[tracy-fuerteventura]

ok daft question now !!!
a while ago i had problems pollinating my pumkins and now i have one pollinated on one plant but i was wondering can i save the pollen from the male flowers in a jar or something and when i do get a female flower use the saved pollen or is that just DAFT
cheers tracy

[Zak the Rabbit]

it might work. Make sure the container is absolutley sterile and perfectly dry, look on ebay for some glass laboratory sample bottles. Sterilise them then put them in a very low oven for a few hours to completely dry. (thats the empty bottles - dont heat the pollen!!!)

Make sure when the pollen is in them that they are tightly sealed, then sore in the fridge, or freezer if for a long time. Give them plenty of time to defrost and come to room temperature when needed before unsealing, to avoid condensation.

It may be best to store the whole stamen (or is it stigma?) holding the pollen rather than try to remove the pollen into the bottle.

all i can really say is give it a go! when you use it, make a note of which plants you pollinate this way so you can compare the results with those pollinated naturally

[tracy-fuerteventura]

thanks for that will definately make notes and record the differces and will also collect the whole stamen rather than just the pollen
cheers again tracy

[peapod]

See Tracy it wasnt so daft!

Helpful reply that, it definately worth a try, my pumpkins did diddly squat this year, and my poor lad has to get his from Asda again...Im really fed up about that  :cry:

Paula

[tracy-fuerteventura]

my biggest problem is lack of bees as i said i only have one pumpkin at the moment the plant is huge though and still producing flowers so i will keep on trying
you never know with the extra help of saving pollen it might just work
cheers tracy

[gobs]

it might work. Make sure the container is absolutley sterile and perfectly dry, look on ebay for some glass laboratory sample bottles. Sterilise them then put them in a very low oven for a few hours to completely dry. (thats the empty bottles - dont heat the pollen!!!)

Make sure when the pollen is in them that they are tightly sealed, then sore in the fridge, or freezer if for a long time. Give them plenty of time to defrost and come to room temperature when needed before unsealing, to avoid condensation.

It may be best to store the whole stamen (or is it stigma?) holding the pollen rather than try to remove the pollen into the bottle.

all i can really say is give it a go! when you use it, make a note of which plants you pollinate this way so you can compare the results with those pollinated naturally

Spot on , Zak.

LINK

I had very poor pollination too, now two seasons running, so gotta get crafty.

[Zak the Rabbit]

interesting link that!

ok, so an ammendment to my procedure - once the bottles are cool after oven drying, add the stamen/whole flower but inlcude some damp blotting paper to maintain the humidity and prevent the pollen drying out.

[digital_biscuit]

I had a quick look at the scientific literature about this and asked my friends who work on plants.

Apparently, you can store them, but for long term storage you would need temperatures a lot lower than your conventional house freezer. Between -80 and -196 are the ideal temperatures for long term storage.

Sorry to add bad news! Give it a go though, you have nothing to lose!

[tracy-fuerteventura]

can you ask your friends that work on plants how long the pollen is viable at a.room tempreature and b. kept in the fridge the reason i ask is that at seems to be about ten days to two weeks before i get a female flower would it still be viable after this time without freezing it
cheers tracy

[digital_biscuit]

Tracey, i shall ask them tomorrow and let you know as soon as i know!

Digi

[gobs]

have you bothered reading that link? :?  

[digital_biscuit]

So, i have asked my friend, who not only works on plants, but actually works on pollen!!

She says each plants pollen is different in the way it should be stored, so the link from Gobs would prob be your safest bet, however, she stores her pollen at -20 (conventional freezer) and includes silica gel beads to absorb all the moisture as her pollen needs to be kept dry.

What i would suggest is freeze some totally dry, and some like in the article and use both each time you need to fertiilise, or experiment to see which is best..

Hope this helps
Digi

[gobs]

She says each plants pollen is different in the way it should be stored

Thank god for that!  Also, how long it stays viable will differ.

[tracy-fuerteventura]

sorry gobs didnt see the link ......but yes i have bothered to look at it
thanks for all advice cheers tracy

[gobs]

Good luck, Tracey, I'm planning to try it on too. We can compare notes later.
Fingers crossed.