Tariff laws that imposed a duty on vegetables, but not on fruit, caused the tomato’s status to become a matter of legal importance. The U. S. Supreme Court settled this controversy on May 10, 1893, by declaring that the tomato is a vegetable, based on the popular definition that classifies vegetables by use—they are generally .
Edible berry of the tomato plant, originating in South America. The tomato is the edible , often red, berry of the plant Solanum lycopersicum, commonly known as a tomato plant. The species originated in western South America and Central America.
A inquiry we ran across in our research was “Are Tomatoes Bad for the environment?”.
Some sources claimed tomatoes were also listed as #12 on the Environmental Working Group’s annual Dirty Dozen list this year. This means that tomatoes are among the produce most likely to have contamination from pesticides when grown conventionally, compared to other types of produce. So tomatoes are a good crop to grow yourself or buy organically grown if you can .
This begs the query “Are tomatoes good to grow at home?”
Tomatoes are one of the most popular crops among home gardeners, and with good reason: not only are tomatoes delicious and versatile, they are relatively easy to grow and return high value for the space they occupy. No store-bought tomato can compare with the flavor of a vine-ripened tomato picked from the garden at its peak of ripeness.
Do Tomatoes need to be hand pollinated?
While tomato flowers are typically wind pollinated, and occasionally by bees, the lack of air movement or low insect numbers can inhibit the natural pollination process. In these situations, you may need to hand pollinate tomatoes to ensure pollination takes place so your tomato plants bear fruit. Let’s look at how to pollinate tomato plants.
I found the answer was Tomatoes are self pollinating . The probability of tomatoes cross pollinating is about 2%. If you want to be sure of them not cross pollinating, plant them at least 10 feet apart.”.
An answer is that out of all the pollinators (including birds and butterflies), bees are the most obvious. Bees can help to improve pollination of tomato flowers , but they are not strictly necessary. When a bee touches a flower, its vibrating wings cause the flower to shake.
If your tomato plant has lots of flowers, but no fruit, then extreme temperature or humidity may be preventing pollination. High humidity means that the male part of a tomato flower cannot release its pollen. Low humidity means that the pollen will not stick to the female part of the flower.
Do Tomatoes cross-pollinate?
In general, tomatoes are self-pollinating , so the odds of cross-pollination are slim. If you are growing heirloom tomatoes for seed saving, you might want to follow these steps to keep the lines pure.
The answer is that tomatoes usually won’t cross-pollinate, but you can decrease that probability even more by taking a few simple precautions.
When we were reading we ran into the inquiry “Can you cross pollinate tomatoes and grapes?”.
Require cross-pollination for fruit, plant one variety at a time to ensure seed purity. Will not cross-pollinate with tomatoes (this is a myth ).
Another frequently asked inquiry is “What is the probability of Tomatoes cross pollinating?”.
Here is what I ran into. the probability of tomatoes cross pollinating is about 2% . If you want to be sure of them not cross pollinating, plant them at least 10 feet apart.” Next I asked the nice folks at Appalachian Seeds what they thought about the issue-this is what they said:.
How does wind pollinate tomatoes?
Wind helps to pollinate tomatoes, even in the absence of pollinators such as bees. The method is similar: the wind causes tomato flowers to move, and that stimulation causes the male part of the flower to release pollen onto the female part of the flower. Looks like the wind is really going here!
Are tomatoes wind pollinated?
Tomatoes, pollination, honeybees, and the like may not always go hand in hand. While tomato flowers are typically wind pollinated , and occasionally by bees, the lack of air movement or low insect numbers can inhibit the natural pollination process.