Re: Saving Pollen

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El,

I typically harvest the anthers and place them in a small, snap-topped vial with dessicating gel and a small cotton-wool stopper to seperate them. Then into the refrigerator, if I plan to use it the same season. One can freeze pollen for use in the next season, although I have found iris pollen not very long lived. The real trick is to keep the pollen dry! At room temperature it has a life of maybe 48 hours, from my experience.

When I dab pollen, I use a cotton swab or lift the anther with a pair of fine tweezers and dust the stigmatic lamella. This is best with smaller species/cultivars, but one often drops or breaks the anther, thus loosing the pollen. Can get tricky.

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Jamie V.

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KÃln (Cologne)
Germany
Zone 8 

Am 14.01.2011 16:30, schrieb Eleanor Hutchison:

Morning all.

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Since we're all gearing up for the 2011 bloom season, does anyone have tips and tricks for saving and storing pollen? Plus, if you're mailing it to someone else, how are you doing that?

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Thank you!

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El, Ste Anne, Manitoba, Canada Z3