Pollinating Kratky Strawberries
Outdoors, bees and wind pollinate strawberry flowers. Indoors there are neither, so the job falls to you. It takes a minute a day while the plant is in flower.
Why It Is Needed
A strawberry flower carries both the male and female parts, so one plant can pollinate itself. But the pollen still has to be moved from the ring of stamens onto the raised center of the flower. That center holds many tiny pistils, and each one that is pollinated becomes one seed on the finished berry. The flesh only swells properly around seeds that were pollinated.
How to Hand-Pollinate
- Use a small, soft, dry brush. A clean makeup or artist brush works well.
- Brush around the ring of yellow stamens to pick up pollen.
- Swirl the brush gently over the whole center of the same flower.
- Move to the next open flower and repeat. Carrying pollen between flowers helps.
Gently shaking the plant, or holding an electric toothbrush against the flower stem for a second, also releases pollen. A small fan moving air across the plants helps too.
When to Do It
Pollinate each flower once a day for the first few days after it opens, ideally around the middle of the day when the flower is dry and the pollen is loose. Very humid air makes pollen sticky and harder to move.
What Poor Pollination Looks Like
Fruit that is small, lopsided or knobbly at one end was only partly pollinated. The undeveloped areas are where pistils were missed. It is still fine to eat. Go over the flowers more thoroughly on the next flush.
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More Kratky Strawberry Guides
This guide is one of a set covering each part of growing strawberries with the Kratky method, from choosing a container to solving problems.
