The summer vegetable garden is about more than growing beautiful plants. The end goal is fresh, delicious produce for our family to eat. I enjoy thriving plants, but fruitless ones are a letdown. Let me share a few pollination techniques to increase your yields for this summer growing season.

Pollination is the Key

Most plants require pollination to produce fruit. We have root vegetables and leafy greens that do not fall into this category, but your tomatoes, peppers, beans, squash, and the list goes on, require pollination to perform. Proper pollination is crucial for the fruit to mature, or else it falls away.

What comes to mind when you see the word pollination? If you said bees, that is correct. Bees and other flying insects pollinate plants. The wind also spreads pollen from plant to plant. But did you know you can take charge and help these friendly insects do their job? You can!

Pollinating Between Male and Female Flowers

Plants such as pumpkins, squash, and zucchini have male and female flowers growing on a continuous vine. Pollen from male and female flowers must mix for fruit to mature. We are relying on insects to spread pollen between the two. Timing is everything. Nature is truly amazing when you think about it!

It is a sad sight to watch the promise of October’s jack-o-lantern shrink and fall off the vine. You don’t have to rely on bees. Instead, take matters into your own hands. When a female flower opens, pick a male flower off the vine and rub the pollen into the open female flower. Pictured below is a male flower from my thriving spaghetti squash vine.

Boost Your Summer Vegetable Garden with Expert Pollination Techniques #1

I plucked this lovely flower from the vine and used it to pollinate this female spaghetti squash bloom.

Boost Your Summer Vegetable Garden with Expert Pollination Techniques #2

Now it is time to sit back and watch it grow.

Let’s Talk Tomatoes

Unlike squash, tomatoes have a single flower with both male and female parts. Because of this, both wind and insects can pollinate tomato flowers because pollination is between two parts of the same flower. You have two options to replace insects. The first option is to shake the flowers on the vine. A shaking motion simulates wind pollination. Another option is to use your electric toothbrush.

Yes, I said electric toothbrush. Weird, I know! But placing an electric toothbrush onto the vine where the flowers sit will vibrate the vine spreading the pollen and setting the fruit. We have been doing this all season in our garden and are having an excellent tomato yield. Click here for a full video on the process.

Corn and Pollination

Did you know each silk on a corn cob is connected to a kernel of corn? Each piece of silk needs to be pollinated or instead of a beautiful kernel of corn, you will have an empty space on the cob. It blows my mind that we ever have full cobs of corn. We are relying on the wind to blow pollen around and touch each silk. So spacing, and the number of plants is so important when planting corn. The more pollen the better!

If you do not want to cross your fingers and leave it in the hands of fate, you can try to help the corn along. When the corn tassels form, find creative ways to place the pollen onto the silk. I’ve seen videos in which people break the tassel off the stalk and rub it across the growing silks. Another video showed a gardener collecting the pollen in a jar and pouring it on the silk. To spread pollen, we’ll try a make-up brush with the jar idea. I figure every little bit helps. Only time will tell.

Say Thank You to the Pollinators

Next time you see bees buzzing around your plants, say thank you for all their hard work. All the moving parts required to take something from seed to fruit is astounding. If you want to step it up a notch, give the pollinators a hand. Move pollen from one place to another as you walk through the garden. The result will be a bountiful harvest for you and your family. Happy gardening!