Tomatoes are delicious and versatile, not to mention healthy. Sadly you may not get any tomatoes if you don’t know how to tell if a tomato flower is pollinated. All the blooms in the world won’t fruit unless that magical step takes place. You can manually pollinate. However, most of the time, nature will take care of the process for you. Luckily, there’s an easy way to spot a pollinated tomato. Once you learn to check the stems properly, you’ll know exactly how much fruit your plant should produce. So long as it gets enough sun, water and nutrients, the rest will happen independently. I’ll walk you through stem checks and show you how to tell when your tomatoes are pollinated. Plus, I’ll share some great tips on growing tomatoes.
How do you tell if a tomato flower is pollinated? You can tell if a tomato flower is pollinated by checking the stem. A yellowing stem means the bloom is dying off without fruiting. Meanwhile, a still-green stem that gets larger means there’s a tomato developing. Once you get used to checking, you can easily spot a pollinated tomato flower.
How To Identify Male And Female Tomato Flowers
To tell if a tomato is pollinated or needs some assistance, you need to identify male and female flowers. Or do you? Look at your tomato flowers. That’s it; you have officially identified all the male and female flowers.
Confused? No worries, I will clarify. Some plants have male or female blooms. By exchanging pollen, they reproduce, and you get fruit. In fact, for some fruiting plants, you must have more than one plant to get any fruit at all. Tomatoes are not like that.
All tomato flowers have both female and male parts. In short, a tomato is self-pollinating. However, individual blooms do not always reproduce alone. A tomato needs to spread pollen from one flower to the next or drop the pollen into itself before creating fruit.
That’s where bees and other insects come in. Moving pollen around with their bodies is the most obvious part of the job. However, the vibration of a bee’s wings also causes that pollen to shake loose. This small stimulation is responsible for most of the tomato fruit-producing process.
When you opt for hand pollination, it’s important to keep in mind the natural process. Swabbing with a q-tip will do some of the job. However, vibration is more effective. As it is called, buzz pollination is one of nature’s most effective ways to release pollen, and mimicking it as closely as possible will give better results.
Although tomatoes will self-pollinate, it’s best to grow several plants with Growsun 5 Ft 5-Pack Tomato Cage Plant Supports. You’ll appreciate these sturdy cages almost as much as your tomatoes do. All vine plants need support, and Growsun cages are great for tomatoes, eggplants, beans, and other clinging vine plants. Learn more about Growsun Tomato Cages on Amazon by clicking here.
Do All Tomato Flowers Turn Into Tomatoes
Knowing how to tell if a tomato flower has been pollinated is crucial to answering the question; do all tomato flowers turn into tomatoes? The answer is a qualified yes. All tomato flowers can turn into tomatoes.
However, not all of them necessarily will. To fruit, a flower must be pollinated. This crucial step is the only way the bloom can ripen. Like mammal reproduction, this plant needs two different tomato flower parts to come together to make seeds. The difference is that a tomato can either self-pollinate within the flower or use pollen from other tomato flowers.
Grow more tomatoes and get more flowers with Blika DIY 4FT Tomato Cages from Amazon. Not only are these cages easy to install, but you won’t need any extra tools to set them up. You can choose an A-frame or teepee style to suit our garden needs. To get yours, click right here.
Why Does My Tomato Plant Have Flowers But No Fruit
So long as your tomato flowers are pollinated, they should produce fruit. However, tomatoes can be surprisingly picky. Once you can tell if a tomato flower has been pollinated, there are other concerns. Naturally, tomatoes, like all pants, need the right soil conditions, nutrients, water, and sunshine.
Damaged blooms that are broken or eaten by plant devouring insects won’t make fruit. Lack of pollination is an obvious problem, but there’s one other thing that will stop your beautiful tomato flowers from making the fruit you want. Often tomatoes are heat sensitive.
Too Hot
Heat causes nonviable pollen. Though there are some varieties of tomato that are very resilient and enjoy hot weather, most prefer a temperate climate. In warmer areas, it can be better to plant late in the season and plan to set the flowers in the autumn.
Other methods include things like greenhouse growing, indoor planting, and shade cloth. Ideally, you don’t want your tomatoes to get over eighty-five to ninety degrees in a day or seventy-five at night. They can survive a little heat, but too much will wreck the pollen.
Without viable pollen, a tomato cannot reproduce. I always recommend growing multiple tomatoes. Moreover, choose an area that is in the shade during the hottest part of the day. If you don’t have an easy area, use a shade cloth to provide some cooling shadows during the day’s heat.
Alternately, you can grow your tomatoes on a shady porch or in a sunny window. Indoor tomatoes can thrive, but keep them out of the blast radius of any cooling vents or window units.
Too Shady
Shade during the hot part of the day is a great way to save overheated tomatoes. However, too much shade will also ruin their chances to set and fruit. A tomato needs six to eight hours per day of bright sun.
For indoor plants, you can accomplish this with grow lights as needed. Outdoor tomatoes need the right balance of direct sun and not too much heat. Start with tomatoes in pots and move them around to find the best area rather than committing to a garden bed before you know it will work.
Set your tomato up for success with the Hydrofarm GCTB Tomato Barrel with Tower. This self-watering barrel and the sturdy tower will give your tomatoes everything they need but pollen. Better still, it’s expandable so it can grow with your plant. To read the outstanding Amazon reviews, click here.
How Can You Tell If A Flower Is Pollinated By An Insect
Did you pollinate the flower? If not, but you can tell the tomato flower has been pollinated, then there’s a good chance it was an insect that did your pollination. Some birds and even the wind can also carry pollen, but insects do the vast majority of the job.
Bees are the most important and endangered pollinators. However, they are not totally alone. Other bugs like wasps and butterflies help to move pollen around as well. Even hummingbirds pollinate as they dip their long, elegant beaks into the deeper flowers to search for nectar.
Let the insects see all your tomato flowers with a set of Gardener’s Blue Ribbon Ultomato Plant Cages from Amazon. The steel core stakes are sturdy enough for the most enthusiastic tomatoes. However, they are also coated in green plastic to help prevent corrosion and rust. Plus, these cases store easily so that you can use them year after year. Have Amazon deliver to your door by clicking here.
Flowers That Attract Insects Vs. Wind Pollinated Flowers
Although bees may visit wind-pollinating flowers as well, floral plants have evolved two very different strategies to spread pollen. The first is attracting pollinators. Meanwhile, the second method uses mostly air.
Blooms that are bright in color are trying to get attention. While we humans find them delightful, insects see them as a great food source. Giving nectar is a reward which plants evolved to entice bees and other flyers to move pollen around. The brilliant colors just make them easier to find.
Alternately, duller petals may indicate an air pollinator. These plants typically have much lighter weight, smaller pollen that is easily blown away. Instead of calling in workers (insects) to help, this type of bloom relies on a lot of pollen moving with the breeze.
Additionally, the brighter flowers tend to have more of a scent. Sometimes it mimics insect pheromones. Other times they merely smell nice. Like not producing pollen, the less brilliantly colored flowers tend to have less of a smell. Conserving all your energy to produce airborne pollen is just a different reproductive method.
Final Thoughts
Depending on what species of tomato you plant and where you live, you should see fruit forty-five to a hundred days after successful pollination. When your tomato flower stems go yellow, then you probably won’t have fruit. Normally the local bees will handle the process.
Since tomatoes are self-pollinators, you don’t need two or more plants to get fruit. However, when the local insects don’t spread the golden powder around, you need to do it by hand. A cotton swab is all you need to accomplish the task. Ensure you rub the center of every flower lightly and come back to the first bloom after you finish.
Although tomatoes are easy to grow, you have to keep an eye out for pests, birds, and harsh weather. Make sure to check on your tomato flowers every day to get the best harvest.