Gardening Tips

Artificially Pollinating Flowers

 

While it is not the most desirable method for pollinating your flowers, artificially pollinating flowers can definitely get the job done. Whether that job is promoting the health and care of your plants and flowers, or it is trying to create your own brand of flowers, artificially pollinating flowers is a great tool and method that you can use. You need to use care when artificially pollinating flowers.
Before you begin artificially pollinating the flowers in your garden, you need to be sure that you know what you are doing. What this means is that you will need to understand the anatomy of your particular flower well enough that you will be able to perform the procedure without damaging the flower. It is extremely easy to damage a flower or plant when you are artificially pollinating them. It is always a good idea to practice the procedure a few times so that you are fully confident in what your actions.

1. Insert pollinator. When artificially pollinating your flowers, you will need to have a tool or some implement that you can use to transfer the pollen from one flower to another. This tool is called a pollinator. Considering the size of the flower you will be working with, you will want to use one of two things, either the rounded end of a toothpick, or even a cotton swab. Simply insert the pollinator into the flower, and then rub it around in a circular motion. This should coat the pollinator adequately with pollen. Be sure that you are being gentle when doing this so that you do not damage the flower in any way.
2. Reinsert pollinator in another flower. After you have collected the pollen on the pollinator, remove it from your first flower, and reinsert it in a different one. Once again, you will need to be gentle as you do this to avoid damaging the flower in any way. With the pollinator in the second flower, be sure that you gently rub the interior of the flower in a circular motion to spread the pollen around.
3. Repeat the process. Repeat steps one and two with all of the flowers that you wish to artificially pollinate. Be sure that you keep track of which flowers you have already pollinated so you do not inadvertently repeat the process on a flower you have already finished.