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| I have a 10-foot tall loquat tree which is planted in the ground and contained within a greenhouse in my yard. It is flowering for the first time!
I have read loquats require pollination by bees. If so, I may have a problem, as there are no bees in my greenhouse. Am I going to get fruit? Or do I need to go to bees-r-us.com? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| It will probably depend on two things: 1) whether your variety is self-fertile or not, because some loquats require another variety to pollinate them 2) whether you have other insects that might do the job. I have adequate pollination in my garden without honeybees, because I have lots of bumblebees and various types of fly. If you don't have pollinating insects at all, you may want to try brushing pollen around the flowers with a paintbrush. |
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| I don't have first hand experience with this technique to say how successful it is, but if paintbrush pollination blossum by blossom is not a method you would consider, then you might try giving the tree a good shake every few days to simulate wind pollination. |
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| Any hummingbirds? Those go for them in Seattle. There is a California species that has extended its range northward, is present during winter when the loquat trees bloom. If there is ever a time when the greenhouse is being opened up for ventilation at the same time the tree is in bloom - and pollinators are present - these are likely to let themselves in. |
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| There won't be any ventilation times any time soon. We are in consistent 38 day/18 night conditions. There are fruit flies in the greenhouse but that's about it. No hummingbirds in the greenhouse. |
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| I had two big ones in the greenhouse that I pollinated by hand and I got a big crop. Use a paint brush and move from one flower to the next. Bass |
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