Viewing post #535018 by Roosterlorn

You are viewing a single post made by Roosterlorn in the thread called Pollen/pollination.
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Jan 6, 2014 9:09 PM CST
Name: Lorn (Roosterlorn)
S.E Wisconsin (Zone 5b)
Bee Lover Lilies Pollen collector Seed Starter Region: Wisconsin
Hi Joe: To answer part of your question, yes, you can freeze and store pollen. This is necessary when you want to pollenate an early bloomer with a late bloomer. Exactly how long frozen lilium pollen stays viable is somewhat debatable; some say up to 20 years has been done. I have kept pollen for 5 years and it was still good, however, since then have gone down to 2 years because I can usually get new and 5 years accumulation takes up too much room in the freezer. Prior to freezing, dry the pollen on something non porous like a small saucer plate, etc. for a few days. Pollen looses it's viability quickly after about 3 to 4 weeks at room temperature. The containers used to store pollen is a matter of personal choice, I think. Small paper envelopes, small plastic bags and small glass or plastic test tubes work ok. If you store frozen pollen in a freezer that's also used for food stuffs, it's a good idea to enclose your pollen containers in another larger freezer bag. Below are some pictures of what I use. I'll let someone else explain the pollen collecting, etc.
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the plastic caps shown below are optional; I use pieces of a cotton ball to cap the tube, just in case some moisture is still present, and this allows for any extra to escape. Below is a picture of frozen pollen and seeds in one of my freezers. Always a mess Rolling on the floor laughing


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Last edited by Roosterlorn Jan 6, 2014 9:38 PM Icon for preview

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