Pollen questions and advice
Posted: Jun 20, 2007 11:27 am
Hi all,
I've been out most every morning before heading to work for the past several days looking at my hostas to collect pollen and see what could be crossed. The first few days, I couldn't figure out what had pollen and what did not. I've tried opening up a flower the night before to keep the bees off, but I don't seem to have had much success with that, mostly because of not being able to be there every day that I've done that.
This morning, however was a bit better, for a few reasons. First, I went out and got a pair of really strong, cheap, reading glasses. Amazing what you can see with magnification (+2.75). I also bought a pair of tweezers after reading about daylily hybridizing. I had been trying to dab a cotton swab on the anthers without really knowing if there was much pollen there. I had no idea the bees got so much of it. Finally, I was able to see the yellow tips of the stamens. Soooo, here are the questions.
- Can I remove the anthers before the flower opens...does the anther ripen off the flower? In other words, when I pull off the tepals the night before, can I snag the anthers then, or do I have to wait until morning, and do I have to wait until they actually show yellow pollen bits before removing them?
- Once I get the pollen, which I'm collecting on squares of tinfoil, how many days can I store it that way and it still be viable?
- Does it need to lay in open air to dry (squares on paper plate? How long if so?
- I tried putting some in the freezer, but I think there wasn't any pollen really there, can I freeze/thaw it over and over, or must it be used soon after thawing.
- I understand some people exchange pollen in the mail...what is the best way to do that if I wanted to give that a try?
- I think I like the tweezers better than the q-tip for applying the pollen, if the anther is available, the Q-tip seems to absorbe so much, it's hard to see. Any advice?
Thanks,
Laura
edited to add:
- can I save all pollen from one hosta in the same "container" or only that collected on the same day?
I've been out most every morning before heading to work for the past several days looking at my hostas to collect pollen and see what could be crossed. The first few days, I couldn't figure out what had pollen and what did not. I've tried opening up a flower the night before to keep the bees off, but I don't seem to have had much success with that, mostly because of not being able to be there every day that I've done that.
This morning, however was a bit better, for a few reasons. First, I went out and got a pair of really strong, cheap, reading glasses. Amazing what you can see with magnification (+2.75). I also bought a pair of tweezers after reading about daylily hybridizing. I had been trying to dab a cotton swab on the anthers without really knowing if there was much pollen there. I had no idea the bees got so much of it. Finally, I was able to see the yellow tips of the stamens. Soooo, here are the questions.
- Can I remove the anthers before the flower opens...does the anther ripen off the flower? In other words, when I pull off the tepals the night before, can I snag the anthers then, or do I have to wait until morning, and do I have to wait until they actually show yellow pollen bits before removing them?
- Once I get the pollen, which I'm collecting on squares of tinfoil, how many days can I store it that way and it still be viable?
- Does it need to lay in open air to dry (squares on paper plate? How long if so?
- I tried putting some in the freezer, but I think there wasn't any pollen really there, can I freeze/thaw it over and over, or must it be used soon after thawing.
- I understand some people exchange pollen in the mail...what is the best way to do that if I wanted to give that a try?
- I think I like the tweezers better than the q-tip for applying the pollen, if the anther is available, the Q-tip seems to absorbe so much, it's hard to see. Any advice?
Thanks,
Laura
edited to add:
- can I save all pollen from one hosta in the same "container" or only that collected on the same day?