[Telepod]

We can all work together to make better cannabis... Here is an outstanding article on working with cycad pollen, which contains many valuable lessons for the MJ breeding community. Check it out!
(click here for the full article)

Collection and Storage of Pollen
One of the keys to producing viable seeds is the proper collection of, and if needed, storage of pollen. I try to make sure the pollen I use is viable. I am going to discuss how I go through the whole process. Pollen can stay viable for at least a week or two outside of the refrigerator. I don't recommend waiting this long because it is important that pollen be as fresh as possible. This will prolong its viability during storage. Using pollen that is older is still better than nothing, if that is all you have to work with. Pollen that has become inviable does no good and wastes time and energy.
Male plants produce the pollen and females produce the seeds. ... tap the top of the cone slightly with my finger to see if the pollen falls out of the cone. If it is a very small cone, it is best to put a piece of paper under the cone to catch any pollen that may fall out. If ANY pollen falls from the cone, it is ready to harvest. ... You will notice that some of the pollen sacs are ruptured when you see that pollen has fallen out. If you don't catch the male cone on its first day releasing pollen, it is best to see how many of the pollen sacs have ruptured. If all the pollen sacs have ruptured, it may be hard to determine when the pollen has been released, and therefore may be inviable. ... Extremely high temperatures will reduce the viability of pollen. Pollen will continue to shed for approximately five days. I collect the pollen every two days and place it in paper packets I make by folding small pieces of notebook paper and sealing the side and ends with tape. It is important to make sure that the tape covers as little of the surface as possible so that the paper packet can breathe. ...
In order to store pollen for long periods of time, it is important to remove as much of the water content in the pollen as possible. Store the pollen in a glass jar or vial, avoiding plastic bags, which can breathe and are not the best for long-term storage. To reduce the water content in the pollen, place some desiccant in the bottom of the container. I use an indicating desiccant. When dry this material is blue, and as it absorbs moisture, it turns pink. By using an indicating desiccant, you can tell when it has absorbed all the moisture it can. It is impossible to tell whether regular desiccant is still dry just by looking at it. Once indicating desiccant has absorbed all the moisture possible, it turns pink. Place it in the oven and bake it until it turns blue again. This desiccant can be used over and over again. The amount of desiccant you use depends on the amount of pollen you are trying to dry out. I have found that 1/2 - 1" in the bottom of the container works well. The paper packets are then placed on top of the desiccant. By using paper packets, which can breathe, the desiccant can do its job. Instead of using one big packet for all of your pollen, place the pollen in small packets so one packet can be removed quickly without disturbing the unused pollen. ... Write the species name and date stored on both sides of the packet so you can tell later on how old the pollen is.

Once I cap the vial, I place it in the refrigerator for two days. I do not place it directly in the freezer because the pollen's moisture content is too high; water expansion can rupture the pollen and render it inviable. Once the pollen has been in the vial for at least two days, and as long as the paper packet has had enough breathable area, moisture content will be reduced enough for you to put the vial in the freezer. Once the vial is in the freezer, the pollen should be good for years. I have found that pollen will stay very fresh for at least three years. I know one person who used pollen that had been stored for six years and got a good seed set. I have been told that if pollen were to be stored in liquid nitrogen, it would stay viable forever. Of course this method is not practical for most people. If you collect pollen on separate occasions, but eventually want to keep the pollen in the same container, it is best to store the newer pollen in a different vial and go through the same process in the refrigerator. Once the new pollen is desiccated, the newer packets can be quickly placed in the original container.
When removing packets for use, it is important to minimize the time that the vial is open because the pollen and packets can reabsorb moisture. This is another reason to use several packets instead of removing a small amount of pollen each time from one larger packet. Once you remove a packet, use the pollen as soon as possible.
Pollen loses viability quickly at room temperature and even faster at higher temperatures. Pollen can stay viable at room temperature for several days, but I attempt to maximize its viability so that more good seed is produced in the long run. Just because an entire cone is pollinated does not mean all of the seeds will germinate. Quality of the pollen has a great deal to do with how many seeds in each cone are viable. Another reason to keep moisture content low in pollen is to lessen the chance for fungus to grow on and kill the pollen. When I send pollen to someone who lives far away, I send it in a vial containing desiccant. This will keep the viability high. If the shipping time will be longer than one week, I add a cold pack to the box, which seems to help. I have been thinking about making a shipping container that would have two compartments. The inner middle compartment could hold the vial, and the outside compartment could hold ice to keep the vial cooler while shipping. If dry ice were used in the outer compartment, pollen most likely could be shipped anywhere in the world without loss of viability.
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I hope this information helps everyone store pollen correctly to insure its viability. This is especially important for those who are mailing pollen to others. More and more people are propagating cycads every day, and they are also coordinating their efforts with others by sending pollen to people who do not have male plants. I hope this article will help everyone produce more seeds and, eventually, more cycads.

