Tom Hill Haze

[mudballs]

I found a peer reviewed study once about pollen storage. They dessicated it with 95f heat, lab oven im guessing...then froze it. I did it and lost alot of viability, idk what's right way if that fkt up on me.

 

[mudballs]

3+yr old Jungleboys Florida Strawberries done to study specs...cut w/ desiccated flour...no clue if it will work...don't have FS seeds anymore anyway...vial contents are still soft fluffy when you rotate or tilt them...they just look clumpy from gravity

 

[OldCoolSativa]

It’s important to collect and process pollen in low dew point conditions. High humidity guarantees lumpy, ineffective pollen. I wait for the cool, crisp, dry autumn weather to collect pollen. I use rice to keep it desiccated in vials, and I put the rice into a 250 °F oven to dry it out beforehand.

 

[mudballs]

I wouldn’t do rice grains, and i think now i would not cut w/ flour for storage if i do it again...moisture is enemy...moving any moisture in vessel to a rice grain is still moisture in container.

 

[mudballs]

we want pure unadulterated pollen in perfect stasis...maybe vacuum sealing should be looked at

 

[mudballs]

I bet that's the answer and we all been spinning wheels for decades lol..i can hear some old grandma learning me up..."just vacuum seal it youngin!"

 

[JustGrowing420]

Effervescent tablet bottles have desiccant fixed on the lid if it hasn't been mentioned, to prevent them from dissolving with moisture, that's what I use mostly plus its airtight by itself, perfect combo.

Also Silica balls in the pollen container could work, maybe?

 

[led05]

I just used some I've had in the freezer for about a year and it does not look like it worked.

Must not have been dried properly, also if being used within 3 years or so fridges are safer bet as freezers can cause freezer burn & some have defrost cycles; huge key is properly drying

Was pollen dried before freezing ? Or from a reversal or a line known for sterility issues ?

Fresh sifted and then frozen from several thh males.

And there in lies the issue, has to be completely dry - my vase water dries up, the male flower arms dry up, it sits on the glass normally for weeks as I intentionally forget about it as I know it needs to be bone dry - collecting during winter inside a dry home always easier but not always when it’s ready

Five years fridge, that’s impressive. Dried?
Here I was thinking a few weeks was excessive.

Here I was thinking 3 years in the desk drawer was more impressive than 5 in the fridge - it’s all about properly drying it

I have had better luck with drying material before freezing, but I have seen people swear by the fresh frozen route. And sometimes I have thought pollen didn't take but surprised to find it did.
Best luck with future pollinations

Unequivocally drying is better than fresh frozen; we’re talking about pollen not bubble hash right

Pollen must be completely DRY - if it doesn’t still cloud up & take to air when you open those bags it’s gotten moisture and viability falls off a cliff

I dry for a week before freezing, haven't tried it after a long freeze though. I tried adding rice but it made the pollen lose it's powdery feel. won't be adding rice again

I used to add a desiccant (like rice) but then realized I was just complicating things and wasn’t certain rice was as DRY as I expected or needed it to be…

After you play with pollen a bit & you experience what completely dry pollen is like, how it behaves you intuitively know when it’s good, or less than - it should fly airborne with almost no efforts at all and make you start sneezing up a storm

 

[led05]

It’s important to collect and process pollen in low dew point conditions. High humidity guarantees lumpy, ineffective pollen. I wait for the cool, crisp, dry autumn weather to collect pollen. I use rice to keep it desiccated in vials, and I put the rice into a 250 °F oven to dry it out beforehand.

All great advice; I stopped using little vials years ago though as it’s easier to get all air out tiny baggies vs tiny vials - air equals moisture but seems you have that covered by using known fully dried out rice…