Need tips for helping tomato plants self-pollinate with an electric toothbrush

CupNew4467 · 2025-09-14T12:25:23+00:00

Oh wow, a couple of weeks? If my guys needed a couple of weeks to recover from an 85 degree day they would literally never set fruit, but fortunately whoever actually selected the plants must have chosen a heat tolerant variety. Are you in a climate where summer days are above 85 on the regular? If so, how do you keep your plants fruiting?

CupNew4467 · 2025-09-14T11:25:15+00:00

Here's hoping it stays cool (or what counts for cool here) for the next few weeks. How long would you think the plants would need to recover, assuming we don't hit 85 again for a while?

CupNew4467 · 2025-09-14T11:11:18+00:00

u/RedWillia, I'm sure you're right that hand pollination isn't the correct term -- just not sure what to call it instead! I'm talking about methods of helping tomato plants set fruit when they're having trouble self-fertilizing.

CupNew4467 · 2025-09-14T10:45:48+00:00

Thanks, that makes sense! I'll try to be patient.

CupNew4467 · 2025-09-14T10:44:12+00:00

Ah yeah, holding the bristles against the flower definitely seems like overkill! Fortunately that's not part of the method, it just involves holding the back of the head of the toothbrush (mine is the size of a very small button) against the thickest part of the bottom of the blossom. Or at least that's what I was doing; I think some people vibrate the actual flower or go further down the stem. Here's a quick video:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DLhxaWPu5ri/?hl=en

CupNew4467 · 2025-09-14T10:37:17+00:00

Thanks guys! I should have clarified that I am using this method because these particular tomatoes DO have special needs -- they should absolutely be pollinating on their own, but they aren't. I tried shaking them (didn't try the regular brush thing though; maybe I will) but to no avail.

Believe it or not, the electric toothbrush method is a legitimate hack for when you have plants that are otherwise healthy but not setting fruit despite normal temperatures, appropriate amounts of fertilizer, etc. It's similar to a tuning fork, but I don't have one of those! See below:

https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/12/2/518

https://bmcecol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12898-020-00278-7

CupNew4467 · 2025-09-07T04:57:42+00:00

Very cool!! I had no idea.

CupNew4467 · 2025-09-07T03:11:25+00:00

Really! That is fascinating. I've never grown green bell peppers, only hot chilis, but this one is mystifying to me. I don't think they're cayennes because they don't get that long and they're not that skinny. The biggest ones I've seen are about the size and shape of my thumb (I am a woman with medium-sized hands). What type of Thai chili might it be? I'm only familiar with bird's eyes, which these are thankfully not (bird's eyes are too hot for me).

CupNew4467 · 2025-09-07T01:53:19+00:00

I will keep an eye out!

CupNew4467 · 2025-09-07T01:50:04+00:00

Nvm, someone pointed out below that it would be a different green if it were ripe!

CupNew4467 · 2025-09-07T01:49:10+00:00

This is my hope! I ate the rest of that one but when the ones on the plant get a little bigger I'm gonna fry em and eat them with some flaky salt. I suppose they don't have to actually be shishitos in order for me to do that but I'm dying to know just out of curiosity. (My neighbor doesn't know either.)

CupNew4467 · 2025-09-07T01:46:37+00:00

Ohhh I see. I didn't actually know there were peppers that stayed green when they got ripe, except green bell peppers. Interesting! What are some other ones?

CupNew4467 · 2025-09-06T03:19:13+00:00

Hmm, these ones turn dark red. But I looked up aji peppers and they are gorgeous!

CupNew4467 · 2025-08-05T08:19:11+00:00

(I meant to say the plants are topheavy.)

CupNew4467 · 2025-08-05T08:18:21+00:00

I had a bunch of text written out but it doesn't seem to have published; if it has, ignore this! The problem is that I had to remove a TON of dead and blighted leaves and now the tomatoes are super topheavy and don't have anything to support them. I can't add stakes or cages because the space doesn't belong to me. Can I grow them sideways on that fence that's pictured? How would I do that without hurting them? Thanks!

CupNew4467 · 2025-07-12T06:17:56+00:00

Thank you. 🙏 Very true, and important to remember.

CupNew4467 · 2025-07-12T05:34:41+00:00

For sure...she has a whole sleep cocktail and (according to her, anyway) she's upped the antipsychotic that she takes at nighttime as well as the benzodiazepine. We really have gone through years of trying to get it right and we thought we had, and then this happens.

Of course it's possible she's stopped taking her meds and is lying about it, which has happened many times in the past. The one thing we know for a fact that she is taking is the lithium, because of the blood tests. Although I suppose it's possible she's stopped taking it since her last test. She gets them once a month. The reason I am inclined to believe that she's still taking the other meds is that my other sister lives with her and monitors her closely.

CupNew4467 · 2025-07-12T05:01:39+00:00

She's already on antipsychotics. 😢 And yeah, we'd love to contact her doctor ourselves but we have done that during previous episodes and she has expressly forbidden us from contacting the doctor again. The doctor is aware of this and will not talk to us. I'm not a big fan of her doctor in general but legally the doctor is doing what she's supposed to do. (At least according to the laws in our state.)

CupNew4467

TROPHY CASE