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[Spidra Webster <spidra@speakeasy.net>]

Well, they're fruits...

For some reason, my tomatoes are not getting pollinated.  There are plenty of pollinators in my yard: honeybees, bumblebees, syrphid flies and other flies (I don't know whether I've got native bees or not).  I can't figure out why most of the tomato flowers are dying without having set fruit.  The plants are otherwise healthy and have no signs of the fungal infections we are usually cursed with in my foggy microclimate.  In fact, we've even had more sunny and hot weather than is usual for this time of the year.  I kept everything well-hydrated during our record heatwave a fortnight ago.

I would like to try hand-pollination but when I investigate the flowers up close, I can't see the stigma.  I don't know where to brush the pollen to.  Does anyone have any recommendations?

Megan Lynch

Berkeley, CA

CRFG, NAFEX: I'm in USDA Zone 9b

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