Storing Pollen?

Hello Everyone! First let me say thank you for this great community. I hope i can contribute here as much as you all have!

On to my question. What is the proper way to store pollen? and How long will it still be viable?

i have been growing for quite a while and want experiment with breeding. My set up is a bit small to carry out a breeding project with many individuals. I'm going to start with a female clone from an established strain, but i would like to have several males to grow out and select from. my plan is to grow the males in a secondary location, so as not to pollinate all my ladies, but i do not want to carry out the crosses until next outdoor season. If there is no way to store pollen I'm going to have to clone for sex and keep the males in veg until i need them. With limited space in the veg room, I don't want it full of plants i cant use.

Thanks for the help

Wes

...Ive been told that the chances of it being viable will drop drastically after 3 months... with silica gel.. ive heard of people storing it for up to a year and it being effective.... i would imagine that if you took all the moisture out..and fridged it... have a mini fridge that it just for pollen and seeds.. and dont open it often..and you were cafeful when taking it out.. not to let the moisture from temp change get the pollen... you could save it for 2 years..

Thank you trichlone fiend! thats kind of what i thought, i was hoping someone had some specific technique they are willing to share. My basic plan is to store the pollen as you would for any other flowering plant. I'm going to completely dry it and store it in air tight containers. Since I don't know how it will tolerate freezing I'm going to store half in the fridge and half in the freezer, perhaps between ice bags to keep the temperature more stable. it would be stored for less than six months right now, but i would like to be able to keep pollen long term for future crosses.

...I remember reading of a technique where a guy put the pollen into a vial, then into a jar of rice. Rice absorbs moister.

Dioecious (separate male & female plants) species plant pollen doesn't remain viable very long at room temperature and humidity.

The key to useful (viable) long term pollen storage is to dry the pollen and chill it to store long term.

Store the pollen in a glass jar or vial. Avoid plastic bags, which can breathe and are not the best for long-term storage. To reduce the water content in the pollen, place some desiccant in the bottom of the container. It's better to use an indicating desiccant. When dry, this material is blue; as it absorbs moisture, it turns pink. Using an indicating desiccant, you can tell when it has absorbed all the moisture it can. It is impossible to tell whether regular desiccant is still dry just by looking at it. Once indicating desiccant has absorbed all the moisture possible, it may turn pink, but will stop changing color. Place it in the oven and bake it until it turns blue again. This desiccant can be used over and over again. (you can reuse regular dessicant as well)

Only put enough pollen in each glass vial to pollinate a single branch (Usually popcorn stuff). Write the variety name and date stored on both sides of the vial or on a slip of paper inside the vial so you can tell later on how old the pollen is.

Once the vial is sealed, place it in the refrigerator for a couple of days (with dessicant). Do not place it directly in the freezer because the pollen's moisture content is too high; water expansion can rupture the pollen cell walls and kill it.

Once the pollen has been in the vial for at least two days (more is better) the moisture content will be reduced enough for you to put the vial in the freezer. Once the vial is in the freezer, the pollen should be good for years. I have heard that pollen will stay viable for at least three years. (No experiments to prove this yet.)

Once you open a vial, use the pollen as soon as possible.

Pollen loses viability quickly at room temperature and even faster at higher temperatures. Pollen can stay viable at room temperature for several days. But quickly loses it's potency. (A good thing if you get a hermie in the grow room, could you imagine pollen that was good for months or years??)

If you can keep it cold, you could mail viable pollen vials to other "herb collectors". You ought to ship with freeze packs overnight, or only when the recipient is ready to use it within a couple of days of receipt.

Sweet thanks, Brick Top! that is almost exactly what i had planned. the tip about cooling the pollen then freezing it makes perfect sense. I'm still looking for a good storage container. i have seen a small brown glass vial for sale on chemistry supply websites. they have a plastic screw top with a bit of a liner in it, but a they are little more than i wanted to spend. since they are used to store chemicals I figured they would be well sealed and inert. once i get this underway, ill post my collection and storage method. little brown vials in a tub of rice in the freezer.... thats gonna seem a bit strange. lol

Was thinking of trying to save some pollen from a few males I've separated and banished to the basement 'boys room' I set up - timer, CFLs, and a box from a big microwave. I plan to dab a bottom bud or two on my girls so I can get a stash of seeds. How far along should the female buds be before I knock em up? Do I do the deed as soon as the boy gives pollen, or wait until a certain maturity level on the female bud? I have some really nice containers in mind for saving the pollen. They are a bit smaller than a film canister and have a snug fitting stopper top that actually has some dessicant already built right into a chamber in the lid. The vials are from test drums for a glucose(diabetes) monitor, so I have a hand full that I saved thinking they might come in handy for something. Do you think they'll work okay?

generally you want to give the seed as much time to ripen as possible. pollinate as soon as the bud has a decent amount of pistils. how well sealed are the containers you intend to use? the built in desiccant seems like it would be a plus, but be sure the pollen is throughly dry before storing it.

The canisters have a snug fitting cork/stopper type lid with the dessicant held in by a thin disc that tightly fits the inside of the lid to make a chamber for it. Does the pollen dry fast if spread on a flat surface for a few hours, or does it take days? If I go directly from male plant to female with the pollen, is it more potent than if it has been dried and put in proper storage for a couple months? Does the amount of pollen I dab on a bud affect the quantity of seeds produced from it - is MORE better, or is it genetics that determines the number of seeds produced?

The number of seeds produced is determined by the number of pistils which accept the pollen. The most effective pollination is taking your pollen directly to the female. Coming straight off the male it can be hard to work with, so personally I put the pollen in a small glass jar and set on my dsl modem for a couple of hours then use a artist paint brush to lightly dab the pollen on the selected branch. In answer to is more better? This depends on your goal, if you just want a single bud or branch pollinated more is not better, it can spread with the slightest air current to other parts of your plant.
I lightly dab the paintbrush into the pollen, and brush the branch I want to pollinate, keeping the air as still as possible. After about 2 hours I spray the plant with plain water to wash off all pollen from the plant that wasn't accepted.
Good Luck and Happy Seed making

Exactly what canefan said lol the pollen will have a greater chance of being effective if used fresh. im getting ready to do some testing on pollen storage, ill post a thread when i do it. a friend pollinates all the lower popcorn buds on his plants, and rinses off the pollen a few hours later. he swears it makes the unpollinated bud stronger, but im not sure of that.

https://www.rollitup.org/breeders-paradise/392046-club-600-breeding-showcase-5.html

this thread may help you in process SCAA! group of guys getting there breeding on for all to see!