Post by CN on May 15, 2010 18:28:44 GMT -6
May 15, 2010 3:09:02 GMT -6 @cindy said:
Recently, I received pollen from local and overseas growers and a large amount of them were moldy. Whole flowers were being sent which contributed to the rot. 
This is probably nothing new but it is such a pity that good species pollen should go to waste so I decided to start this thread. Experienced "pollen collectors" please feel free to add on.
Collection of pollen
1. Some growers collect only the pollen while others collect the entire stamen (excluding the sepals and flower stalk). But whole flowers are definitely a no-no 'cos they contain too much moisture (and sugar).
2. The pollen (or stamen) needs to be air-dried before storage. But if you are living in a tropical country like me, you will need to use some silica gel to dry the pollen.
Packing and Storage
1. Wax paper, aluminum foil
2. Ziploc bag
3. Fridge, freezer(?)
May 15, 2010 8:31:26 GMT -6 @wijaya said:
This is how I collected and stored pollen, hope this will be useful. 1. male flower, how to tell if they are ready to be taken/'milked':biggrin::
- by sight - watch carefully as many insect will get around the ready
pollens (ripe), also the 'petal of the flower bud will fall back'
- by smell - they dispersed distinctive smell
- by touch - when you touch the tip, the yellow powdery pollens will stuck
on your finger
2. not all the flower buds ripen at the same time, so just take the ripe one.
then I let them air dry in the tray, easier to collect the pollen this way,
let it stand for about half day.
3. Then using a tweezers try to rubbed slowly and the pollen will fall off, only
this powdery pollen stored.
4. after that just put the pollens in a 'wax paper' then they are ready to be
stored in the fridge, they will stay fresh up to 6 months time.
5. this is the tray, the tweezers and ready to stored pollen pack, remember
to put the name and date of collection.
Ed
