Avant-Gardening
How to
Control Cross
Pollination
by Heather Rhoades
Cross pollination can cause problems for
gardeners who wish to save the seeds of
their vegetables or flowers from year to
year. Unintentional cross pollination can
muddy the traits you want to keep in the
crop you are growing.
Can you control cross pollination?
Yes, cross pollination can be controlled.
You need to take some extra steps,
though, to ensure that cross pollination
does not occur.
Prevent cross pollination by growing
only one species of plant.
One method is to only grow one variety
of a species in your garden. There is,
however, a slight chance that a stray
pollinating insect could carry pollen to
your plants.
If you want to grow more than one
variety, you need to determine if the
plant you are growing is self-, windor insect-pollinated. Most flowers are
wind- or insect-pollinated but some
vegetables are not.
Stopping cross pollination in selfpollinating plants
Self-pollinated vegetables include:
• beans
• peas
• lettuce
• peppers
• tomatoes
• eggplant
Self-pollinated plants pollinate themselves (obviously). Accidental cross pollination is more difficult in these plants,
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Maximum Yield USA | March 2012