Blooms but no babies

My tomatoes, eggplant and zucchini have all had blooms but they don't appear to be getting pollinated. The tomoatoes have tons of blooms but nothing yet and everything looks really healthy. Could it be that all the rain and wind we have been having are keeping the bees away?

The rain and wind may well be discouraging the bees; good news is that the tomatoes, at least, don't need them.

Tomatoes have what are called "perfect" flowers, with both male and female elements in the same package, so that each flower can pollinate itself. They do, however, benefit from a little help. The perfect encouragement is from a bumblebee, which vibrates at an ideal rate for shaking pollen from the male part to the female part. I had very good results last year from periodically visiting my tomatoes with a battery-powered vibrating toothbrush. Hold the back of the brush to a stem near a cluster of flowers, and the shake so fast they blur.

My husband made many amusing remarks about what I do with tomatoes. :D

Last year, I panicked when my zucchinis first began flowering and I saw no bees. I was told several times over that the first wave of flowers is all, or mostly, male, and just be patient. I still hand-pollinated female flowers as they came in, just to be sure. There are several ways to do this: I just brushed a male stamen with my finger, got some yellow powder on it, then brushed that off on a female pistil.

There may be bees that you don't see. Other insects, like flies and ants and butterflies, do help pollinate too -- not as well as bees, but possibly enough for home gardens. I was worried when our strawberries began blooming while the weather was still cool and there weren't many insects around. I cannot hand-pollinate strawberries, other than ruffling the foliage occasionally. But the fruit is tarting to swell, so *something* did the job.

Thanks!! I didn't know that about tomatoes - but since those are what we enjoy the most from the garden I feel much better. Think I will get out there with a toothbrush. I am sure my DH will have quite a few things to say as well ^_^

Instad of a toothbrush a fine paintbrush would be much better and not hurt the flower!

Toamtoes and eggplant, when the air is very still sometimes benefit from shaking the plant. If you have wind to shake the plant they take care of themselves. About the only vegetables in a home garden that you need to worry about bees and hand pollinate are cucurbits( squash, cucumbers, melons, watermelons) Strawberries are a different category, but they also take care of themselves.

Tplant, I don't use the toothbrush directly on the flower, to transfer pollen! I just use it to vibrate the flowers. I set the head of the toothbrush against the stem, very lightly; the flowers aren't even directly touched, and the stem isn't "scrubbed." :)

Thanks, Farmerdill, I'll try my toothbrush on the eggplant, too -- if the weather ever warms up to set it out!

I mostly grow the "burpless" cucumbers, that don't require pollinating at all. I would be intimidated trying to hand-pollinate them. Cucumber flowers are much smaller than squash flowers, and I can't even see the grains of pollen.