I couldn't get peppers to grow on my balcony until I tried this one weird trick

For three seasons I kept getting beautiful pepper plants with zero fruit. I tried bigger pots, more fertilizer, even talked to them. Then a guy at the local garden center said to brush the flowers with a q-tip to pollinate them myself. I thought he was joking but tried it last July and got 12 jalapenos from one plant! The problem was no bees 5 floors up apparently. Has anyone else had to play beekeeper for their balcony tomatoes or squash?

2 comments

2 Comments

finley_lopez981mo ago

Haha yep my buddy had to hand pollinate his tomatoes too, weird but it worked!

butler.brian1mo ago

Yeah I read this article from some university extension office that said hand pollinating can actually give you bigger harvests than relying on bugs alone. Something about the way you can really get in there and make sure every single flower gets covered. I tried it on my cherry tomatoes last year after seeing zero fruit for weeks. Worked like a charm. Now I keep a little paintbrush in my gardening kit just for that.