[Canna Wurms]

Good stuff, Telepod. Thanks.

[Peg Leg Pete]

good info.

[ezozo]

Great great info !

[lespaulcustom]

When would be the best time to use the pollen? Anytime now i'm going to pollenate some plants. I'm just waiting on the male to release it. Can the pollen be put on when it releases? The flowering female is almost two weeks into 12/12. The buds are starting to form. Can it be put on this early or should it be a fully developed bud first?

[Telepod]

Thanks for the great compliments... I was just lucky enough to find this information; I had the idea to google "mailing pollen." Whatta score!

lespaul:I think that two weeks might be a tad early; it depends on how many seeds you want to make. I usually wait until there is a good little thistly tuft of pistils at each budsite ready to receive the pollen. The seeds themselves will take the same amount of time to develop regardless of when you start, so it is better to pollenate too early than too late. Also it is nice in a personal grow if all your seeds are on the very inside of the buds next to the stem, which is what you get when you pollenate early. It makes the seeds easier to keep track of and leaves you with some nice sinsemilla as well. So, "fully developed bud" is too late to wait in my opinion; sometime soon sounds good.

[Flowerman]

Great post Telepod!
The longest I ever had pollen to work was 5 months. Kept in film containers, mixed with flour in stored in the freezer. But you usually want to use it within the first 2 weeks if kept out.
I'm with tele, I usually like to pollinate my females right around the 4th week, and this way, I still get some nice buds, and it usually gives me at least around 50 to 100 seeds. But this all depends on how big the lady is before I do it. Small clones, around 20+.
If you wait longer during the flowering period, you can get more seeds, but the plant will use all of it's energy to make the seeds. But you'll have alot of white seeds as well, as there isn't enough energy to make them, and this will dramitcally effect potency to some degree, and definitely yield.

[lespaulcustom]

thanks, yeah i don't want alot of seeds. I'll explain what i'm doing. I have a female top 44 and a male ak 48 at the same age from seed and thought i would pollenate her with him. By the way, is it good to cross mostly indicas together? Maybe top 44 will be done too early fore the seed to mature cause of its short floweing cycle which i've yet to find out for myself if this is true. Its been two weeks now and the male hasn't drop any pollen yet so maybe i can do it in the third week of flower. The female already has nice growth around the nodes with plenty of hairs. The female top 44 is only 16 inches high from the stem coming out of the pot. I would like to do it the same day as the male releases it to assure pollenation as i've never stored it or used it before. Also i'm just going to do some of the smaller lower buds and not the main four tops. Is this good, to do it on the smaller lower buds? Anyway here is a pic taken yesterday. What do you think, still to small to pollenate? I can post a better pic of just the buds if needed.






I can't figure this pic posting thing out. The larger pic is in my gallery.

[dutchdescendant]

Great info!!

It is much appreciated:tup:

Peace, DD

[racefan]

Thank you very much for this information.I have some Webbed Indica X Duckfoot males that I want to collect the pollen from. This info answered all my questions and some I didn't even know I had.