Hand pollination is a great way to get your fruit trees to produce better, more abundant harvests. It partly substitutes for natural pollinators, such as bees, butterflies, and birds—which is ...

Many plants need to be pollinated to produce fruits or seeds to make more plants. But if pollinators are scarce in your area or you're growing fruit-bearing plants indoors, hand-pollinating is ...

Tickling your tomato blossoms and brushing your squash flowers probably aren’t regular tasks on your gardening to-do list, but it turns out that hand pollination, in league with natural processes, can ...

Here's when to start your seeds so you can get your germinated tomato plants in the ground on time when the weather warms up. The difference between a home-grown and store-bought tomato is like ...

Q. My cucumber and squash are not setting fruit even though the plants appear healthy. I’m not seeing many bees. Can this be part of my problem? A. More than likely this is the result of incomplete ...

A blowfly on lavender flowers. Flies are the unsung heroes of pollination. They visit flowers to stoke up on energy-rich nectar and protein-rich pollen and transport pollen from flower to flower in ...

Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET. When not wallowing in weird gear and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto.