Pollen Storage. WAS: Lycoris, Crinum and other blooms

Pollen Storage. WAS: Lycoris, Crinum and other blooms
J.E. Shields (Tue, 09 Aug 2005 06:19:01 PDT)

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

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