Pollen collection and storage

[Citradia]

I’m collecting pollen from poncirus and put it in a paper envelope. I need it to pollinate an orange tree with flowers with white unopened buds that may open in a few days. I’ve read about drying out pollen and then freezing it to use months later. Can my pollen stay viable in an envelope for a week or two without having to freeze it? How do I know when to strip petals off of unopened blossoms to access a mature pistil?

[Millet]

Pollen remains useable for approximately three weeks to a month at normal room temperature   Much long when cooled.  How about using a plastic envelope instead of a paper envelope?

[Citradia]

I don’t know about plastic envelope. From what I read it only mentions drying it out so it’s not wet and freezing it. Seems it would mold or be too wet in plastic. Some talk about putting it in glass tubes. I just don’t know. Three weeks sounds good though. Just need a few days.

[kumin]

Flower with anthers beginning to dehisce. At dehiscence the outer anther skin splits and shrinks as it discharges the pollen. As Citrus pollen is adherent, it initially remains on the empty anthers. The flowers must be emasculated before the anthers dehisce to prevent self pollination. Anthers of some cultivars dehisce internally and need to have the petals opened before the anthers dehisce. In any case the stigmas should be protected from unintended pollination by insects, or vibration by wind until the stigmas are no longer pollen receptive.





A staminate flower showing anthers prior to dehiscence. The anthers will have a slight greenish cast and all will be unopened, during hot weather this stage can pass very quickly. However, in any case, the stigmas can already be pollen receptive before the anthers dehisce. the objective is to prevent unintended pollination from the time of stigma receptivity until the stigma abscises.

[Citradia]

Thanks. I’m trying to hit open flowers with paint brush but nothing seems to stick to it. My paw paw pollen sticks to paint brush easily like yellow dust. I don’t feel confident about the citrus pollination.

[kumin]

Prior to dehiscence no pollen will transfer to the paint brush bristles. The best time for collection is when the the pollen is a rich yellow color (for immediate pollination). For storage, it be preferable to be slightly drier. If the pollen has dried to the point of becoming light in color, it will transfer to the brush with difficulty and may actually drop off the brush, rather than adhere.
The stamens can be removed from the flowers, or the entire flower can be removed, if they're ripe and close to releasing the pollen. By placing them on a tray under a gentle desk lamp the pollen can be harvested rather quickly, but this shouldn't be done prematurely, as the anthers may simply shrivel and fail to release the pollen. A paint brush may be unnecessary when using this method, tapping the anthers with a tweezers may work better. For storage, the pollen should not be moist, as in using fresh pollen.

[Francis_Eric]

Thanks. I’m trying to hit open flowers with paint brush but nothing seems to stick to it. My paw paw pollen sticks to paint brush easily like yellow dust. I don’t feel confident about the citrus pollination.

Bee's are full of dust do you think if you placed flour on the pollen it would stick better ?

I know some people use flour to dilute it to get more out of pollen as you only need one grain of pollen to pollenate, but would flour make it stick if it was dry and falling off the brush?

[Walt]

You need only 1 pollen per seed.  And many pollen tubes end up where seeds would be in a wild type citrus that would have had 30 or 40 seeds.  But that said, I see no problem with diluting pollen with flour.  But not more than 50%.  Just my opinion.  I haven't experimented with this.

[Till]

I would not dilute it too much. Pollen is never 100% fertile. And it may be good to give the plant the chance that the most vital pollen grain fertilizes the flower. You know not all pollen is genetically identical. I suspect that a certain selection takes place on the pistil that favours the genetically better pollen.

[hardyvermont]

Use foam type swabs to transfer pollen. I don't know what type and style of foam is normally used for this application, i.e., polyurethane, polystyrene, silicone, etc.

I ordered
https://www.ebay.com/itm/353963032713?hash=item5269d74089:g:9S8AAOSw0DpiMh7H

[Francis_Eric]

You need only 1 pollen per seed.  And many pollen tubes end up where seeds would be in a wild type citrus that would have had 30 or 40 seeds.  But that said, I see no problem with diluting pollen with flour.  But not more than 50%.  Just my opinion.  I haven't experimented with this.

Thank you I wasn't sure about tree's I heard about it for flowers.

I am not sure about dry pollen or what brush , but I have thousands of these
(only 19 cents so thought I'd post)






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