Hey all. I wanted to do a little thing here on collecting and storing pollen.
I know we all know how a plant gets pollinated right. Well, just in case we don't:
Pollen is wind driven. When the male reaches proper maturity, it flowers. In his flowers are the precious
pollen spoor's. When the wind blows, the pollen is carried out and lands on a female pistol or white hair
as some of you know them. Done. Mother nature has delivered the package...
Ok, that's how mother nature does it. Now, how do we do it as breeders and actually get viable pollen? Simple right? Well sorta. Sure, we can grow a male and a female side by side and turn on a fan and have seed.
But what if ya wanted to pollinate something you don't have yet. Now it gets a little tricky. Pollen
can be destroyed by water/moisture. Notice I said "can be". This is important and it plays opposite roles
when collecting pollen and pollinating your plants. But right now, lets talk about collecting pollen.
You have your male that you have selected. First off, isolate him if your growing him in your flowering
room. I simply remove him and put him in the window sill.
Personally, all you want at this point is his pollen. So stop any nutes and just add pH'ed water.Then water as needed.
There are two things your gonna need before the collection begins. Something to keep the pollen in when the flowers open. I use these. You can get them at a Hobby Lobby store or any craft store. You'd be surprised what you can find in there. For the guys, take your wife with you if you feel funny going into the store. But really, this is 2011.
The second thing is a few pieces of minuet rice. You can put a couple of pieces into the tube. This will absorb any excess moisture that may get into the tube.
Now, back to collecting the pollen.
In the next few pic, I'm showing the male flower in 3 different stages. Stage 1 is showing the flower itself. The second is showing the flower about ready and the third pic is when the flower is open
Now that the flowers are opening. I take the tube and gently tap it against the flower. Pollen will fall inside the tube. On occasion, the flower itself falls into the tube to. GET IT OUT that's just deadly moisture to the pollen.
Now I collect my pollen for several days. I'll repeat this process 2 time a day. Once in the morning and once at night. During this time, I keep the tubes in a cool dry dark place that's easy to get and near the plants.
After I have the amount of pollen I need, I seal the cap with another label and put it in my fridge.
I have a collage size fridge in my grow room. I keep the temps. at around 45/50 degrees and the humidity is around 40%.
I also put my tubes in a small zip lock baggie for extra moisture protection.
Using my method to the letter, will pretty much guarantee viable pollen for at least 9 months. Mine lasted for 1 full year.
Just remember in this whole process, moisture is the killer hear.Dry as Dry can be. If you have sweaty hands, even go to the extreme of putting on a glove to handle the tube during the collection process. The heat from your fingers can make the pollen stick on the sides of the tubes.
Good Luck and happy pollen collecting...
Ripster
I know we all know how a plant gets pollinated right. Well, just in case we don't:
Pollen is wind driven. When the male reaches proper maturity, it flowers. In his flowers are the precious
pollen spoor's. When the wind blows, the pollen is carried out and lands on a female pistol or white hair
as some of you know them. Done. Mother nature has delivered the package...
Ok, that's how mother nature does it. Now, how do we do it as breeders and actually get viable pollen? Simple right? Well sorta. Sure, we can grow a male and a female side by side and turn on a fan and have seed.
But what if ya wanted to pollinate something you don't have yet. Now it gets a little tricky. Pollen
can be destroyed by water/moisture. Notice I said "can be". This is important and it plays opposite roles
when collecting pollen and pollinating your plants. But right now, lets talk about collecting pollen.
You have your male that you have selected. First off, isolate him if your growing him in your flowering
room. I simply remove him and put him in the window sill.
Personally, all you want at this point is his pollen. So stop any nutes and just add pH'ed water.Then water as needed.
There are two things your gonna need before the collection begins. Something to keep the pollen in when the flowers open. I use these. You can get them at a Hobby Lobby store or any craft store. You'd be surprised what you can find in there. For the guys, take your wife with you if you feel funny going into the store. But really, this is 2011.
The second thing is a few pieces of minuet rice. You can put a couple of pieces into the tube. This will absorb any excess moisture that may get into the tube.
Now, back to collecting the pollen.
In the next few pic, I'm showing the male flower in 3 different stages. Stage 1 is showing the flower itself. The second is showing the flower about ready and the third pic is when the flower is open
Now that the flowers are opening. I take the tube and gently tap it against the flower. Pollen will fall inside the tube. On occasion, the flower itself falls into the tube to. GET IT OUT that's just deadly moisture to the pollen.
Now I collect my pollen for several days. I'll repeat this process 2 time a day. Once in the morning and once at night. During this time, I keep the tubes in a cool dry dark place that's easy to get and near the plants.
After I have the amount of pollen I need, I seal the cap with another label and put it in my fridge.
I have a collage size fridge in my grow room. I keep the temps. at around 45/50 degrees and the humidity is around 40%.
I also put my tubes in a small zip lock baggie for extra moisture protection.
Using my method to the letter, will pretty much guarantee viable pollen for at least 9 months. Mine lasted for 1 full year.
Just remember in this whole process, moisture is the killer hear.Dry as Dry can be. If you have sweaty hands, even go to the extreme of putting on a glove to handle the tube during the collection process. The heat from your fingers can make the pollen stick on the sides of the tubes.
Good Luck and happy pollen collecting...
Ripster
Last edited:
, but I here ya....
For real!!!!
