North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Mark Lee" <markl@nytec.com>]

Lon,

The effect of the Miracle Grow appears to be something other than physical transport of the pollen.  My friend uses it on blueberries for fruit set.  These blossoms open toward the ground and he spays from above.  If all it took was a liquid spray of any kind, then the rain and wind that is so abundant here at bloom time should be pollinating everything.  He developed this technique in Alaska where he had no bees.

-Mark Lee, Seattle zone 8a

 

-----Original Message-----
From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Lon Rombough
Sent: Monday, December 13, 2004 10:36 AM
To: North American Fruit Explorers
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] fruit set without bees

 

The physical act of spraying could shake the pollen from the anthers onto the stigma. The British use a feather on a long stick to "tickle" peach and plum blossoms to make them set. Could be that going out with a feather duster at bloom time could be all you need.
-Lon Rombough
Grapes, writing, consulting, my book, The Grape Grower, at http://www.bunchgrapes.com Winner of the Garden Writers Association "Best Talent in Writing" award for 2003.
On Dec 13, 2004, at 10:34 AM, Mark Lee wrote:

A local grower uses foliar sprays at bloomtime to increase fruit set.
He uses Miracle Grow because it is handy, easy and cheap. I have a
problem getting pluots to set fruit in my own backyard since they bloom
before the bees are out. He gets a harvest from his pluot trees thanks
to bloomtime spraying. He says something in the fertilizer allows him
to get fruit set without bees. Any thoughts on the science behind this
practice?