What is artificial pollination and why would my orchard need it?

Artificial pollination, put simply, is where human input is used in the natural pollination process.

For effective pollination to occur, pollen from a male flower must be transported by a pollinator to the female flower's stigma.

In nature, bees (or perhaps bumble bees, moths, flies, or other insects even wind) are our natural pollinators. Historically, kiwifruit growers bring bee hives to their orchards to boost their pollination potential during the pollination period.

But as you may know, the apiary industry is facing adversity from every direction. We’re at a time where there is more pressure than ever on beekeepers, and for many growers, it is becoming difficult to reliably source effective hives.

When kiwifruit are in flower, the Gold3 flowers are viable for approximately 2 days, and Green flowers for approximately 7 days.

During those days of full bloom, a bee would need to visit each Gold flower approximately 9 times to effectively pollinate that flower and produce good quality fruit. For Green kiwifruit, bee visit numbers are even higher - approximately 40 bee visits per flower.

But, if the bloom of your male flowers isn’t synchronised with the bloom of your female flowers, then it doesn’t matter how many bee visits occur, you won’t achieve effective pollination.

Other factors heavily influence the effectiveness of natural pollination process too.

Bees will struggle to pollinate when there is inclement weather (they won’t fly in the rain, cold, or high wind), if your vines are enclosed under hail netting (the bees find it difficult to navigate), or if there’s just poor bee health in general.

Achieving effective pollination can quickly become a high-stakes game. That’s why artificial pollination can be so important.

It’s your little insurance policy that can offer a lot of peace of mind.

What is dry application?

Dry application is when harvested male kiwifruit pollen is blown around within the orchard environment. 

The theory is that the additional pollen in the environment invigorates the bees to work harder.

Additionally because there is more male pollen available to the bees, it can make the work of the bees more effective. Which may mean that the bees require fewer visits to each flower to achieve effective pollination.

It’s important to note though, that dry pollination is heavily reliant on bees picking up the very precious grains of pollen to transport the male pollen to the female flowers to achieve effective pollination and once pollen is unfrozen its viability is reducing.

What is wet application and how does it work?

Wet application is the process of spraying harvested male kiwifruit pollen directly onto the stigma of female flowers to achieve effective pollination. No bees are required in this pollination process.

How does it work?

We take your dehydrated, male kiwifruit pollen and rehydrate it very gently in a completely deionised water with the addition of an osmotic buffer solution we form a live pollen suspended solution which can be applied.

Every grain of pollen is surrounded by a membrane. If you were to rehydrate the pollen in a solution without an osmotic buffer, the grains of pollen would absorb water to quickly - essentially they burst, and that pollen would no longer be viable.

If you rehydrate with water that is not completely deionised the ions can rupture the very fragile membrane - essentially they burst, and that pollen would no longer be viable.

Because of the fragile state of the pollen, we pride ourselves on our gentle application process to ensure that every grain of pollen remains viable.

As we like to say, we do justice to every grain of pollen.

• At Prime Pollination we use our own, scientifically curated, deionised water supply in forming your pollen suspended solution with the aid of Kiwi Pollens proven osmotic buffer solution.

When the osmotic membrane layer around the grain of pollen is rehydrating, if there is any ions in that water, it will effectively poke a hole in that membrane and render that grain of pollen non-viable.

Effective pollen rehydration requires the use of Medical Grade Deionised Water

Prime Pollinations own deionisation process ensures that you get exactly that.

Nothing but pure water.

• The pollen-suspended solution is then applied directly to the female flower stigmas using the Kiwi Pollen ATV Mounted PollenAidⓇ Wet Sprayer.

This scientifically proven machine uses industry-leading application technology that is gentle on the pollen molecules, allowing for maximum efficacy, and utilising every grain of pollen.

The pollen solution is gently introduced into a cone of air, we utilise a very large volume of air at a minimum pressure allowing for the introduction of pollen into the air steam to be as gentle as possible and again not rupture the fragile pollen membrane. (No quick pressure change which could damage the pollen)

This volume of air lifts the pollen solution to the flowers delivering live pollen to the stigma providing effective pollination 

The solution is blown very gently, but powerfully, through patented airshear nozzles that produce a fine and even mist of pollen spray.

This delivery mechanism achieves more optimally sized droplets directly to the flower stigmas.

This means that we can pollinate your orchard in:

✔ high winds

✔ cold temperatures

✔ rain

✔ under hail netting or low bee activity

✔ poor male synchrony

Where do you get the pollen from?

Growers typically will supply pollen for their orchards. However we would like to recommend that you source your pollen from our partners at Kiwi Pollen New Zealand. It is good to get in touch early and secure your pollen supply.

Upon confirmation of your booking, Prime Pollination will take you through all the necessary steps for storing and preparing your pollen before application.

How much pollen will I need?

Green flowers require more pollen to be fully pollenated green growers often apply anywhere between 200-400gms of pollen per canopy hectare.

For Gold growers, the flowers need less pollen to achieve effective pollination, so we recommend minimum 150-200gms of pollen per canopy hectare. However the flowers are only viable for a shorter period so in many cases multiple applications are required.

What is the process?

The process is simple.

• Complete the [request a quote] form and be sure to include:

• Your full bloom dates.

• The number of canopy hectares to be pollinated.

• Your orchard map.

• The row width of the orchard to be pollinated.

• Prime Pollination will then follow up with a phone call to discuss your pollination plan.

• Your pollination plan will cover:

• The instructions for preparing your pollen prior to pollination.

• Your communication plan for identifying your orchard’s readiness for pollination.

• The action plan for the day of pollination.

Will I need more than one application?

This is an individual decision to be made by each grower and/or manager.

Typically, Gold growers tell us that they find the wet application process to be most effective with multiple rounds of application.

What a lot of our Gold growers do, is space the applications two days apart. The first application is applied when 60-80% of the flowers are in bloom, and then again when 100% are in bloom.

For Green growers, it is less important because Green flowers are viable for a lot longer (around 7 days vs Gold flowers at around 3 days). So one, heavier application, is usually sufficient.

Is this wet application only for G3 Gold Kiwifruit?

No definitely not. All kiwifruit varieties will benefit from Prime Pollination of wet pollination - Gold, Green, and Red.

What is a Kiwi Pollen ATV Mounted PollenAidⓇ Wet Sprayer?

The Technical Details:

• Suitable for larger side by side ATVs, can be modified for medium ATVs

• Footprint Dimensions: 1220mm W x 870mm D

• Weight: 220 kg approx.

• Pollen Concentration: Anything between 150 – 800 grams per hectare

• Tank Capacity: 120 litres

• Boom Width: Adjustable, Full width: 3.8 m (outside angled nozzles) effective to ~4.5 m

• Boom Height: Adjustable to suit your canopy

What is deionised water?

At Prime Pollination we use our own, scientifically curated, deionised water supply in our pollen suspension solution.

When the osmotic layer around the grain of pollen is rehydrating, if there is ions in the water, it will effectively poke a hole in that membrane and render that grain of pollen non-viable.

Effective pollination requires the use of Medical Grade Deionised Water.

Prime Pollination’s own deionisation process ensures that you get exactly that.

Nothing but pure water.