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HOW OLD CAN POLLEN BE ALIVE?

Sam_Skunkman

"RESIN BREEDER"
Moderator
Veteran
How long can you keep pollen alive and still get pollination?
How did you keep the pollen?

-SamS
 

nimbin1

Member
hi sam, i keep mine in ''00'' gel caps that i get from the chemist. i keep them in the fridge. the gel cap takes the moisture out of the pollen and than the fridge takes it out of the gel cap. i have had pollen that is still viable after two years. only take it out of the fridge when you need it though or else it will die.
 

Sam_Skunkman

"RESIN BREEDER"
Moderator
Veteran
I have some Original Haze pollen that is 17 years old, collected, cleaned, dried over night, placed in a paper bindle's, and frozen in glass jars for 17 years.
When I used it recently I got normal seed set.
I have many, many, liters of pollen frozen, the oldest around 20+ years.

-SamS
 

ChaosCatalunya

5.2 club is now 8.1 club...
Veteran
5 days hanging around in the Postal system in warm Spain seemed to do no harm, kept in a Rizzla paper in a fridge with Silica desiccant for months before and after.
 

Infinitesimal

my strength is a number, and my soul lies in every
ICMag Donor
Veteran
I have some Original Haze pollen that is 17 years old, collected, cleaned, dried over night, placed in a paper bindle's, and frozen in glass jars for 17 years.
When I used it recently I got normal seed set.
I have many, many, liters of pollen frozen, the oldest around 20+ years.

-SamS

17 years thats awesome

do you keep any kind of desiccant in the jars?

peace,
Infi
 

bonbolos

New member
If I may say, i'm very septic about pollen being still viable after more than 3-4 years especially with the storage described by each of you. Pollen viability of the vast majority of angiospermes decrease to arround 10% a few hours after stamen opening. With adequate storage, you may be able to keep it a few years, no more.

did anybody made it germinate on water-sucrose agar and check the emergence of germtubes with microscope ? be careful because the seeds may be parthenocarpic , the developement being triggered by contact between the dead pollen and the pistil and/or aborted germination of non viable pollen.

the best way is still to keep the pollen in vacuum sealed vials at -18°C (see post i did a few month ago on mrnice forum)

http://www.mrnice.nl/forum/6-breede...9520-question-best-way-store-male-pollen.html

good luck
 

stihgnobevoli

Active member
Veteran
im not a lab assistant im just telling you what i did and that it still pollinated my plant and more branches than i intended.

it made seeds. experiment done.
 

VerdantGreen

Genetics Facilitator
Boutique Breeder
Mentor
ICMag Donor
Veteran
ive found that mine (properly dried) only lasts for a year or so in a regular 'frost free' freezer. frost free freezers partially defrost to stop the ice build up so this probably compromises the storage somewhat.

VG
 

Infinitesimal

my strength is a number, and my soul lies in every
ICMag Donor
Veteran
it made seeds. experiment done.

he was probably referring to sam, and i can't validate any of his info... but it sounds geeky enough...lol



yeah i think he's saying some percentage of those seeds won't germ and be healthy... so i think his point is this method shouldn't be used to produce seeds for market... but i don't see why it couldn't be used to preserve the genetic make up of a male that is no longer alive as some of the seeds must be viably healthy.

your experiment should
A) never be done
B) at least include growing your seeds to see if you made improvements or detriments to the genome

making seeds with no concern wether they germ and grow quality herb or not is somewhat akin to masturbation.....

sure you probably enjoyed yourself in the process but as far as reproduction what did you accomplish?
 

stihgnobevoli

Active member
Veteran
1. i never got to see the results.
2.) the pollen is gone in the great pollen losing incident of 2012.
3.) i was trying to accomplish back crossing my strain back to the original male, but now all of that is gone... sigh.

can only incross the offspring now.

people say a lot of shit and claim that it is a rule...then someone proves them wrong... then they argue that they couldn't possibly be wrong. then there is a new rule.
 

Infinitesimal

my strength is a number, and my soul lies in every
ICMag Donor
Veteran
1. i never got to see the results.
2.) the pollen is gone in the great pollen losing incident of 2012.
3.) i was trying to accomplish back crossing my strain back to the original male, but now all of that is gone... sigh.

can only incross the offspring now.

people say a lot of shit and claim that it is a rule...then someone proves them wrong... then they argue that they couldn't possibly be wrong. then there is a new rule.

that sucks you lost the male.. and its pollen! but did you grow the seeds you made with the 4 year old pollen? you could always try and start over with one of them
 

stihgnobevoli

Active member
Veteran
seeds never got done, and aside from some residue left on the inside of one of my drawers (which i just scraped up with ear swabs) the male and the pollen are long gone. had a run in with curtis jackson couple weeks back. im hoping the pollen will still be working if i dust some girls with it in the future. if not. still got the offspring
 

Hammerhead

Disabled Farmer
ICMag Donor
Veteran
I dried my Pollen on paper for a day and then made single use packs. I put those in a plastic case a sealed it. They are now stored in the freezer.. Its been about 4 months. I have not tried any since I froze it. I hope it stores good. I will be using it again..
 

Sam_Skunkman

"RESIN BREEDER"
Moderator
Veteran
Tetrazolium is what I use for testing pollen viability, I find it better then "water-sucrose agar and check the emergence of germtubes with microscope"
And I do agree that the % of frozen viable pollen is only 5-10% or less at the most, but that is enough when you have lots frozen.
I have used lots of pollen that was over 10 years frozen, no problem.
I have not had success with pollen stored at room temps for longer then a year.
I never tried vacuum as I did not seem to need it, so I can not comment.
I freeze mine at -30C in a freezer that does not defrost.
And I use it as fast as I can when removed from the freezer, I am afraid it loses viability quickly. I have used it still frozen when I pollinated large amounts of plants, worked great.

-SamS

bonbolos, how long have you kept Cannabis pollen viable, and used it to grow healthy seeds and plants? What was your technique?

-SamS


If I may say, i'm very septic about pollen being still viable after more than 3-4 years especially with the storage described by each of you. Pollen viability of the vast majority of angiospermes decrease to arround 10% a few hours after stamen opening. With adequate storage, you may be able to keep it a few years, no more.

did anybody made it germinate on water-sucrose agar and check the emergence of germtubes with microscope ? be careful because the seeds may be parthenocarpic , the developement being triggered by contact between the dead pollen and the pistil and/or aborted germination of non viable pollen.

the best way is still to keep the pollen in vacuum sealed vials at -18°C (see post i did a few month ago on mrnice forum)

http://www.mrnice.nl/forum/6-breede...9520-question-best-way-store-male-pollen.html

good luck
 
Last edited:

Rowdy420

Member
Thank you for sharing your vast knowledge of our beautiful plant Sam.

Will have to try and freeze it next time. Tried once but didn't pollinate anything successfully, They freeze human sperm so anything may be possible.

Good luck, Peace
 

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