How to Pollinate House Plants

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Overview

Normally plants are pollinated by birds, insects and the wind. Pollination is how plants reproduce in the form of seedpods. However, houseplants do not have that luxury. If you wish to pollinate houseplants, you either have to set them outside and hope for the best or you can do it yourself. Pollinating houseplants by hand isn't difficult as long as you have male and female flowers to work with.

Step 1

Identify the male and female flowers on your houseplants. The male flowers will have a stamen with pollen in it while female flowers will have a stigma to receive the pollen.

Step 2

Cut the male flowers from the houseplant with the scissors.

Step 3

Rub the face of the male flower on the face of the female flowers, making sure the stamen is rubbed on the female flower's stigma to ensure pollinating.

Tips and Warnings

Be sure the male flower is ready to deliver pollen before you cut it from the houseplant. Touch the stamen with your finger. If there is pollen on your finger the flower is ready.

Things You'll Need

Scissors

References

Pumpkin Nook: Pollination

Who Can Help

Genetics for Seed Savers: Hand Pollination

Keywords: pollinate houseplants, pollinating houseplants by hand, houseplants

About this Author

Hollan Johnson is a freelance writer for many online publications including Garden Guides and eHow. She is also a contributing editor for Brighthub. She has been writing freelance for over a year and her focus' are travel, gardening, sewing, and Mac computers. Prior to freelance writing, Hollan taught English in Japan. She has a B.A. in linguistics from the University of Las Vegas, Nevada.