Growing strawberries for beginners (Strawberry pollination with lightly brush)
Growing strawberries in mulching cultivation. In the previous article, we made strawberry mats. (Strawberry mat – Strawberry fruit stain prevention measures.) This time, it’s cultivation management with a focus on the strawberry harvesting season. Pollinate strawberries. (Hand pollination of strawberries.)
https://www.vege-try.net/en/prevent-the-strawberry-from-dirt...This strawberry (Houkou-wase Japanese strawberry) is grown in an open field, so it might be naturally pollinated by insects or wind, but I want to ensure a reliable harvest through cultivation. For a consistent harvest, I want to pick well-shaped strawberries, so I’m planning to try hand-pollinating them myself.
How to pollinate strawberries. (Pollination with a brush)
Before pollinating strawberries, I will check if pollen is properly released from the strawberry flowers. Pollen comes out from the stamens of strawberries, so I gently touch the stamens with a black or navy cloth to check. If pollen adheres when touched, hand-pollination of strawberries is possible.
For hand pollination of strawberries, use a brush. Strawberry flowers are delicate, so a soft-bristled brush is suitable for pollination.
The pollination method is simple. Simply gently stroke the center of the strawberry flower with a brush, transferring the pollen from the stamen to the pistil. That’s all. You can use tools like a makeup brush, or cotton swab for strawberry pollination.
If pollination is successful, we should be able to grow well-shaped strawberries, so I’m looking forward to seeing the results.
While performing the pollination work for strawberries, I will also take care of other cultivation tasks. The first one is removing old leaves. I will remove some of the old leaves of the strawberries as they are dark green to improve airflow.
The second management task is strawberry bud thinning. While it’s fine to leave all the strawberry buds in extensive cultivation, having too many buds can lead to nutrient dispersion. So, I will remove some of the smaller strawberry buds. Pollination of strawberries completed.
Following is the video for how-to. English subtitles are available.