Eggplant - Ask Extension
I'm intending to hand pollinate my eggplant flowers but continually find that the stigma has been broken off. What on earth? Yes, I'm new to gardeni...
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Eggplant #256832
Asked June 24, 2015, 4:13 PM EDT
I'm intending to hand pollinate my eggplant flowers but continually find that the stigma has been broken off. What on earth? Yes, I'm new to gardening and I am following along with information found on the internet, which is how I can identify the different parts of the eggplant flower. There is no way that I am going to get any eggplantsif this continues. Is this due to a garden pest of some sort? Thanks for your help.
Talbot County Maryland
Expert Response
A couple of thoughts:
1. You might be thinking about this too hard. Eggplant usually has no problem pollinating by wind or insect (and there should be plenty of pollinators out this time of year). Each flower is complete, meaning it does not have separate male and female flowers.
2. If the plant does not get enough moisture, sometimes it will drop flowers. If the flowers are dropping, this is a sign that the plant needs a deep watering (not just a shallow spray of water). You might also want to fertilize if you have never done so before, since it takes nutrients for a plant to develop both leaves and fruit. Environmental stresses, like sticky, hot weather, might prevent pollen from spreading as well.
3. If you are truly concerned about pollinating the flowers, all you need is a Q-tip or clean paintbrush. You will use this to swirl around inside the flower, tapping pollen around the center of the flower. You can even pollinate from flower to different flower.
I hope that helps- while eggplant does have some other pest problems, they should not affect the blooms.
1. You might be thinking about this too hard. Eggplant usually has no problem pollinating by wind or insect (and there should be plenty of pollinators out this time of year). Each flower is complete, meaning it does not have separate male and female flowers.
2. If the plant does not get enough moisture, sometimes it will drop flowers. If the flowers are dropping, this is a sign that the plant needs a deep watering (not just a shallow spray of water). You might also want to fertilize if you have never done so before, since it takes nutrients for a plant to develop both leaves and fruit. Environmental stresses, like sticky, hot weather, might prevent pollen from spreading as well.
3. If you are truly concerned about pollinating the flowers, all you need is a Q-tip or clean paintbrush. You will use this to swirl around inside the flower, tapping pollen around the center of the flower. You can even pollinate from flower to different flower.
I hope that helps- while eggplant does have some other pest problems, they should not affect the blooms.
