HYB: ?Storing pollen

I know we've talked about this several times, but I was less than
satisfied with the pollen I stored last winter, so would like to hear
from folks who are successful with stored pollen.

My method - collect anthers, place on notepaper about 3 ft from light
fixture with 5 fluorescent corkscrew type bulbs on for 12 hrs a day for
about 2 days.  With the dehumidifier running, humidity is still around
60% on a warm day like today.

Then I dumped the anthers into the little plastic compartmented daily
pill minder containers.  Each compartment gets a small piece of card
stock inside with the date the pollen was collected and the cultivar
name.  I also use stick on labels on the outside of each compartment.

The pill minder box then goes inside a plastic box with a snap on lid,
and is then stored in the freezer section of my self-defrosting
refrigerator.

Some folks have mentioned using dessicant, but I'm not sure how I would
be able to keep any dessicant dry enough in this humid environment to be
of any use.  I've assumed that the self-defrosting freezer would be
drier than any dessicant I could add, but don't know that for sure.

Back when I worked in a lab using those big clunky heavy glass
dessicator storage containers, the dessicant was a compound that changed
color depending on moisture content.  When it absorbed so much moisture
that it was no longer any use, it changed color.  Drying it in a low
oven for 24 hrs (?I can't actually remember what temperature was used or
for how long) would restore it to it's original dry state and color.  It
could be re-used, but not indefinitely, as I recall.

None of the little dessicant packages in pill bottles that I have seen
have any way to determine how much moisture they contain.

Any thoughts on using dessicants with stored pollen in humid
environments?

--
Linda Mann east Tennessee USA zone 7/8
East Tennessee Iris Society <http://www.korrnet.org/etis>
American Iris Society web site <http://www.irises.org>
talk archives: <http://www.hort.net/lists/iris-talk/>
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