Q.SUGAR APPLE POLLINATION/ REPLY PLEASE
I HAVE HEARD THAT SUGAR APPLE TREE NEEDS HAND POLLINATION. I HAVE 3 OVER 2 YEARS YOUNG PLANTS. I AM IN ZONE 9 TEXAS. ALL THREE PLANTS HAVE SO MANY FLOWERS THIS YEAR. BUT THEY JUST GET DRIED OUT AND WILL FALL OFF AFTER DRYING OUT. I HAVE WATCHED HAND POLLINATION ON YOU TUBE AND IT SEEMS VERY HARD AND CONFUSING FOR ME.
CAN ANYONE PLEASE TELL ME? CAN I GET FRUITS WITHOUT HAND POLLINATION FROM THESE PLANTS? I MEAN IF I LEAVE THEM ALONE NEXT YEAR THEY WILL BE MORE MATURE THEN WOULD THEY PRODUCE SOME FRUITS??
PLEASE ADVISE
Hand pollination of sugar apple is possible and may be very effective in improving fruit set (up to nearly 100%) and fruit shape. In general, pollen is collected from stamens of flowers in the male stage, which may be late afternoon, early evening, and early morning. The collected flower may be placed on paper where the anthers (male flower parts) are allowed to dehisce (release pollen). The next morning the pollen may be mixed with talcum powder to improve handling and transferred to flowers in the female stage of development. Hand pollination is usually most successful in the early to mid-morning hours (sunrise to about 11:00 am) and is done by using a thin paint brush (like the brush found in water color paint set) to transfer pollen through the slightly open flower petals of the female stage flowers to the stigmatic surfaces at the base of the flower.