Do you want an abundant harvest? If so, you can improve pollination by making your garden more attractive to pollinators. There are easy things you can do to improve pollination so you get lots more food on the table.
In Part 1 of this series, I discussed pollination problems in depth and the FIRST STEP you can take: Eliminate ALL chemicals from your garden. There’s some critically important information to be aware of in that article, so if you missed it, check out 4 Steps to Improve Pollination and Your Harvests: Part 1.
What other ways can you improve pollination and your harvests? Read on for 3 more practical steps you can take to work with nature for mutually beneficial outcomes:
As a home gardener, I love growing fresh herbs like sage The fragrant, gray-green leaves add amazing flavor to soups, stews, meat dishes and more Recently, I started some baby sage plants from seed. I wanted to make sure they were properly pollinated so I could get the highest yield of leaves possible.
Through trial and error, I learned a lot about how to successfully pollinate baby sage. Proper pollination is crucial for the plant to produce seeds and fruit. It took some patience, but my efforts paid off with a bountiful harvest. Below I’ll share everything I learned about pollinating baby sage plants.
Why Pollinating Baby Sage Matters
Pollination refers to the transfer of pollen from the male parts of a flower (stamens) to the female parts (pistils). This fertilizes the plant so it can form seeds and fruit. With herbs like sage, the more seeds that develop, the higher the yield you’ll get.
Some gardeners wait to pollinate until the sage plant is fully mature. However, I found it worthwhile to hand pollinate even my baby sage plants. Though young, they were old enough to flower and pollinating them early optimizes seed production. As a result, I got stronger, bushier baby sage plants.
Identifying Flowers on Baby Sage
The first step is checking for open flowers on your baby sage. Look for clusters of small tubular flowers ranging from pale lavender to light blue or white. The flowers will have visible stamens protruding from them.
Flowers typically emerge in late spring or early summer However, the timing can vary based on your region and climate I live in zone 5b and my baby sage bloomed in mid-May.
Check your plants daily once flower buds appear. The flowers only remain open for a day or two before they start to fade. You’ll want to pollinate them when freshly opened.
Collecting and Transferring Pollen
For the best results, pollinate your baby sage flowers in the morning. I tried to do it earlier in the day before it got too hot. The pollen is most viable after the flowers have opened up and dried from the morning dew.
To collect sage pollen, I used a small paintbrush. Gently brush the bristles against each group of stamens to gather the pollen. Be careful not to damage the delicate flower parts.
Once I gathered a sufficient amount of pollen, I transferred it to the stigma (tip) of the pistil on another sage flower. Repeating this process back and forth cross-pollinates the plants.
Alternatively you can use a cotton swab for pollen collection and transfer. I preferred the brush since it mimics how bees naturally pollinate the flowers.
Pollinating All the Flowers
To maximize my sage yield, I hand pollinated every flower I could find. I worked gently and meticulously to ensure I didn’t miss any blossoms. It’s easy for some flowers to get blocked by leaves and stems.
I repeated the process of collecting and transferring pollen on a daily basis. New flowers continued to bloom over the next couple of weeks. It takes patience but it’s worth it!
If you have multiple baby sage plants, rotate between them as you pollinate. This promotes genetic diversity. I had three plants and systematically pollinated each one.
Supplementing with Natural Pollinators
In addition to hand pollinating, I also tried to attract natural pollinators to my baby sage. Bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects can assist with transferring pollen.
I planted clusters of pollinator-friendly flowers like lavender, cosmos, and bee balm nearby. I also set up a simple bee house made of bamboo tubes. These efforts brought in more pollinating insects to maximize fertilization.
Ensuring Proper Care
For the best results, be sure to care for your baby sage plants properly:
- Grow in full sun (at least 6 hours direct light per day)
- Water when top 1-2” of soil is dry
- Use well-draining soil
- Fertilize monthly with a diluted liquid fertilizer
- Prune lightly to encourage bushy growth
Healthy, thriving plants will be most receptive to pollination and produce the highest yields. Pay close attention and address any issues right away.
When to Harvest Baby Sage
Once pollinated, be patient and allow your baby sage plants time to mature and produce leaves. In my climate, I was able to start harvesting small amounts approximately 8-10 weeks after pollinating.
To harvest, cut stems near the base of the plant. Try to leave some leaves at the tips for continued growth. Only harvest what you need at a time to prevent waste.
Enjoy an Abundant Harvest!
Following these tips, I was able to successfully hand pollinate my baby sage plants. Though it took diligence, I was rewarded with a prolific harvest once the plants matured. Homegrown sage adds amazing flavor and fragrance to so many recipes. I love having a bountiful supply on hand.
6 Easy Steps to Hand Pollinating
- Identify what kind of plant type you have:
- Some fruiting crops (e.g. strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and grapes) are self-pollinating and have a SINGLE BISEXUAL flower with BOTH PARTS: the female (‘pistil’ in the centre) and male (‘stamen’ with pollen covered filaments that surround it).
- Other crops (e.g. cucumbers, watermelon, pumpkin, zucchini and squash) have SEPARATE male and female flowers on the same plant.
- Identify the flowers. Many male flowers have a long stalk whilst the female flowers have a tiny baby immature fruit (‘ovary’) where the stem meets the flower.
- Get out early on a dry day to give your crops a helping hand. Why? Most flower varieties open in the morning but shut up shop by the early afternoon. So timing can be critical and weather can sometimes throw a spanner in the works anyway!
- For SEPARATE flowers, snip the male flower off at the base of the stem. Make sure the petals are fully pulled back or snipped off so the pollen is exposed, not hidden. Gently touch the male flower to the female until you see the pollen has been transferred.
- For SINGLE BISEXUAL flowers with both male and female parts, I use either a small paint brush, old clean makeup brush or cotton bud to make the magic happen. Ah the power of love!
- Now watch and wait while nature takes its course. For that small investment in time, you’ve just increased your pollination chances.
Improve Pollination and Your Harvests
Despite all the attention that honey bees get in relation to their role in pollinating crops, it is the native, solitary or pollen bees that do the lion’s share of the work. There are around 19,500+ bee species on the planet, and of those, around 90% are solitary bees. They are incredibly efficient pollinators because:
- They tend to stay in the same crop feeding rather than flying between different crops, increasing the chance of successful pollination.
- They are untidy pollen collectors. Whilst honeybees wet their pollen with saliva as they collect it to ensure they can carry a heavy load, solitary bees tend to spill a lot of dry pollen as they fly from flower to flower. These sloppy habits work in our favour as they drop pollen exactly where it’s needed, rather than being taken back to their nest to feed their young.
Bees have sticky hairs on their bodies that help hold pollen while they fly from flower to flower
- Both the males and females share the foraging. This is quite unlike honey bees where only the women worker bees do ALL the food gathering and preparation. What’s new? However, the female solitary bees are far more efficient pollinators than males.
- According to fascinating research*, female solitary bees tend to visit more flowers in less time and collect more pollen than the males. There’s an interesting reason. As male bees head towards the next ‘flower pub’ for another meal (pollen) or drink (nectar), they often get distracted. Sound familiar ladies?! Yeah, they stop to mate with lady bees on the way!
- However, whilst the boys are not as efficient in short distance pollinating, the males do perform a useful role. Phew! The longer flight distances males fly may increase the probability of cross-pollination. This is important for seed-set in plants that are not self-pollinating and increases the quality of new generations in self-fertile plants. Looks like nature has everything in perfect balance.
- Solitary bees also fly rapidly so can pollinate more plants!
All good reasons to encourage these wonderfully efficient pollinators to take up residence in your garden. Insect hotels or solitary bee houses can be decorative garden art as well as practical accommodation nesting sites for pollinators. Tuck under an eave or protected sunny spot as a feature close to flowering plants.
Hand Pollinate to Increase Yields and Reduce Blossom End Rot
FAQ
How to enhance pollination?
What increases the chance of pollination?
Is hand pollination a good idea?
Here are some signs that hand pollination is a good idea for your plants. You never see bees or other insects hovering around your plants. You’re growing plants indoors, in a screened porch, or inside of a greenhouse. The fruit on your plants shrivel and die before maturing.
Why do gardeners use manual pollination?
Many gardeners use manual pollination to increase the likelihood of pollinating their plants, especially if they worry that bees might be lacking in their area. Zucchini plants, for instance, usually send out male flowers before the female flowers emerge. No big deal if the males are out and fruit hasn’t formed, yet.
Why is pollination important?
And, it’s a particularly useful skill to learn if you’re growing food indoors. Pollination is necessary for plants to produce their yield. Usually, crops grown in a vegetable garden outdoors will be pollinated by the wind, or by pollinating insects such as bees.
Is it easy to pollinate plants by hand?
Pollinating plants by hand may sound a little technical, but it’s easier than you might expect. And, it’s a particularly useful skill to learn if you’re growing food indoors. Pollination is necessary for plants to produce their yield.