Dear all, I might add that if you try to freeze pollen that contains moisture, you are guaranteed to destroy the pollen. The moisture expands on freezing and ruptures the pollen grain. For long term storage, almost all pollens retain viability longer at lower temperatures -- that is simple straight-forward biochemistry. Dr. Robert Carr (Ocala, Florida) made careful studies of drying time vs. viability lifetime using Hemerocallis. In all cases he stored the dried pollen in the freezer. He found partial viability lifetimes for the most thoroughly dried pollen samples of several years' time. Hippeastrum pollen keeps about 12 months if dried thoroughly and then frozen. Clivia pollen keeps for several years. Jim Shields At 07:58 AM 8/9/2005 -0500, you wrote: >Hi Shirley and all, > >I have not tried this with Lycoris till now, but my general methods are >discussed on my web page >at: http://shieldsgardens.com/amaryllids/… > >In a nutshell: > >The pollen must be very dry; and then it should be kept dry and cooled -- >in the fridge for a few days' or in the freezer for several years' storage >times. > >Contact me at <jshields@indy.net> if you have further questions after you >take a look at the web page above. > >Regards, >Jim Shields >in central Indiana (USA) > >At 09:50 PM 8/8/2005 -0700, Shirley wrote: > >Jim, how do you store your pollen to assure its viability? I have > >flunked this with Camellias and would like your input. > > Thanks, Shirley Meneice > >************************************************* >Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 Shields Gardens, Ltd. >P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/ >Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA >Tel. ++1-317-867-3344 or toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA > > >_______________________________________________ >pbs mailing list >pbs@lists.ibiblio.org >http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php ************************************************* Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 Shields Gardens, Ltd. P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/ Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA Tel. ++1-317-867-3344 or toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA