It’s a simple trick, but you’ll find it’s very effective – and it’s great fun playing at beesIt might be a deeply uncool thing to admit, but there are few things I enjoy more than trawling academic databases for obscure articles about plant science. Especially when, buried deep in the geekspeak, you discover really useful, evidence-based tips that are easily translatable to gardeners at home. However, at the end of last year, I stumbled upon a study that seemed too weird and too wonderful to be true: how to use an electric toothbrush to improve crop yields. Having tried it myself this summer and seen how surprisingly effective it is, despite how gimmicky it sounds, I thought it was high time I shared it.Now hear me out – I promise this is not a wind-up. Many plants in the nightshade family, from tomatoes and chillies to peppers and aubergines, rely on what is known as buzz pollination. This is the process by which the rapid ultrasonic vibrations emitted by species, such as bumblebees, releases pollen grains, which are otherwise tightly held in the anthers of flowers. It is a mechanism finely tuned by millions of years of co-evolution. Continue reading…
Source : theguardian.com
Read more…How your electric toothbrush can aid pollination
