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Pollination is key to life on Earth! About 80% of all flowering plant pollination relies on insects and animals to transfer the pollen grains from one flower to another. Without pollinators like bees, butterflies, and even birds, plants would not produce the food necessary for everything to eat!
Learning about the processes of pollination can give you a better understanding of the working systems in the ecosystem around you and help you become a more thoughtful steward of the planet. So, let’s dive in and discuss why is pollination important!
It has been said that if someone understands bees, then they understand how nature works. With this knowledge, we can choose more pollinator-friendly flowers, avoid practices that harm beneficial insects, and create spaces where pollinators can thrive.
The more we know about pollination, the better equipped we are to support healthy gardens, abundant harvests, and the incredible network of life that makes it all possible. I hope you will use the following resources to help the pollinators in your area:
Every living organism needs to reproduce to ensure future generations. One of the most common ways that plants achieve this is by producing seeds.
For many flowering plants, this process begins with pollen being transferred between flowers of the same plant species. Pollination is the act of transferring pollen grains from one plant’s anther (the male part of a flower) to another plant’s stigma (the female part of a flower).
The terms pollination and fertilization are often used synonymously when referring to plant reproduction, but there are key differences between the two. Fertilization happens when the male and female gametes come together to make a zygote that will become its own plant. Fertilization of plants comes after pollination.
When you think of pollinators, who are the first helpers that come to mind? Bees and butterflies?
While they are both key players in pollination, the pollination process can be also be carried out by other insects, animals, wind, or even people! (Read this blog post to learn how to hand pollinate.)
Types of pollinators are broken up into two different categories, biotic and abiotic. Biotic pollination relies on living creatures to transfer pollen while abiotic pollination relies on non-living forces of nature.
There are plant species that can pollinate themselves by having both the male and female anatomy in each flower. These plants can rely on abiotic means of pollination, such as wind. A brisk shake of the plant will transfer the pollen grains from the anther to the stigma within the same flower.
An example of this type of plant is a tomato plant! To hand-pollinate tomato flowers, tap the top of each flower for about 5 to 7 seconds. This mimics bees or wind causing vibrations that drop the pollen from the male portion of the flower down into the female portion of the flower.
There are other plant species that produce both male and female flowers on the same plant and therefore can reproduce with only one plant. Take squash, for instance. You can plant only one acorn squash plant, and it will still produce delicious fruit for you when bees carry pollen from one flower to another.
And still other plants cannot reproduce without a partner, like tomatillos. Have you ever put just one tomatillo plant into your garden and watched the foliage just take off throughout the season, yet there was no fruit in sight? Tomatillo plants need a second plant for successful pollination and fruit set!
As a gardener, we hear the term cross-pollination, and most often it has a negative connotation as it relates to seed saving. And it is true that if you want to grow heirloom varieties that remain the same and are unaffected by cross-pollination, seed saving will be more complicated than if you don't mind growing hybrids. (Read this article to learn the difference between types of seeds, like hybrid and heirloom.)
But cross-pollination is not a bad thing. Cross-pollination simply refers to the act of pollen grains being taken from the flower on one plant to the flower of another. Successful cross-pollination generally occurs within the same species or closely related species.
Therefore, pollen from eggplants cannot pollinate a melon plant. Pumpkins, however, can cross-breed with nearby zucchinis. This creates pump-chini seeds, and trust me when I say, pump-chinis do not taste good, and they make ugly Jack O' Lanterns!
Now that we understand what pollination is, we need to know why pollination is important.
It is not an exaggeration to say that pollinators are essential to all life. To quote the US Department of Agriculture, “[Pollination] is an essential ecological survival function. Without pollinators, the human race and all of earth's terrestrial ecosystems would not survive.”
Quite simply, without pollinators flowering plants cannot reproduce, ecosystems begin to lose the plants that prevent erosion, produce oxygen, and clean the air, and insects, animals, and people lose a large portion of their food supply.
As gardeners, we are each in a great position to influence our local pollinators! Here are some practical ways you can support and increase beneficial pollinators where you garden:
Without pollinators, the worldwide food supply will dwindle.
After insects (like bees, flies, moths, butterflies, and beetles), bats and birds are the next most prolific pollinators.
Luke Marion
Luke Marion created MIgardener in 2011 with a passion for inspiring others to grow a garden, live healthier lives, and have fun doing it. With the help of social media, that was all made possible! Today, MIgardener can be found on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. We believe gardening should be made fun and accessible to anyone of any skill level. Our slogan, “Grow Big or Go Home,” was created to help drive home our mission. We believe that when you put 100% effort into something, you will get 110% back.
Comments
I have been plant alot of flowers this year, but I still am not attracting enough pollinators to my vining crops. I didn’t have any luck in hand pollinating either. It seem I had a lot of male flowers but no female ones. My plants were beautiful. I think i’mgonna give up on vine crops. I’m very frustrated.
This is a very important article for every gardener to read. Thank you – I definitely have learned alot from this! My garden thanks you.
We are creating a pollination garden, a sunflower garden, planting all kind of pollinator plants around our garden, we stopped spraying our yard. We are working with the animals and bugs, instead of against. Do it! You won’t be disappointed!!
