brug pollen

Was just wondering how long brug pollen can be stored in a freezer and still be viable??

I am wanting to same some pollen yet this fall, and then use it to pollinate some of my first brug blooms next summer.....thereby giving the resulting seed pods most of the summer to mature.

Any information would be appreciated:)

Owen

I know Eric mentioned he stores for a year or more.

Good Question! I crossed Dr. Seuss and EP was growing a little pod. Then a big wind came and blew over the plant, broke off my little pod :(

Not much interest in this thread....am going to save pollen and see for myself next summer if it is still viable. LOL It will not take me much effort to save it:)

Owen

owen, maybe it's just that no one that knows for sure has seen it.

I'm pretty sure Eric said he stores his and re-news it every year when the plants come back into bloom again. I think it'll be fine Owen.

OK. Thanks:)

Thanks for the replies. I started saving some pollen and wondered the same thing.

Owen,
I have never kept it that long...only because I use it all long before that year is up. LOL

LOL. Good reason:)

I would be interested in knowing how you all go about saving your pollen.

I know nothing Owen!

Here's one of the threads from Brugman - http://davesgarden.com/t/194579/ I found some neat little bead boxes in the craft section at Wall-mart to keep pollen in. I like it because each compartment has it's own lid. I also plucked the entire anthers from my flowers. Cala mentioned that some flowers won't set seed if the anthers are removed. I didn't know that. I spose it wouldn't matter if I had a ton of flowers to play with.

I remove the anthers before pollinating and have had no trouble so far. Guess this is just something we each decide on. What works for one might not work for the next one. Maybe I was just lucky too........ :-)

Owen, darn, I didn`t see this thread, before now. I used pollen taken in early June and used a little over a week ago and the pod grow. I keep entire anthers in a box like Erics in the refriorator.

Here is box and contents. I just uses small paper strips with Brug names on and rip off the anthers with a tweezer, which I also use for pollination. I use pure alcohol to clean between pollinations, but the tweezer never touch the stigmas anyway. Only the anthers.

Very interesting! Wonder if it is ok to freeze rather than just refrigerate the pollen?

My frozen pollen kept better than my refrigerated pollen. The anthers I plucked and stored in the refrigerator molded, the pollen I collected with a brush didn't mold.

Good to know. Think I will freeze mine if I am lucky enough to get some yet this fall:)