Released: March 21, 2002

Also see: March 2002 Yard 'n Garden news package

Fruit-Producing Plants Need ’Outside’ Help

MANHATTAN, Kan. – That fruit-producing tree, vine, bramble or bedding plant that looks so tempting in the nursery could disappoint you at home – through no fault of its own.

All fruiting plants need bees. Some need help beyond that.

"When you consider the array of useful plants bees help pollinate, you can see why many Americans are gravely concerned about our decline in bee numbers. People are promoting all kinds of pest control alternatives. Insecticide makers now recommend spraying flowering fruit trees just before dawn or after sunset, when most bees are in their nest, protected," said Ward Upham, Kansas State University horticulturist.

Even with bees around to do the work, however, some fruit bearers can’t use pollen produced by themselves or another same-variety plant.

"If you want fruit, you’ve got to keep this fact in mind while shopping," Upham said. "In practical terms, it means you may have to buy two different kinds of trees, just to get a harvest from the one you like. Your only alternative will be to try fool Mother Nature every spring by bringing in bouquets from other pollen sources and putting those flowers in or next to your own flowering plant.

"Unfortunately, there’s no formula to help shoppers remember which fruiting plants are self-pollinating and which are not. You’ll probably have to keep a list handy or ask trained nursery personnel."

Among the self-pollinators, for example, are the apricot, blackberry, tart or pie cherry, current, gooseberry, grape, nectarine, peach, European plum, raspberry and strawberry. Unlike others of their kind, the Golden Delicious apple and Stella sweet cherry can get by on their own, too.

All other apple and sweet cherry producers need a different cultivar – a same-species, different-variety "cousin" – to serve as a pollen source. The blueberry, elderberry, pear and Japanese plum also require "outside" pollen.

"This means a Golden Delicious can provide pollen for itself, another Golden Delicious or a Jonathon apple tree. But a Jonathon can’t supply pollen for any Jonathon, including itself," he said.

Upham is the horticulturist behind the Horticulture Information Center – the top-drawing feature on K-State Research and Extension’s diverse Website (http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/hfrr/extensn/horticul.htm).

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K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.

Story by:
Kathleen Ward, Communications Specialist
kward@oznet.ksu.edu
K-State Research& Extension News