I did some reading today about pollination and got confused even more than before it.
So I get it, there are self-fertile trees and self- sterile. With self- sterile trees that need pollen from different tree I got the idea, basically you need to know if they match, and this information is available in many sources.
With self-fertile I am confused even more. Two pieces of information I found do not connect in actual orchard:
Self-pollinated plants do not need another plant to pollinate.
Self-pollinated plants may either pollinate within ONE FLOWER or require cross-pollination withing ONE PLANT
What I am missing is what kind of self pollination is applicable for for fruit trees like peaches? Do they still need bees to pollinate, or wind is sufficient?
Another questions about pollinators them self. All sources I found are talking about attracting pollinators with flowers, and even listing best flowers for it. I have those flowers in my yard… But, it will be another 1-2 months before they start to flower. Trees will be way behind the flowering stage. I am not sure if insects really can remember what was here last summer…
I’m pretty sure fruit trees require insects for pollination, even if they are self-fertile. I don’t think the pollen can make its way to the pistil just from wind action alone.
Pollinating insects will find your flowering trees, it’s what they do. I don’t see how other flowering plants that bloom months later will have any bearing at all. If you have flowers, insects that rely on pollinating flowers for their food will find those flowers. So no concern there. The real concern would be what kind of weather you have when your plants are in bloom, as rain and wind could keep the pollinating insects away.
Actually the presence of an adequate population of native pollinators cannot be assumed- here in the northeast I have some sites that just don’t have much activity. I believe that it’s pretty well established that having a range of nourishing plants on ones property that bloom from early spring to late fall helps assure a local population of a wide range of native pollinators.
It depends on the tree. There are plants that will produce fruit regardless of pollination… think Asian Persimmons, which will produce seedless fruits unless pollinated in some cases.
In most cases a tree won’t produce fruit if it isn’t pollinated, but some can be pollinated by themselves.
(there are also cases of trees/plants that are self fertile but produce bigger/more if pollinated)
I believe peaches and nectarines are wind pollinated. Most other stone and pome fruits have heavy sticky pollen. That needs an insect to move it around very much or far. Persimmons are wind pollinated, those that need pollination.
You know my observations is that this is really true. Now for half a decade I have been trying to attract bees, I can say it’s working. I had great fruit set even on Flavor Supreme. I noticed numerous small bees around my fruit trees, as many as 50 at a time. I have strawberries, honeyberries, tulips, including species tulips. Grape Hyacinth, and other small flowers in bloom. It really has made a difference having various flowers around. I never saw so many insects in April ever! Columbine, and Allium should soon be blooming too.
It did take time for the insects to know where to look, now they found my place and will be here every year. I will keep adding flowers too. I’m adding Echinacea this year and others too.
This is an interesting idea- why do you believe this? I just tried searching up some verification without much success. Not that they know better, but UC Davis contradicts you in this guide.
Peach and nectarines set in my greenhouse with no bees present. Plus I’ve never heard of bees being introduced to peach orchards for pollination. Whereas bees are introduced for most other stone and pome fruits.
I don’t know how much peach pollen moves from tree to tree via wind if at all. It could be that a flower mostly pollinates itself. In that case peach/nectarine won’t be different than say self fertile apricots or plums. Bees help move the pollen around but some moves by itself.
That’s why I said “I believe” rather than being more assertive about the matter.
Some of my pears seem to set without bees, mainly Asians.
I respect your observations, as should anyone who has seen exceptions to the literature on a regular basis. Thanks for the clarification.
I’ve read that pears often produce fruit parthenocarpically- that is without viable seeds, so they often don’t need pollination of any kind. What is required is optimal growing conditions so the trees have an energy surplus- so it happens most on warm springs with lots of clear days. This happens so often in S. CA that Bartlett orchards there used to grow no other varieties for pollination purposes according to Childers.
Me too, and I believe it is the wind because of Indian Free always being fully pollinated when it is self sterile. Or maybe it really isn’t? I grow more skeptic of what the experts say more and more as it contradicts my own experience. Even before I attracted bees, Indian Free always set. Where I’m seeing a difference is with the pluots. The addition of more bees and other insects in the yard due to the flowers and such I planted, seems to be making a difference with the pluots. Dapple Dandy, one scaffold only must have 300 fruit on it, about every 1/2 inch or closer.
I was going to cite that as one leg of my thinking. But then I thought well maybe it’s insects moving pollen to IF. But I can’t recall ever seeing bees outdoors working my peaches or nectarines. If IF gets pollinated outdoors without insects then it seems pretty clear that peach pollen blows around.
I can certainly see how something like pine is wind pollinated. They are everywhere around here and during bloom, every exposed surface is just covered in pollen (my green vehicle could pass for a yellow one if it doesn’t rain a lot). It just seems so statistically unlikely that pollen from a peach in a neighbor’s backyard would get carried by the wind and happen to land on the stigma of a peach tree in my yard, but maybe so? @fruitnut, do you grow Indian Free in your greenhouse?
In short, wind can assist in ways besides blowing pollen between flowers. Peaches have perfect flowers, and self fertile varieties can be pollinated through jostling.
No, self sterile varieties work mostly through insects, but that also includes flies, moths, and a lot of other non-bee insects.
Edit – I backed off from entirely to mostly, because it’s not IMPOSSIBLE for a breeze for move enough pollen from tree to tree to pollenate at least a few peaches, but it’s not the primary mechanism. Pollen is crazy fine and disperses much more than you might think, but that’s still a factor for VERY nearby trees.
There are honeysuckle bushes under one of my windows. Every year comes a bumble bee or so, always in the late afternoon, checking out the flowers if they’re ready to bloom. I could almost swear it was the same bee, every year. But they certainly do know where to go, year after year.
Here is a honeybee? on my potted peach tree on March 2. It had been blooming for 10 days before this with no pollinators around as far as I could tell, cool weather. I wondered whether self pollinating trees needed pollinators to move pollen around. So, on Feb 28 approximately I pollinated all the flowers by hand. And then I ended up with heavy fruit set almost all doubles, triples, quadruples. It is a Suncrest peach. I thinned to about 8 single peaches, now the size of walnuts or bigger. Maybe I will get some fruit this year, even if won’t taste that great. Three years and one move after planting my first peach tree.
