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Betsy:

Poor fruit set could be due to several causes.  Did you have adequate natural populations of wild bees or hives of honey bees or orchard bees?   Rainy cold weather during bloom could be another cause.   If that was the case, hand pollination may be unnecessary this year if the weather is favorable.  Do you have an orchard of a single variety?  Apples and pears require an unrelated second variety as a source of pollen, since these species are typically self-incompatible.  If you really want to hand-pollinate, you can collect pollen before bloom by cutting off a branch with flower buds, put it in a bucket of water and collect the anthers on a piece of paper (folded to resemble a box lid  - with sides).  When the anthers burst open and release the pollen, collect it in a small glass jar and place it in your refrigerator.  The best time to apply the pollen is immediately after the the blossoms are fully open, up to when you see the pollen released.  Different varieties have different periods of pistil receptivity.    Comice pear is notoriously short, hence the poor fruit set sometimes seen.  

Richard Bell

Zone 7b in West Virginia

-----Original Message-----
From: Hilborn.E@epamail.epa.gov
To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Tue, 31 Mar 2009 10:30 pm
Subject: [NAFEX] Hand pollination - pome fruits - timing

0A

I have a small pome orchard with poor fruit set last year.  I had lots of blooms, so I am suspecting poor pollination. I plan to hand pollinate this year and wonder about the timing.

 

If I collect pollen, when is the best time to apply it to the pistils?  When blooms are open and the stamens of the flower are yellow; the blooms are open and the stamens are brown; the petals are starting to brown; the petals are falling?

 

Any ideas?

 

Betsy Hilborn

7a, NC

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