Do tomatoes require buzz pollination?

Although the tomato plant is self-fertile, flowers must be vibrated by wind or bees in order to release pollen for fertilization. To achieve the most effective pollination, the flower must be vibrated at a specific frequency to release the pollen.

How do you buzz pollinate tomatoes?

Through a process called buzz pollination, the bumblebee alights on the small yellow blooms of the tomato plant (the way you see him on the borage blossom in the photo at left) and then vibrates his wings as he bites the flower. This causes the pollen to fall from the stamen into the anther, pollinating it!

What plants use buzz pollination?

Several important food crops are buzz-pollinated including tomato, eggplant, kiwi, and blueberry. Although more than half of all bee species can buzz pollinate, the most commonly deployed supplemental pollinator, Apis mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae; honey bees), cannot produce vibrations to remove pollen.

How does buzz pollination work?

Buzz pollination is a type of pollination in which bees use vibrations to remove and collect pollen from flowers incidentally fertilising them (Michener, 1962; Buchmann, 1983).

Who are the Buzz pollinators for tomato plants?

Buzz pollinators can vibrate their bodies to shake pollen from the enclosed anthers of tomatoes and other solanaceous crops. Bee pollinators of tomatoes include carpenter bees ( Xylocopa spp.) and bumble bees ( Bombus spp.).

Can a honey bee pollinate a tomato plant?

Honey bees cannot pollinate tomatoes they require a special type of pollination called ‘buzz pollination’ that honey bees cannot do. Buzz pollinators can vibrate their bodies to shake pollen from the enclosed anthers of tomatoes and other solanaceous crops.

When do you know if your tomato plant is pollinated?

Flowers will appear when the plant is 12-18 inches tall. It will take 7-10 days after the flower has opened before you will know if the tomato has been pollinated. The tiny green tomatoes develop slowly for the first 2-3 weeks.

What makes a tomato grow into a tomato without pollination?

Saturating the ovary of the tomato with cytokinins causes it to grow into a tomato without pollination. Fruit from these artificially stimulated tomatoes tends to be larger and more abundant than naturally pollinated tomatoes.