Shaking to pollinate the indoor ones

[Diane Whitehead]

The wind does it outside, but indoor tomatoes need some jostling to drop the pollen down and start the tomato developing.

With tall staked plants I would just bang the stakes, but with these tiny ones, I gently run my hands over the tops of the plants.

I don't know if there is a best time of day to do this, so I vary from morning to afternoon and have little tomatoes developing, so one of those times must be right.

[dfollett]

I almost never do anything unless I am making crosses. Then, if I have the vegibee in hand I will buzz those close at hand. It's probably a combination of not wanting to make the effort (inherent laziness) and justifying it by thinking that by not helping them pollinate I will also be selecting for those that pollinate best without help.

Perhaps you could watch closely to see what time of day you see the most pollen dropping. I recall reading that late morning is the best time to try to pollinate for crosses. However, I don't know if that is accurate or if it carries over to what you are doing.

[Diane Whitehead]

Oh, I've never seen pollen dropping. I just assume it is doing so.

[SeanInVa]

I almost never do anything unless I am making crosses. Then, if I have the vegibee in hand I will buzz those close at hand. It's probably a combination of not wanting to make the effort (inherent laziness) and justifying it by thinking that by not helping them pollinate I will also be selecting for those that pollinate best without help.

Good point there. Everything you do (or don't do) to a plant is a kind of selection pressure. Something to keep in mind moving forward, as I have been tapping the heck out of the trusses. As a result (maybe?), I have some very good fruit set on some