Hello Jon. Yes it was my understanding that Chris used a systemic spray. It does sound like it is possible to parthenocarpic induce fruit set in sterile fruit with out natural pollen. We likely tried something that was available at his nursery like tomato set spray or a sales person from one of his vendors recommended a spray. Here is some information. When I have time I will give this a try? Best http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/forums/showthread.php?p=21254 Tomato Fruit Set Spray User Name Remember Me? Password Register FAQ Links DB Calendar Today's Posts Search HortBoard If you are unsure about where to post your question, post it here in the Hortboard forum. New to gardening questions welcome! Search Forums Show Threads Show Posts Advanced Search Go to Page... Thread Tools #1 July 1st, 2005 Megami Generous Contributor (100+ posts) Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 166 Tomato Fruit Set Spray -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What is tomato fruit set spray and how/why does it work? Thanks! Megami View Public Profile Visit Megami's homepage! Find all posts by Megami #2 July 13th, 2005 Unregistered Posts: n/a Re: Tomato Fruit Set Spray -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The active ingredient is the man-made auxin (hormone) 4-Chlorophenoxyacetic acid (4-CPA) that is well known to promote fruit set commercially. Bio101--Why it works: "...Fertilization within the ovules stimulates the ovary enclosing them to begin growing into a fruit. Within a few days the ovary begins to swell. This is called the fruit set. Fruit development is under the influence of the plant hormones auxin and gibberellin. Pollen is one of the richest natural sources of auxin, so it is thought that the initial stimulus to fruit growth comes simply from the auxin to which the pistil is exposed as a result of pollination. Applying the hormone auxin or gibberellin to the ovaries of flowers can induce a fruit to develop without pollination or fertilization. This is called a parthenocarpic fruit and is, of course, seedless." http://www.crfg.org/tidbits/gibberellic.html Gibberellic Acid for Fruit Set and Seed Germination John M. Riley The following information is taken from a article by John M. Riley that appeared in the 1987 CRFG Journal (vol. 19, pp. 10-12). See the back issue information for price and ordering information. The Germination Process The first stage of germination consists of ingesting water and an awakening or activation of the germ plasma. Protein components of the cells that were formed as the seed developed, became inactive as it matured. After an uptake of water, the system is reactivated and protein synthesis resumes. Enzymes and hormones appear and begin to digest reserve substances in the storage tissues and to translocate the digested substances in the storage tissues to the growing points of the embryo. The sequence of the metabolic pattern than occurs during germination involves the activation of specific enzymes at the proper time and regulation of their activity. Control is exercised by four classes of plant hormones: inhibitors such as abscissic acid which block germination; auxins which control root formation and growth; the gibberellins which regulate protein synthesis and stem elongation; and cytokinins that control organ differentiation. Ethylene is also believed to have a control function in some plants. Sometimes the last three controls are used together to crash through dormancy in germinating difficult seed. Gibberellic Acid Gibberellic acid (actually a group of related substances called gibberellins) was discovered as a metabolic byproduct of the fungus Gibberella fujikuroi, which causes the stems of growing rice to elongate so rapidly the plant collapsed. Synthetic forms of gibberellic acid are available commercially. Gibberellic acid (GA) is a very potent hormone whose natural occurrence in plants controls their development. Since GA regulates growth, applications of very low concentrations can have a profound effect. Timing is critical: too much GA may have an opposite effect from that desired; too little may require the plant to be repeatedly treated to sustain desired levels of GA. Effects of Gibberellic Acid Overcoming dormancy. Treatment with high concentrations of GA is effective in overcoming dormancy and causing rapid germination of seed. Concentrations of about 2 ppm can cause tubers to sprout earlier. Premature flowering. If a plant is sufficiently developed, premature flowering may be induced by direct application of GA to young plants. This action is not sustained and treatment may have to be repeated. Formation of male flowers is generally promoted by concentrations of 10 to 200 ppm., female flowers by concentrations of 200 to 300 ppm. Concentrations of more than 600 ppm markedly suppresses initiation of both male and female flowers. Increased fruit set. When there is difficulty with fruit set because of incomplete pollination, GA may be effectively used to increase fruit set. The resulting fruit maybe partially or entirely seedless. GA has increased the total yield in greenhouse tomato crops both as a result of increased fruit set and more rapid growth of the fruit. Hybridizing. Pollination within self-incompatible clones and between closely related species may some times be forced by the application of GA and cytokinin to the blooms at the time of hand pollination. Increased growth. GA applied near the terminal bud of trees may increase the rate of growth by stimulating more or less constant growth during the season. In a Department of Agriculture experiment, the GA was applied as a 1% paste in a band around the terminal bud of trees. Treatment was repeated three times during the summer. Walnut tee growth was 8.5 ft. for treated trees, 1.5 ft. for untreated trees. Frost protection. Spraying fruit trees at full-blossom or when the blossoms begin to wither can offset the detrimental effects of frost. Root formation. GA inhibits the formation of roots in cuttings. Recipes Although GA is not listed as a "poison", the following precautions should be observed: Flush with water any GA that may get into the eye. Avoid skin contact if possible. If skin contact is suspected, wash with soap and water. Do not re-enter an area after spraying until the GA spray is fully dry. Avoid ingestion of GA. The powder may be dissolved as specified below to give the desired concentration. Concentration parts/million GA mg Water ml (cup) Purpose 50 125 2400 (10 1/2) Early flowering 200 125 600 (2 1/2) Early flowering 800 125 160 (2/3) Blossom set 2000 125 60 (1/4) Seed germination 1% paste 125 5 ml (1 tsp.) lanolin Growth promoter -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 1987,1997, California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc. Questions or comments? Contact us. http://www.super-grow.biz/GibberellicAcid.jsp#combine

