Is now the time to take Tomato Lover to one side and have that talk….you know .…the one about the birds and the bees ? Except that, PHEW, it’s not. It’s not because when it comes to tomatoes, the birds and bees don’t really come into it.
Because:
A single tomato flower contains male and female reproductive parts which makes it self fertilizing.
So here’s my understanding on how it all happens in the wonderful world of tomatoes. Each tomato flower comprises a :
Stamen. The male reproductive part of the flower. The Stamen comprises two parts. The Filament (stalk like) and at its tip a saclike container. This saclike container is the Anther.
The Anther holds the pollen grain and sheds pollen through tiny pores. The pollen must be loosened from the anthers to drop down on to the Stigma.
The Stigma is part of the Pistil.
The Pistil is the female reproductive part of the flower and comprises three parts. The Style, the Stigma and the Ovary.
The Style is the long stalk in the middle of the flower.
At the end of which is found:
The Stigma, designed to retain the falling pollen. It’s bumpy, sticky and protrudes. The Stigma receives the pollen grain and from that point on the wheels are set in motion for fruit to form which happens in the Ovary.
The Ovary is found at the base of the flower. When the Ovary begins to swell that’s a tomato growing. A whole new fruit, full of seeds.
Seeds by which the tomato plant can reproduce itself.
The plant’s mission is complete!
Next week I’ll look at pollination in more detail and see how we might need to lend a helping hand .
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