I use an old dried up flower to pollinate a new flower

Create seed of your own
Post Reply
User avatar
C And D
Posts: 2128
Joined: Fri May 09, 2008 1:51 am
Location: Costa Mesa, CA
Contact:

I use an old dried up flower to pollinate a new flower

Post by C And D »

So often the flowers on my assortment of plants won't flower at the same time.

So I dig some dried pollen out of a dried up flower and use it to pollinate another plant.

It seems to work well if the old flower isn't too old, but I have tried using last years pollen on some flowers, not sure if it worked or not.

Some flowers close up so tightly and fast that the pollen is a gooey mess as the flower wilts,
so if i have another flower I want to pollinate in the future, I will try and open the flower up so the insides will dry out and I can use the pollen next week.
Check out our plant and seed lists
http://www.CandDplants.com

Craig and Denise Fry
User avatar
lei1201
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Mar 15, 2017 7:47 am

Re: I use an old dried up flower to pollinate a new flower

Post by lei1201 »

Wow, can't believe the dried pollen still work!

Is it work for Conophytum or Bulbine species?

How to keep the dried pollinate?
User avatar
greenknight
Posts: 4813
Joined: Tue Apr 30, 2013 4:18 am
Location: SW Washington State zone 8b

Re: I use an old dried up flower to pollinate a new flower

Post by greenknight »

Pollen is surprisingly durable, its cell walls are so tough it remains identifiable in millions of year old sediment - https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/70156817

For longer storage it's recommended to freeze it, works with most plants - https://ucanr.edu/repositoryfiles/ca707p12-71852.pdf
Spence :mrgreen:
User avatar
mmcavall
Posts: 1436
Joined: Tue May 17, 2016 11:54 pm
Location: São Carlos - SP, Southeast Brazil, Cerrado Region

Re: I use an old dried up flower to pollinate a new flower

Post by mmcavall »

Anyone has any experience with pollen storage to share?
I have had many flowers opening with a gap of one or two weeks between them. I would like to use the pollen of the earlier flowers to pollinate the later ones, but I'm not sure how to store it (plastic or paper , room temp or refrigerator, etc). Thanks for any input.
Post Reply