Indoor pollen collection from multiple males

[Harpua88]

When you're scrambling to finish the work and you know lights out is coming any minute......

And that's when the wheely carts like to stick a little...

Anyway, breeders, what is your method and strategy for collectng pollen from more than 1 male? In this case indoors, I actually think outdoors is easier. But we gotta collect each male's pollen, without them mixing or any flying free. Some sort of parchment paper sleeve? I would have to make some.....

 

[Deadstill]

When you're scrambling to finish the work and you know lights out is coming any minute......

And that's when the wheely carts like to stick a little...

Anyway, breeders, what is your method and strategy for collectng pollen from more than 1 male? In this case indoors, I actually think outdoors is easier. But we gotta collect each male's pollen, without them mixing or any flying free. Some sort of parchment paper sleeve? I would have to make some.....

First of all I keep all of my pollinators in separate rooms "quarantined" from each other and any other plants, to make life easier.

I generally just wait until they're mature enough that you can take a sheet of wax paper or parchment paper, grab a branch and shake.

Then, I keep my pollen in ziplock bags with a few grains of rice in them to absorb moisture. Squeeze as much air as possible out of the bag and you can store the pollen in the freezer for quite a long time. I have pollen in my freezer that's over 3 years old and it's still viable. Keeping moisture out is the key, though.

 

[Harpua88]

First of all I keep all of my pollinators in separate rooms "quarantined" from each other and any other plants, to make life easier.

I generally just wait until they're mature enough that you can take a sheet of wax paper or parchment paper, grab a branch and shake.

Then, I keep my pollen in ziplock bags with a few grains of rice in them to absorb moisture. Squeeze as much air as possible out of the bag and you can store the pollen in the freezer for quite a long time. I have pollen in my freezer that's over 3 years old and it's still viable. Keeping moisture out is the key, though.

Well, I've got a somewhat big house, but I don't have the ability to put 3, 4 different males not just in separate rooms, but each room would need to have a 12/12 cycle going on (at least until they're close to opening). And I'd have to run around from room to room.......

I can put all the males in a separate area of the basement, I don't need to store any pollen (although I'm not against it, maybe in the future) because I only want to pollinate this same crop. I just need the pollen to last a couple of weeks to let the females catch up.

It's the parchment paper thing I gotta do, it would be great if someone made sleeves that can wrap over a branch or top of a plant..........8 inches? 12? with a rubber band or tie to prevent any from escaping. It can ne carefully removed and then wrapped over a female branch so only one branch gets only that pollen. I want to make a few hundred seeds not a few thousand. I've done it before but on a smaller scale with fewer males. Now I got 4 different males that I'll want to pollinate maybe 10 different females. I'll have to do the best I can, and probably accept the fact that it won't be perfect. There may very well be a little cross-pollinating that slips past my radar.....

 

[Deadstill]

Well, I've got a somewhat big house, but I don't have the ability to put 3, 4 different males not just in separate rooms, but each room would need to have a 12/12 cycle going on (at least until they're close to opening). And I'd have to run around from room to room.......

I can put all the males in a separate area of the basement, I don't need to store any pollen (although I'm not against it, maybe in the future) because I only want to pollinate this same crop. I just need the pollen to last a couple of weeks to let the females catch up.

It's the parchment paper thing I gotta do, it would be great if someone made sleeves that can wrap over a branch or top of a plant..........8 inches? 12? with a rubber band or tie to prevent any from escaping. It can ne carefully removed and then wrapped over a female branch so only one branch gets only that pollen. I want to make a few hundred seeds not a few thousand. I've done it before but on a smaller scale with fewer males. Now I got 4 different males that I'll want to pollinate maybe 10 different females. I'll have to do the best I can, and probably accept the fact that it won't be perfect. There may very well be a little cross-pollinating that slips past my radar.....

If space is an issue it would be alright to just keep them in the same room, as far apart from each other as possible, just make sure there's no fans going or breeze that will blow the pollen around.

You could take a big piece of parchment, cut a slit from one edge to the center, and put it underneath the entire plant to try to catch as much pollen as possible, But if you're not trying to make thousands of seeds, it really doesn't take much pollen to cultivate quite a few seeds. A little goes a long way.

If you're wanting to pollinate individual branches of a female plant, with multiple pollens, what I usually do, after pollinating said branch, is put a ziplock bag or some sort of clear plastic around that branch or bud site, with a rubber band to keep it mostly closed (but not completely, you want some airflow so not to create mold, etc) and just keep that on the branch for 2 or 3 days. After that it should be safe to remove the cover.