CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- If you would like to grow more productive tomato plants, ask a native bee to help.
Chicago Botanic Garden’s Lisa Hilgenberg has this week’s gardening tips.
There is a recent and interesting study demonstrating that tomatoes pollinated by native bees produce larger and more numerous fruits. Gardeners know that while tomato plants are self-fertile, they have all the plant parts in each flower to self fertilize, but flowers must be vibrated by the wind or by the bees in order to release the pollen for fertilization.
Honey bees are unable to vibrate the follow in this way, but bumble bees and other native species can. Native bees know how to extract the tomato pollen, which helps produce larger tomatoes and plants that are more productive.