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Mnt.pleasant ,tennessee

On average how many connected blooms have been the best.didnt know if more core from more blooms would way more.or just a couple blooms& have more meat to hold juices for weight?

7/7/2013 9:00:15 AM

Allentown, PA

It has been my experience that some higher count fused blooms sometimes don't pollinate fully thus theoretically causing a lighter weight tomato due to fewer actual blooms being fully pollinated.

A way to increase the percentage of successful full pollination on high count fused blooms or any bloom for that matter would be to manually vibrate the bloom with an electric toothbrush.

For example, the five fused blossom I have photographed on my diary page is fully pollinated by me using an electric toothbrush from the time the bloom matured to the time I visually saw a tomato being formed on it.

This took me vibrating the bloom approx. 14 times.

I would go out mid morning after the dew had evaporated and vibrated the bloom along with vibrating it again in the latter evening prior to dusk.

I did this twice a day for seven days.

Some lower count blooms will fully set sooner than that.
The key is to strive for full and complete pollination of the bloom you do have.

Make sense?

7/7/2013 9:49:35 AM

Mnt.pleasant ,tennessee

Yes makes sense.i started using a minature ball that vibrates& bounces got the little nubs on it & just hold it next to bloom
I did notice the fewer blooms go quicker.so you say the ones with more blooms have more weight in the end.

7/7/2013 10:01:08 AM

Allentown, PA

Yes, good, you seem to be doing exactly what you need to do.
Just be sure to vibrate the bloom twice a day if you can until you can see that the bloom has withered and has set a tomato.

Excellent! :O)

7/7/2013 2:13:19 PM

United Kingdom

The easiest way that I have found for pollinating megabloom flowers with five,six, or even seven stigma's sticking out from it, is to wait until the flower is about three days old after first opening fully, then usually in the early afternoon between 2.00pm and 3.30pm when the pollen production is at it's highest, unless the weather is very hot-then I would choose 11.30 am to 12.00 noon,
Using a spare darkened lens-out of an old pair of sunglasses, as you can see the actual pollen on it a lot better, hold the lens underneath the flower and vibrate it with a sonic toothbrush, the higher the setting the better-on full throttle as it were :)
Then- put down the toothbrush and vary carefully rub all the stigmas on the flower in turn-gently, onto the pollen on the darkened lens, if you do this about every second day for about a week there is a very good chance you will have pollinated all the existing stigma's on the flower, the flowers need about a days rest in-between attempted pollen extraction as they need time to recuperate and produce more viable pollen after each pollen shedding session otherwise you will drain them a bit too harshly and run the danger of low pollen production or malformed pollen on the stamens by milking them too hard without a recovery period.

Flowers-mutibloom or otherwise are usually very obliging and tend to stay fully open for a window of about a week to let you carry out the work.

7/15/2013 1:58:21 AM