Re: HYB: handling pollen

  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Bill Chaney
  Inspired by all of the advice and discussion here,
  I am making some more serious plans for this years crosses.  Some of these
  will definitely involve crosses from pants blooming rather far apart in
time.
  I have seen references to freezing pollen, but how long can iris pollen be
  stored in a cool dry place?  What type of containers do people find work
best
  for moving pollen around in the garden?  When I was doing considerable rose
  hybridizing, I used baby food jars, but the volume of pollen was quite a
bit
  higher.  Any suggestions?


  Hi Bill,

  I've had stored, frozen pollen remain viable as long 2 years. (On the
countertop, out of direct sun, it can remain viable for at least a week or two
as long as the weather is dry.)

  For long term storage, I use black plastic film canisters along with a
desiccant capsule once the pollen has been air dried. The canisters are
labeled and popped into a Ziploc freezer bag before being consigned to the
coldest part of the freezer.

  I make crosses as early in the morning as possible, finding that the
humidity and cooler temps at that time seem to help. Crosses made during the
heat of the day have been much less successful.

  Christy Hensler
  The Rock Garden
  www.povn.com/rock/

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off this list, send email to majordomo@hort.net with the
message text UNSUBSCRIBE IRIS
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index