Strawberry plants produce hermaphrodite flowers, making them self-pollinators. Natural fertilization occurs in three ways. Find out here which pollination allows the best strawberries to thrive. This is how you can have a positive influence on the process.
How can strawberries be pollinated and supported?
Strawberries pollinate primarily by gravity, wind and insects such as bees and bumblebees. In order to specifically attract pollinators, traditional plants can be planted, double flowers avoided, watered adequately, retreats created and insecticides avoided.
This is how gravity, wind and insects pollinate the flowers
The advantage of hermaphrodite flowers is that there is no need to plant a second strawberry variety. The inflorescence within the plant is sufficient for fertilization and thus for the growth of the desired fruits. This is how the pollen is distributed:
- Gravity causes the pollen to fall onto other flower stems
- the wind spreads the pollen in the strawberry bed
- busy bees and bumblebees carry the pollen to the flowers
Curious botanists now want to know which form of pollination allows the best strawberries to thrive. A dedicated field trial showed that bees and bumblebees carry out fertilization most efficiently. The insects carry a lot more pollen with them and distribute it better because they are constantly crawling around on the flowers. The result is a rich harvest of harmoniously shaped, voluminous fruits.
Attract hard-working pollinators in a targeted manner
If the harvest yield and fruit size leave something to be desired despite loving care, the solution to the puzzle often lies in the inadequate presence of bees and bumblebees in the garden. The following tips show how to attract pollinators:
- Specifically plant traditional plants with plenty of nectar and pollen, such as lilac or dead nettle
- Avoid plants with double flowers because they hardly carry any pollen
- water abundantly during dry, hot summer days to ensure the blooms persist
- offer insects retreats, such as dry stone walls, rotten tree trunks and flowering hedges
- consistently avoid the use of insecticides
The hard-working helpers in the garden can hardly resist a cozy bee hotel (€29.00 on Amazon). Specialist retailers offer ready-made insect hotels. Skilled hobby gardeners build the quarters themselves. The middle is cut out of a tree slice. Insert a brick into it and fill the honeycombs with grass and straw. Suspended in a protected location, the hotel does not remain uninhabited for long.
Tips & Tricks
Ingenious breeders recently came up with a strawberry variety that thrives on the windowsill. Since a natural pollinator rarely finds its way to this place, knowledgeable hobby gardeners help manually. As soon as the flowers open, stroke the stigma with a fine brush. This procedure must be repeated regularly throughout the flowering period.
