Pollen "contamination" - how long does it stay viable?

Strainhunter · May 16, 2011

Had a discussion today with someone who had a bunch of hermies within his indoor grow.

Due to the guys grow room design he was unable to disinfect his room to kill off potential pollen contaminating his next set.

Since I am not into breeding I could only guesstimate pollen floating around in his room staying "alive" for maybe 2 weeks?

So my question for those who actually *know* how long pollen stays alive:

How long does the pollen the guy has in his room have the potential to contaminate his next grow?
Temps/RH are are 70's and 55-60RH.

mean mr.mustard · May 16, 2011

He can't spray plain water on everything?

He needs a better design... but anyway...

I'd think most if not all pollen is rendered inactive within a few days... a week tops imo.

Strainhunter · May 17, 2011

mean mr.mustard said:
.........

I'd think most if not all pollen is rendered inactive within a few days... a week tops imo.

Canniwhatsis · May 17, 2011

Pollen that has been collected and stored in a fridge can stay viable for up to 9 months!

Or so I've heard,.... I've got some from a male WW that I've had for about 4 months now, Will try some F-2's when the new WW girl hits flower

The potential that a grain of pollen in his room could generate a seed is very real,... but a couple scattered grains won't completely seed his next crop.

+1 to spraying everything down with water :tiphat:

mean mr.mustard · May 17, 2011

Heat and water are pollen's enemies.

I've had pollen stored in a film container go bad in two weeks but it wasn't in the fridge.

You may be suprised how inviable your pollen will be after time even if it's kept cold.

Canniwhatsis · May 17, 2011

More than likely true, it's worth a shot tho. I'm not planning on crop dusting the room, just a single bud with all the fan's off.

Worked great the last time, but the pollen was only about a week old.

Strainhunter · May 17, 2011

His pollen is all over a clusterfucked basement room, not in a fridge...lol

Canniwhatsis · May 17, 2011

Strainhunter said:
His pollen is all over a clusterfucked basement room, not in a fridge...lol

Yep, that's where my pollen goes too! :tiphat:

I've found 1 "random" (I did not introduce pollen this time) seed in any of my buds,... that particular plant wasn't hermi,.... something else was during the "last" run,.... but when does one terminate, and another begin when trying to do perpetual?

I figure it was well over a month between the Hermi showing up in flower, and the seed that showed up in the top of the bud.

There's a good chance IMHO that when I harvested the Hermi I accidentally broke up a nanner, which spread pollen on a small section of the room.
Then later some part of me came in contact with that pollen, and then later that same part transfered a single grain to a living pistil on the top of the bud giving birth to the single seed.

Well, that's my half cocked theory on it anyway

fonzee · May 17, 2011

If the basement is very dry and cool the pollen could stay viable for 3-4 months as far as I know.
However, if you increase the humidity and heat for a day or two you extremely decrease the viability of the pollen.
Just like what small vegging mj plants like anyway

Cheers.

Strainhunter · May 17, 2011

Canniwhatsis said:
........

Well, that's my half cocked theory on it anyway

But it was interesting.

Thanks for sharing!

tonne · May 17, 2011

deleted

Canniwhatsis · Jun 15, 2011

'K,... experiment is on in full,.... Got a WW in week 4 of flower,.... just dropped 4-5 month old refrigerated pollen on a branch.......

Didn't take long for pistils to start wilting on that branch,.... I'm sure there's gonna be some collateral pollination resulting in none of the buds from this plant being seed free,..... but if it works I'll be stoked none the less!

I'd post pics,.... but the wife hid the camera

:

fonzee · Jun 15, 2011

I pollinate a branch in a stale room and cover the branch with a plastic sandwich bag for a couple of days and spray the whole plant with water to kill straying pollen.
Then after 2 days I pull the bag off and spray the whole plant thoroughly again to kill any pollen that didn't catch.
I rarely get pollen contamination that way.

Strainhunter · Jun 15, 2011

Canniwhatsis said:
'K,... experiment is on in full,.... Got a WW in week 4 of flower,.... just dropped 4-5 month old refrigerated pollen on a branch.......
.........
I'd post pics,.... but the wife hid the camera

Pollen can stay usable for years when stored in the fridge. But this is not what this thread is about.

And regarding your wife hiding your camera...:

sub dermal · Jun 22, 2011

just to second strainhunter, pollen can keep for a very long time if stored properly. i've used 2-3 year old pollen before. kept dry, and very very cold

but for the love of *, spray your shit with water if you're afraid of pollination!

Snook · May 24, 2015

water does not kill or render pollen ineffective.. think 'rain'. :tiphat:

EDIT: https://www.opengrow.com/topic/3764...tiples-strains/page__hl__bopms__fromsearch__1

I've done it works (store in water, still viable weeks later.

mean mr.mustard · Jul 24, 2015

I've soaked a bud with water and tried to pollinate it with proven viable pollen.

It didn't take.

Fact.

Water doesn't kill pollen, it germinates the pollen granule to grow down the pistil to the ovule.

If your water is cold enough I suppose that the growing pollen tube still made its way into the ovule when temps resumed a tolerable range.

stoned-trout · Jul 24, 2015

I pollinate branches all the time.. once did like 9 separate pollinations on a sk#1..pollen wont live long in a grow environment...yeehaw..I have had very little unwanted fertilizations/seeds...they do show up now and then and go in a bottle with ? on it..wetting down plant and pollen just makes it heavy and not move around so easy..then it slowly dies pollen that is..

Snook · Jul 25, 2015

mean mr.mustard said:
I've soaked a bud with water and tried to pollinate it with proven viable pollen.

It didn't take.

Fact.

Water doesn't kill pollen, it germinates the pollen granule to grow down the pistil to the ovule.

If your water is cold enough I suppose that the growing pollen tube still made its way into the ovule when temps resumed a tolerable range.

I saw this years ago, tried it, it works - Fact.

BOPMS - Breed One Plant, Multiple Strains.
store the pollen in cold water until one is ready to pollinate.
https://www.opengrow.com/topic/3764...tiples-strains/page__hl__bopms__fromsearch__1

in nature there is rain, the plant needs the water, no? if no water they die and (haha) no seeds (sorry I had to say it). rain doesn't wash away every granule of pollen and if a drop of water, containing some of that pollen, drips down to the next bud and dries, the plant will produce seed(s), if the pollen is still viable. yes, some washes away but the water doesn't 'kill' the pollen.

EDIT: OOPS, I didn't read that you said that about killing the pollen.. sorry aghain

Redrum92 · Jul 27, 2015

Not trying to be a dick but... How long it will survive in a container /fridge/freezer really is not in the spirit of the OP.

I'm also curious... Will viable pollen still be floating around days later if a male is removed?

Pollen "contamination" - how long does it stay viable?

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