Re: HYB: Pollen Viability

From: HIPSource@aol.com

In a message dated 98-11-09 10:05:53 EST, you write:

<< He and I are wondering how long frozen pollen will be viable. 
 I checked the archives but am not very good at narrowing down the search 
 to find specific posts on how long pollen will be viable frozen >>

Sterling, I did a search using 'pollen AND freezing" and ticking all years and
pulled up some stuff . Some of the information concerned arilbreds and may not
transpose but here it is, cut and pasted, for what it may be worth. The simple
answer is it can last at least until the next year but Walta noted a
difference between spring pollen and fall pollen.  The thread "Storing Pollen"
is also useful.

Anner Whitehead
HIPSource@aol.com
--------------------------------
 [posted by Sharon]......Dennis wrote: 
  
 >  How long does pollen keep?  Do you have to refrigerate it?  Is there a= 
 ny  special technique to preserving pollen which you wish to use to 
 hybridize with another cultivar that blooms weeks, or even months later? 
  
 I don't have the definitive answer, 
 but have gotten seeds from year-old 
  pollen.  
  
 I keep it in open condiment cups for 
 about a week, until the anther is 
 thoroughly dry.  Then I cover the cup 
 and refrigerate it.  With this treatment, 
 it remains viable for many weeks. 
  
 To hold pollen over until the next year, 
 I freeze it.  Look at a few grains under 
 the microscope before freezing to be 
 sure the grains haven't become wet 
 and burst -- and again after thawing = 
  
 to be sure they haven't burst during 
 the freeze / thaw cycle. 
  
 In more humid climates, a dessicant 
 is recommended.  = 
  
  
 Sharon McAllister 
 73372.1745@compuserve.com 
---------
 [Dr. Z] < I have used saved pollen frequently, and freeze some of my own for
use the 
 following year.  It will stay potent for a week or two without refrigeration.
 If I am keeping it in the refrigerator, I usually wrap it in foil, and the 
 same applies for  freezing,  - - but I do not know if this is necessary.  I 
 have used pumila pollen sent from Lynda Miller of Indiana, and John & Lucy 
 Burton of Massachusetts, putting it on my talls. This produces SDB's.  Also 
 used pollen of aril-breds from Sharon McAllister this year, and was 
 pleasantly surprsied to get quite a few takes on medians and talls.  Lloyd 
 Zurbrigg, Durham,NC 

[Walta]....greatest drawback for me is that not many talls are  blooming when
the 
 arilbreds are in bloom and therefore have little  pollen.   I have found 
 that freezing pollen on fall from rebloomers helps solve the problem.  I 
 have had success with frozen fall pollen but not frozen spring  pollen.  
 So, since you are in the San Diego area and have bloom now, it might be 
 wise to freeze some of this pollen for use on the early arilbred bloom.  
  
[Sharon]   The freezer I use doesn't quite classify  as an antique -- it dates
back only to the late sixties -- but it is also the  old, manual defrost type.
  
 All of the advice I've been given on freezing pollen has been based on my 
 experience with this freezer.  Things do NOT freezer-burn as fast in it as in
 the freezing compartment of our frost-free refrigerator. 
  
 So has anyone observed ill effects on pollen storage in a frost-free type of 
 freezer? 


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