I use reusable desiccant to dry my pollen and was wondering how to get any stray pollen off the desiccant or kill it.
I bake the desiccant at 200 degrees Fahrenheit to reactive it. Is this high enough to kill it?
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I found this with a quick google search:
“Walters — a PhD candidate earning a dual degree in entomology and ecology, evolution, and behavior — is investigating what exactly went wrong. She began by pinpointing a blueberry pollen grain’s heat limit — exposing pollen in petri dishes to a range of temperatures and monitoring the pollen for 24 hours. Her results, not yet published, suggest that at temperatures above 95 degrees, pollen tubes fail to grow.
Walters also simulated an acute heat wave by exposing pollen grains to 99.5-degree heat for four hours and then lowering the temperature to 77 degrees for another 20 hours. “There is basically no return,” Walters says. “[Heat] exposure for just four hours is enough to lead to permanent damage.””
That’s blueberry, so may be significantly different, but I would think 200° F is more than sufficient.
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I prefer my pollen medium rare
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i really dont know the answer to your question. Maybe look into pasteurization or sterilization temps and durations in regards to pollen. If your using dishes you should have a PC or even better an autoclave.
Plastic dishes are also dirt cheap when you buy them in bulk.
Or maybe look into alternative things like UV sterilization.
edit- just looked up and saw you where talking about desiccant…
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Uvc sounds like a good idea. You can buy those small “hand wands” that were sold during covid for about $ 10.
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