It's best to pollinate just before the flowers have opened. If they've opened, you're probably going to have self-fertilization. However, since you're doing a PL x RL cross, it really doesn't matter as long as you can grow out enough seedlings to select the hybrids. Even if self-fertilization occurs, pollen from other tomatoes can still pollinate the flower. That's your ace in the hole! Make the PL plant the "female" and the RL plant the "male." Even if the "female" self-pollinates, some of the seeds will be hybrids if you transfer pollen during that window of opportunity when the flower is about to open or has just opened. This will work because you're using the presence of regular leaves as a marker of hybridization in the seedlings. I would try to transfer the pollen just before the flower has opened, but since you're doing a PL x RL cross, you have more "fudge" room. If all of your seedlings have regular leaves, you know your emasculation and fertilization were successful. If your seed is mixed with PL and RL seedlings, then you know you waited too long to prevent self-fertilization but not too long to prevent cross-pollenization. Of course, if you have many varieties in close proximity, any plant could be the father, but the odds of this are small if you keep the blossoms bagged just before the flower opens through a few days after hybridization.

Best of luck,
Scott

I can't tell what's going on in the first picture. Sorry. Too fuzzy.

In the second picture, I've emasculated flowers as far gone as the one on the left and still gotten a good cross. If you emasculated the bud on the right at an even earlier stage, great.

What I do is emasculate one or two of the most robust and best supported green buds in a cluster and wait two or three days until the other buds that were of about the same stage and in the same cluster almost open fully and indicate almost readiness to self-pollinate. Then I remove them from the cluster so the only thing left is the one or two emasculated and waiting pistils.

Then I carry two, three or four blossoms over from the pollen donor plant and apply pollen using the plucked donor blossoms like Q-tips and very gently apply pollen to the receiving stigma. Then I break open the anther cones on the donor blossoms and carefully smear some more pollen on the receiving stigma. I do this two or three days in a row at about midday.

Look on page 3 of This PDF and in photo number 4 ... that's about the stage of blossom that I try to emasculate then wait 2 - 3 days to pollinate.

I most frequently am successful emasculating blossoms of beefsteak types like Cherokee Purple, Brandywine, etc. where the blossoms are nice fat daisies like the one with the fat pistil you show in the second picture of your original post.

And yes, I like to use the potato leaf parent as the seed parent and then whatever more delicate flowered and regular leaf variety as the pollen donor. But then I've had success with Juane Flammee x Sungold and Indian Stripe x Sungold too. Just had to wait 'til the fruit showed size and color in the first and until the flowers showed cherry trusses in the second. However, either of those two crosses were detectible as successes by the aroma of the leaves almost matching Sungold.

Another thing ... do a bunch of attempts on each of your pairings since not all of them will take, especially where you accidentally bruise the pistils. Also, I keep the seed from each individual cross stored separately and labeled like CP x Bradley 07A, CP x Bradley 07B, etc. just in case I got stray pollen or a no-cross on one of my attempts.

Good luck ... it's great fun.

Bill

Good stuff hoosier.

1. Was I correct in doing microscopic surgery on the first set of buds?
I can't tell in the first pic. The flower on the left in the 2nd pic is a little late, but could still be okay. It looks like the flower on the right might be about right. You want to try to get it right before it opens.

2. When should I attempt to pollenate the buds?
A couple or three days after anther removal. In other words about the time it would open up.

3. Can you actually see pollen as it falls? If you mean off the male, only if it is dry enough. I've grown plants indoors without a fan and shook a cluster and have seen the pollen come flying out in a little dust cloud. That rarely happens outdoors.

4. What is the likelihood that in a garden where tomatoes are only given about a square foot, there will be pollination between neighbors (I have heard that a second pollination is possible even after self pollination).
   Dr. Jeff McCormick: "Close interplanting of two tomato varieties may typically produce 2-5% NCP; however, factors such as long style length, frequent visitation of tomato flowers by bees and suitable environmental conditions may produce much higher NCP values. Various studies have reported values of 12, 15, 26, and 47% NCP values in interplanted tomatoes. The wide range of results reflects the influence of different methods and variables used in these studies; however, it is clear that NCP values can be high under the right conditions." BTW, NCP = natural cross pollination. So, the answer is it depends, but with them that close you're probability is higher bacause the flowers can come in contact with each other or right above each other where the wind could cause the pollen to fall into an awaiting flower below.

When I first tried I had to pollinate about a bazillion flowers before I could get one to set fruit. Okay maybe a bazillion is an exaggeration. I've always had problems getting pollen so I planted several "father" plants. And, when I first tried I pulled everything, the only thing left was the sepal. After a few attempts I got it though. I started with magnifier glasses and tweasers. After a little practice I could do it with my reading glasses and fingers.

Good luck.

Randy

Wow, thanks. This was a lot of help. My parents just dropped off a Brandywine plant so I have one PL Brandywine. I would like to do a Cherry X Brandywine and a Tula X Brandywine but with one plant, I am a little hesitant to mutilate buds if the chances of success are small. How many buds do you all typically attempt before you get a good cross? I am just trying to figure out if it is worth it for a novice like me to attempt this on my sole Brandywine or if I should just leave that plant alone and enjoy the few fruits I get off of it (as I hear Brandywine is not the most prolific).

Thanks Again,
Scott