To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Peach Pollination?
Date: Sun, 4 Mar 2007 16:31:55 -0800
Even self-fertile flowers set better with pollinators around to insure that lots of pollen gets on the stigma. Not every pollen grain is good and having a lot of pollen on the stigma insures that more "virile" grains are in place to do a better job of fertilizing the ovary. In the UK it is a practice to "tickle" peach blossoms with a feather to insure that lots of pollen reaches the stigma of the flower.
-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.
For even more grape lessons, go to http://www.grapeschool.com
For growing supplies and more; http://www.grapegrowersolutions.com
On Mar 4, 2007, at 3:58 PM, Mark & Helen Angermayer wrote:
I was reading the winter Pomona last night and there was an article that
mentioned peaches take bees for pollination. I'm still pretty new at the
horticulture thing, but I thought peaches had perfect flowers. Doesn't that
mean the flowers have both male and female parts and pollinate themselves?
Can anyone clarify?