How to Hand-Pollinate Your Indoor Fruit Trees in 5 Easy Steps

Growing your own fruit is a sweet experience, both in flavor and reward, especially when its dual function is brightening the interior. Having your indoor fruit tree successfully produce is a big, juicy treat.

Whether housing your tree over the winter or growing it indoors year-round, there are a few tricks to get that desired fruit. Without exposure to natural pollinators, we play the role of bees, birds, wind, and rain to promote fruit set.

Hand-pollination is a simple way to deliver pollen to all the right parts amongst blooms. The pollinated flowers then develop into seeds and fruits. Hand-pollinating is essential to growing productive indoor fruit trees. Here, we’ll explore easy methods to transfer pollen for those sweet benefits.

Hand Pollination Overview

Outside, plants rely on wind, rain, birds, mammals, and especially insects like bees, butterflies, and a host of others for pollination. Breezes carry the pollen from the male parts (stamens and anthers) to the female stigma, which collect it. Bees shimmy into nectar and pollen centers for food, capturing it on their fuzzy bodies. They distribute the granules as they travel from flower to flower. 

Inside, fruits lack this natural transfer and need assistance in order to develop. This applies to greenhouses, indoor plants, those under plastic hoop covers – any fruit producers without access to outdoor pollination.

Hand-pollination involves a small implement (Q-tip, paintbrush) to collect the granules and brush them on the stigma. Getting good pollen coverage and moving between flower parts is the key to the simple process.

What To Look For

To manually deliver pollen, look for the granule-filled anthers on the tips of stamens (filaments). Pollen collected from the anthers will go the stigmas, rising from the bloom’s central column. Stigmas are sticky to hold the granules.

Flowers are ready to pollinate when fully open with visible stamens. The reproductive process begins with the deposit of a grain on the stigma’s crown.

Types of Trees and Their Pollination Needs

At the get-go, it helps to know what type of tree you have in terms of its pollination requirements. Trees are diverse in their flowering, specific pollinators they attract, and environmental conditions conducive to the process. 

Fortunately, many that we grow inside, like citrus, are self-fruitful. Self-pollinators have both male and female flowers on the same plant, often within the same bloom. All these need is a simple transfer of pollen between parts and blooms. They don’t need a specific pollinator to do the job. Some fruits that aren’t naturally self-pollinating (pears, apricots) have hybrids that are partially so.

Others are dioecious, where specimens are either male or female, and one of each is required to produce. Some, even certain self-pollinating ones, rely on cross-pollination from another species. You’ll need two plants for dioecious types or those that rely on a partner.

Self-Fruitful Trees

Need Another Variety to Cross-Pollinate

Need Both Male and Female Plants

Special Cases

• Avocados – male and female flowers are distinct and open at different times of day. Male blossoms open in the morning, female in the afternoon. Hand-pollinate twice daily during full bloom for overlap.
• Pomegranates – male and female flowers are distinct; capture both to transfer granules.
• Dragon Fruits – open at night and are normally pollinated by bats, moths, bees, and ants; catch them as they open to brush and transfer pollen.

Pick Your Tool

There are a number of collection tools to use, and even your fingertip works to capture granules and distribute them. The idea is to use a gentle, grabby tool to move the particles.

Collect and Transfer

The first quick and easy method to foster self-pollination is to give stems and branches a gentle shake. Shaking the blossoms causes granules to drop and move around flower parts. This movement simulates wind or natural disturbance to get pollen to redistribute. Vibration works well for citrus trees, with a little shake two times daily in peak flower.

Some gardeners use a fan pointed at the blossoms to serve a similar effect. The limitation of a fan is its drying properties and potential for drafts.

How To Hand-Pollinate Fruit Trees

To use a soft paintbrush, toothbrush, or cotton swab, look for the pollen-filled anther. Swirl the Q-tip or brush the anther for full coverage. The more pollen captured, the better. Then, “paint” the stigma or lightly brush the bloom center for exposure. It’s okay if you can’t identify the specific flower parts – give everything a good brush in the central column for the best coverage.

To use an electric toothbrush, rely on the vibration to shake loose pollen so it falls on the bristles. There’s no need to touch the delicate flower parts with the moving bristles, which can cause damage. Place the back of the brush on the base of the floral throat (let it rest on petals toward the center) for pollen to drop. The vibration will disperse the granules, and that’s all they really need. For an added boost, in off-mode, brush the stigma with the bristles.

For selections like avocados, with individual male and female flowers, move from male flowers (with the stamens) to the female (with pistils, including the stigma). Cover all blooms for the best exposure. When aiding in cross-pollination or with dioecious growers, move between specimens to transfer the granules from plant to plant.

Frequency and Monitoring

During their prime bloom time, hand-pollinate fruit trees daily or every two to three days to achieve the best dispersal. Leading up to full bloom, blossoms are continually opening and closing.

Observe the blossoms to reach the most as they’re fully open, usually from morning to afternoon in the sun’s warmth. Stop brushing when blooms begin to wilt.

It takes a bit of patience to await the rewards. There’s no obvious way to initially tell if our efforts paid off. Don’t worry as blossoms wilt, droop, and fade – this is natural as the reproduction process is underway. The petals drop as the seed begins to form.

Once the blooms fall, watch for the small, round fruit to begin. The crown swells as the fruit forms, even in its tiny state. A small bulb is a good sign that hand-pollination was a success.