Farmer's_Hat
Sticky Fingers
Starting this thread to archive different ways to store pollen. Short term and long term storage.
1. Get yourself a sifter to pour the flowers through. Remove any pieces of flower that make it through with tweezers.
2. Get yourself a paper lunch bag and fill it a little bit with a good two handfuls of silica gel desiccant beads.
3. Put your sifted pollen into a folded sheet of paper, spreading out evenly to avoid clumps. Place this flat inside of the paper bag.
4. Seal up that paper bag in a ziplock baggie and check in 24 hours in case you need to break up any areas that have clumped.
5. Reseal and let it dry for another 48.
6. Remove the paper from the bag and pour your pollen into plastic tubes of your choice (I like 0.5ml centrifuge tubes). Put a single silica bead in the bottom of each to ensure they stay dry.
7. Get yourself a jar or plastic tub and place some silica gel beads into here to keep it dry.
8. Label your tubes with the date, strain name and plant number, and place inside the container.
9. Place container in the back of the fridge for short term storage (few months) or into an undisturbed part of your freezer for the long term (years).
10. When you bring out a tube of pollen for use, ensure that it warms up to room temperature before opening. This is so the temperature difference doesn’t cause moisture to rush in and make the pollen inviable.
11. Pollinate your future plants and enjoy many MANY seeds!
1. Get yourself a sifter to pour the flowers through. Remove any pieces of flower that make it through with tweezers.
2. Get yourself a paper lunch bag and fill it a little bit with a good two handfuls of silica gel desiccant beads.
3. Put your sifted pollen into a folded sheet of paper, spreading out evenly to avoid clumps. Place this flat inside of the paper bag.
4. Seal up that paper bag in a ziplock baggie and check in 24 hours in case you need to break up any areas that have clumped.
5. Reseal and let it dry for another 48.
6. Remove the paper from the bag and pour your pollen into plastic tubes of your choice (I like 0.5ml centrifuge tubes). Put a single silica bead in the bottom of each to ensure they stay dry.
7. Get yourself a jar or plastic tub and place some silica gel beads into here to keep it dry.
8. Label your tubes with the date, strain name and plant number, and place inside the container.
9. Place container in the back of the fridge for short term storage (few months) or into an undisturbed part of your freezer for the long term (years).
10. When you bring out a tube of pollen for use, ensure that it warms up to room temperature before opening. This is so the temperature difference doesn’t cause moisture to rush in and make the pollen inviable.
11. Pollinate your future plants and enjoy many MANY seeds!
