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Central NY

Another thread has got me wondering , has anyone done the toothbrush thing and not had it work?...I'm really going to be made fun of by using a toothbrush in my garden this year and I want to know that I'm not wasting my time.. I did lose ALL my early megas last year ..and they were kATIPILLERs!!!

5/2/2015 10:53:40 PM

Ely Mn

I use a small battery powered back massager.
They love a good back massage;)

5/2/2015 11:09:49 PM

France

I always use an electric toothbrush to pollinate the tomatoes flowers. Few seconds severals a day for 48h when the flower is ready. It acts as a bee.

5/3/2015 8:18:05 AM

Allentown, PA

Manual pollination via an electric toothbrush always increases ones fruit set. I belong to a few tomato specific forums and I am always dumbfounded when I see people post that their plant(s) have plenty of blooms but didn't produce any tomatoes. Many times I reply to them asking if they have tried the toothbrush method of manually pollinating tomatoes. Their answer has always been no.

My friend if someone makes fun of you for using a toothbrush to increase pollination they are too low brow and unwashed to even be near your plants.

5/3/2015 8:38:03 AM

Wixom MI.

Im lucky in that my plants have self pollinated without any help. But my understanding is that the pollen in the anther cone is best around the second day that it flowers. With mega blooms they can take up to 3 days to bloom so in some cases you may have to do the tooth brush thing for several days in a row to pollinate the entire flower ?

5/3/2015 3:30:19 PM

Wixom MI.

If you wont to cross polinate you must cut off the anther cone when the flower is just beginning to bloom before the pollon begins to fall. If you wait to long it will self pollinate. Im going to use tweesers to cross pollinate because tomato pollon will just blow away when trying to collect it the toothbrush way. Im going to just cut a different anther cone from another tomato and rub that onto the pistol to be sure the pollon is getting on. I did a demostration on this on the first posts in january, check it out.

5/3/2015 3:41:00 PM

Allentown, PA

Wixom grower; Yes I fully agree with what you said. normal blooms one time with the toothbrush at the optimal time should be sufficient. Mega blooms depending on size certainly can take a few days to fully pollinate via a toothbrush due to the uneven opening of the entire mega bloom.

5/4/2015 1:42:12 PM

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

I use an electric toothbrush plus I sort of jiggle each blossom every day using my index finger.

5/4/2015 8:29:42 PM

Bloomington, IN USA

This Winter I grew some Dwarves inside in an Earthbox.
Obviously no bees or wind inside.
My wife had given me a Vegibee for Christmas.
It is basically a toothbrush with 3 speeds.
I was astonished, it really made the pollen fly!
In the past I had been in the habit of jiggling plants as I walked by them.
It doesn't even compare...the difference is the frequency which simulates that of a bee buzzing the blossom.

5/4/2015 10:44:26 PM

Cameron

When we started growing a giant tomato plant in 2010, I would jiggle the only mega-bloom we had on it with my fingers 4-6 times a day for about 4 days or until the flower looked like it was dying off. Seeing that the tomato is self pollinating itself, I figured that the more I jiggled it, the more pollen it would get & hopefully pollinate the whole bloom & produce a bigger mater. It seemed to work, as that year we grew our 7.33. That year we only grew 1 plant & allowed only 1 mater on the plant. Now I'm just starting to use the toothbrush & will hopefully one day beat our PB. Good luck all.
Jane & Phil

5/6/2015 10:05:02 AM

Allentown, PA

Very good Phil and Jane!! Good luck to you as well!!

5/6/2015 7:56:34 PM

Going Green

LOL I just had a vision of someone applying tooth paste to their toothbrush and vibrating the bloosom. I could not think of a name for the toothpaste!

5/7/2015 4:38:29 AM

Central NY

Woah.. Thanks for clarifying..toothbrush makes sense now..

5/7/2015 6:54:36 AM