Anyone ever try this?
However, even if conditions are less than ideal, it never hurts to try anyway. Oftentimes, you can simply shake the plant(s) gently to distribute the pollen. However, you may achieve better results by giving the vine a little vibrating instead. While you can purchase commercial pollinators or electric vibrator devices to hand pollinate tomatoes, a simple battery-operated toothbrush is really all you need. The vibrations cause the flowers to release pollen. Techniques for hand pollinating vary, so use whatever method works best for you. Some people simply place the vibrating device (toothbrush) just behind the open flowers and gently blow on or shake the plant to distribute the pollen. Others prefer to collect the pollen in a small container and use a cotton swab to carefully rub the pollen directly onto the end of the flower stigma. Hand pollination is usually practiced every two to three days to ensure pollination occurs. Upon successful pollination, the flowers will wilt and begin fruiting.
Read more at Gardening Know How: Steps To Pollinate Tomatoes By Hand
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/tomato/pollinate-tomatoes.htm
Turns out Dave just needs a vibrator. HAH! Or some bees.
Interesting stuff on Wiki, says pretty what you said. They're not self pollinating.
Pollination
In the wild, original state, tomatoes required cross-
pollination; they were much more
self-incompatible than domestic cultivars. As a floral device to reduce selfing, the
pistil of wild tomatoes extends farther out of the flower than today's cultivars. The
stamens were, and remain, entirely within the closed
corolla.
As tomatoes were moved from their native areas, their traditional
pollinators, (probably a species of
halictid bee) did not move with them.
[71] The trait of self-fertility became an advantage, and domestic
cultivars of tomato have been selected to maximize this trait.
[71]
This is not the same as
self-pollination, despite the common claim that tomatoes do so. That tomatoes pollinate themselves poorly without outside aid is clearly shown in
greenhouse situations, where pollination must be aided by artificial wind, vibration of the plants (one brand of
vibrator is a wand called an "electric bee" that is used manually), or more often today, by cultured
bumblebees.
[72] The
anther of a tomato flower is shaped like a hollow tube, with the
pollen produced within the structure, rather than on the surface, as in most species. The pollen moves through pores in the anther, but very little pollen is shed without some kind of externally-induced motion. The ideal vibratory frequencies to release pollen grains are provided by an insect, such as a bumblebee, or the original wild halictid pollinator, capable of engaging in a behavior known as
buzz pollination, which
honey bees cannot perform. In an outdoors setting, wind or animals usually provide sufficient motion to produce commercially viable crops.