I plan on all three. The latter will take some extra time and funding, though. I am currently deciding whether to use Aeroponics or Hydroponics for it. I have heard that Aero is slightly better but Hydro is more reliable. I live in Chicago so if there's a power outage like the ones from the Tornadoes the other day, then I don't want the plants to die. Aeroponics is often very hard to assemble individual parts into a well-working system, and the individual parts can be expensive as well. Also, the fine-spray emitters will instantly clog if you try to use anything except high quality hydroponic fertilizers (no organics). Of all the hydroponics growing systems, this is the most difficult to master and the most tempermental. Ph changes and nutrient imbalances occur more quickly because of the increased absorbtion rates and high levels of oxygenation. Furthermore, with no grow media to protect the roots, the plants react negatively to these changes much more quickly.

Nice overview. I would also recommend BACI's hydroponic FAQs for more detailed information. These are available by doing a search in this forum for "FAQ".

georgiii i like the pics. i saw what you were doing with the 2L bottles too, im definatly going to try that next spring (or if i do any winter sowing) I began quite humbly into hydroponics. my first attempt was a plastic trash can, and aquarium air pump and air stone, some airline tubing, a bag of playground sand, and some very diluted miracle-grow. i put the air stone in the bottom of the trashcan running airline tubing up the side to the pump, then i filled it with sand and poured in some water with very weak miracle grow into it. fired the air-pump up and instead of hydroponics i had made quick-sand. kind of disapointing but i was probably only 15 at the time so i guess i just didnt know any better. My next attempt was much more sucessful- i found some free plans for a system to grow herbs. so i followed the plans and built a contraption using a big "rubermaid" storage tote as a resivoire, a small aquarium pump and lamp timer, some 1" PVC pope, pipe fittings, and inverted 2L bottle "funnels" as the growing chambers. i used pea gravel this time as a media and ordered some "real hydroponic plantfood" to use as nutrients. i glued all the PVC fittings and pushed them together, let it dry for about 5 minutes and hooked up the water. it leaked from almost every single joint but the basic concept was there! i had made hydroponics! after using amazing amounts of glue and calk to try to seal up the leaks on the first contraption it worked really well. i grew all kinds of culinary herbs and was so proud of myself. (i was still 15 at the time) Next i wanted to design my own form of hydroponics. i had an idea for what i named a "constant drain ebb & flow" setup. basically water is pumped in through a big tube and out through an equally large tube but there is a small tube that is always draining the liquid and so when the pump is on more water goes in than the small tube can drain but when the pump cuts off on the timer, the small tube can drain the remaining nutrient solution. it worked pretty well but would occasionally clog up and because the nutrient was not returning to the tank i almost burned out the pump and drowned the plants. still a neat idea, but not an improvement over the standard ebb&flow system of draing the water backwards through the pump. i now had caught the bug. i attempted a few more systems with varying sucess. a "deep water" mint cloner was awesome. it was basically the same design as my quicksand bucket but with pea gravel instead of sand, and of course real nutrients for hydro instead of plant food for dirt being used. less sucessful was my salad towers. i used 4" PVC as columns with a 360* sprinkler nozzle at the top of each one. i added a large pump that had a "head" (maximum pumping height) that was unfortunatly not high enough to suport this type of system. i had planned to plant the outside of each colum (5 total) with different types of greens and be able to harvest one tower each week. i may try to go back to this when i get some time and money for a bigger pump. most recently i have been playing with "real" hydroponic stuff. i always bought nutrients and made everyhtign else i needed, but now i have ordered a few things that are made for hydroponics. a product called rockwool that is a spongy growing media made similar to fiberglass insulation but designed for plants. i also picked up a pH meter and a Total Disolved Solids meter to help monitor the water. I found a whole stack of pictures of what i have done, and i have 2 scanners and a printer with a built in scanner but i can not find the cords to hook any of them up (i just moved from an apartment into a house!) i swear the pics are coming. im sure i have them posted on a website/websites somewhere.