How to Hand-pollinate Citrus Indoors

Indoor citrus trees provide a fresh source of citrus in areas with cold winter temperatures, as long as you take the time to hand-pollinate the trees so they produce fruit. Insects play an important role in pollinating trees outside, requiring you to play this role of transferring the pollen to the stigma inside the flower if you want a fruit to form on your indoor tree. Successful pollination is followed by the petals falling off the blossom with the formation of an ovary that eventually grows into a citrus fruit.

Cotton swab or paintbrush
Small fan

Instructions

- 1
  Collect the yellow pollen from the male anthers on a clean cotton swab or small paintbrush.
- 2
  Transfer the pollen to the female stigma in the center of the flower blossom by dabbing it with the cotton swab or paintbrush. You will see the yellow pollen sticking to the stigma.
- 3
  Shake the cotton swab or paintbrush after dabbing the stigma to release plenty of pollen into the flower.
- 4
  Repeat the transfer of pollen on as many blossoms as possible to force pollination and the production of fruit.
- 5
  Place a small fan near the tree and set it on low to help move pollen from the anthers to the stigma after hand-pollination.
- 6
  Verify the tree is in a room with a southern exposure and a temperature around 70 degrees Fahrenheit during the day. Citrus trees grow best with 8 to 12 hours of filtered sunlight each day.

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