Pre-flowers have named the gender breakdown of the garden this season, and of the males, I’ve 3 strains I’d like to collect pollen from. They are bushy and about 4ft tall just like the girls.
I always try for seeds each season. Just wanted to see if anyone has some input on how much of a male plant I should leave on the plant before collecting pollen, and freezing vs. storing in a cool basement.
My thought is to return these three plants to pots and move them away from the garden and also trim them way down (>50% of the height), and then when pollen sacs form trim stems place in water and collect in a sealed room away from the garden.
Still looking around for how to long term storage what is left over if any.
Great to hear you are saving pollen, it is a smart move if you are working on long term genetics and future seed runs.
You are on the right track with relocating the male plants and trimming them down before pollen collection. Here are a few tips that might help:
Trimming and Relocating
Yes, you can definitely cut the plants back by more than 50%. Males are pretty resilient and trimming them will help manage their size without affecting pollen production too much. Just give them a few days to bounce back after transplanting and trimming.
Collecting Pollen
Once pollen sacs mature and start opening, cut off the branches and place them in water inside a well ventilated, dry room. You can place white paper or foil underneath to catch falling pollen then scoop it into a container using a clean card or brush.
Storing Pollen
Let the pollen dry completely before storing moisture is the enemy.
For short term storage about a few weeks, a cool, dark place like a basement is okay.
For long-term storage, use a small airtight container or microcentrifuge tube with a desiccant packet like rice or silica gel then place in the freezer. Just label everything clearly.
When using frozen pollen, let it reach room temp before opening the container to avoid condensation.
Will relocate the remaining males to another bed later this week when it’s not in the 90’s. I think for now I’ll just let them do their thing. And later move them all inside to collect the pollen. I’ve used the method you’ve described with great success over the last 2 seasons (cut stems in water with a collecting tray above). Still a work in progress on simplifying the collection medium (tray, foil, paper etc.).
I have time to get those microcentrifuges, as I haven’t really kept pollen beyond the same season. Aside from one year where i left some in the fridge door and i think it actually worked almost a year later.
