buds open, pollination ensues

The tomato buds have opened and I now have many many beautiful yellow flowers in my greenhouses.



Thankfully, most tomato plants have complete flowers and can self-pollinate with a little encouragement.  A few taps with a stick a couple of times a day is supposedly sufficient for self-pollinating plants.

Pollinating:

The Greenhouse Gardener's Companion says that the morning is, for some reason, the best time to pollinate, but I've found that the flowers aren't always fully open yet early in the morning, and have had better luck with afternoon and evening pollination.

It's so exciting to tap on the bright yellow flowers and see the pollen drift out!  I don't know how long it takes for the flowers to be pollinated and the fruit to emerge, or if I'm even doing it right.  I guess I'll find out if the flowers close up and fall off without producing tomatoes.  As more and more flowers open, I'm becoming increasingly appreciative of the constant work of the bees in my summer garden.

heat mat installed

So I made it to the local hydroponics store this evening and purchased a 20W Super Sprouter Seedling Heating Mat for $30. It's the same size as the seed flat (about 10" x 20") and claims to "warm the temperature of the rooting area 10-20F above the ambient air temperature." Since I think it's currently around 60F on that shelf, it seems it should work out well for the tomato plants germinating there.
I also would like to amend a previous post in which I stated that "the worst that could happen [in planting the tomato plants so early] is that they flower before it's warm enough for them to be taken outside and pollinated." I found out tonight at the hydroponics store that I seemingly know very little about pollination and which types of vegetables require pollination assistance (as in from various bees). Apparently, most types of tomato plants do not require cross-pollination and can pollinate themselves with the help of some shaking. For the more difficult species, pollination can be accomplished through vibrating the flowers in any of a number of ways (electric toothbrush, for example). I'm looking forward to reading more about pollination in general, and how it pertains to the plants I'll be growing in particular.