Spank Those Tomato Plants Like They Owe You Money
Ok, so maybe doing your best Chuck Norris moves on your tomato plant is not necessarily what we're talking about here. I'm going to give you some helpful advice that will greatly increase you tomato yield. This is one of many helpful pointers to come, so if you dig my style - please feel free to follow along and ask questions. Let's Talk Gardening!
What is "Spanking"?
Spanking is a technique of hand-pollination that gardeners, especially greenhouse tomato growers, use to increase yields. When tomato flowers appear, one simply gives a gentle shake of the plant wherever the flower clusters have formed. This helps the self fertile tomato blossom to pollinate and create that beautiful tomato. Simply tapping the stem gently around the flower clusters with aid in the transfer of pollen and essentially generate fruit.
Not Spanking (the fetish), But Spanking (the other sexual thing gardeners do)
Go ahead and queue up the Marvin Gaye and dim the lights - I'll wait. Tomato plants are self-fertile (or self-fruitful), meaning they are able to pollinate themselves to generate fruit. They essentially contain the necessary 'naughty parts' to reproduce. Some gardeners have even been known to use vibrators on their tomato plants (it's true!). Though tomato plants contain the essentials - they rely on assistance. You never knew gardening was so sexy did you?!
Greenhouse growers will attest to the "Spanking" method because without wind and insects to shake and vibrate the flowers inside a greenhouse, some sort of cooperative intervention is needed. Many methods of 'manual pollination' have been created, but 'spanking' is a pretty simple and effective technique. Garden tools have been developed, basically vibrators for plants, to aid in production. However, you do not need any fancy tools, just spank away! You can learn more about the Self Pollinating Myth Here
In order for tomato plants to pollinate, they rely on wind, bees & other insects, and spankers like us! This is a tried & true method that will increase your overall tomato yield. The title image was taken in my garden and the image shows an heirloom variety,'Money Maker', after several "spankings".
Wind Blows & You Can Too!
Now, let's get our minds out of the gutter and talk about blowing on your tomato flowers. This is a little secret that many expert gardeners are aware of. It really is as simple as blowing little puffs of breathe very close to the tomato flowers. This helps to gently shake the stigma and coat it with pollen. It mimics a natural vibration, often provided by bees, called sonication. I will discuss tomato pollination much more in depth in the near future. For now, let's focus on the topic at hand; spanking..(I had to, sorry).
What is Sonication?
I found this extraordinarily helpful answer at pollinator.com:
Sonication is the vibration of the wing muscles without flight, causing the whole flower to vibrate, and a cloud of pollen to be released onto the bee's body and at the same time, onto the stigma. Not all bees sonicate. Today, bumblebees, if they are around, will also sonicate and serve as a substitute for the native pollinator bee.
If you aren't willing to sit around waiting for a breeze or the bees to do the pollinating on your tomato flowers - you can spank away! SPANK NOW, THANK ME LATER.
SOME IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER:
- 'Bee' Gentle - you do not want to slap the blossoms off, you want to mimic a gentle vibration of a bee sonicating.
- Consistency Pays Off - Spank regularly any newly formed tomato blossoms
- Support the Plant - your plants will require support for the extra weight they will now be expected to hold.
- If This Is All New To You - Don't forget who taught you how to spank with the best of 'em. ;)
This wonderful synergy is yet another reason why we need to save the bee population.
Want to learn more about Tomato Pollination, read more here!
If you would like to know how you can help save the bees, learn more at SaveBees.Org!
If you have enjoyed reading, follow along for more. I will be sharing quite a bit of tomato gardening information (accompanied by my awkward humor), so stay tuned for more! I look forward to hearing from my fellow SteemIt gardeners and green thumbs below.
SPANK NOW, THANK ME LATER
HAPPY SPANKING MY FRIENDS.