicinal Herbs. “Take your pollination tool and rub the end gently inside of the male flower of your indoor plant, then rub that pollen coated applicator to a female flower and gently move it around inside to encourage proper pollination.”
Indoor plants should be pollinated once a week to maintain healthy production says Amanda Webb, head gardener at Windy Hill Farm and Preserve. She often cross-pollinates between plants of the same variety to encourage healthy diversity.
After pollinating, make sure to wash your paintbrush thoroughly to avoid cross-pollination between plants.
“Some plants such as cucumbers and squash have male and female flowers that are easily identifiable,” says Webb. The female blooms have a tiny fruit at the base while male flowers have a plain, straight stem.”
4 Other Methods To Pollinate Plants At Home
Gently shake the plants
If you’re growing plants like tomatoes or peppers indoors, then you can use an incredibly simple method to pollinate them. These plants have both the male and female parts within the same flower, and Webb explains that all you have to do is gently shake them to release the pollen. This moves the pollen around the plant, increasing the chances that the female flower parts will be pollinated.
Set up a fan
For some plants, pollination occurs via the wind. Typically, these are larger plants, like trees, but tomatoes, peppers, and strawberries are also capable of wind-borne pollination. Webb says, “Setting up fans in your indoor growing space is an easy method to pollinate plants. However, it is less precise than other hand methods.”
Create a vibration
When bees buzz from plant-to-plant, it’s the vibration of their thoracic muscles that causes a plant to release pollen. By using an electric toothbrush, this subtle vibration can be recreated on your indoor plants, encouraging pollination.
Pluck male flowers
With plants that have male flowers and female flowers, you can pluck off a male flower, peel back the petals to expose the stamen, and rub the stamen on the female flowers to start the fruit production process. Webb notes that, often, male flowers are open in the mornings.
