the birds and the bees of hydroponics
“ The main pollination problem in many crops is a lack of fruit set . After flowering , the blooms may simply wither and drop , leaving a bare stem section .”
High rates of pollination and fruit set can result in excessive fruit loading , which the plant may naturally react to with fruitlet drop .
Not all hand-pollinated flowers end up setting and growing fruit , however ; it is common for some of the fruitlets to turn yellow , wither , and drop from the plant . This is normal and prevents the plant from setting more fruit than it can support . As a result , most melons produce many flowers but only carry a limited number of fruit to maturity .
ARTIFICIAL WIND POLLINATION
Crops such as strawberries are largely self-pollinating ; however , they benefit from assistance to help release pollen inside the flower . This can be carried out by bees , but commercial greenhouse growers also use artificial wind pollination . This involves moving large air blowers along the crop rows at plant height once flowering has begun . In a smaller indoor garden , a similar effect can be achieved with the use of a hair dryer on a cool temperature setting
138 Maximum Yield USA | February 2017