DaffNet has a new member who, after reading Kirby’s note about gifting Graham Phillips with the pollen from ‘Millenium Orange’, has a couple questions for those who hybridize.
As Mark is uncertain as to how to start a new topic, I volunteered to try it and tell him how it goes. His questions are:
1. How was the pollen stored until used?
2. How long is the pollen viable as stored?
Linda Wallpe
HI IM MARK AND IM INTERESTED TO LEARN FROM OTHERS ON HYBRIDIZATION OF DAFFS SOMEONE TALKED OF USE OF POLLEN FROM A SHOW BLOOM
SO MY QUESTIONS ARE HOW WAS THE POLLEN COLLECTED AND TRANSPORTED TO WHERE THEY WOULD USE THE POLLEN WAS IT JUST CARRIED IN A FOLDED PEICE OF PAPER
HOW LONG FROM YOUR EXPERENCE WILL THAT POLLEN BE GOOD FOR DAYS WEEKS OR MTHS
HOW WILL YOU STORE THE POLLEN WILL YOU STORE POLLEN AT ROOM TEMP OR IN FRIG 40 -33 DEGREE F
OR WILL YOU FREEZE THE POLLEN AND KEEP IN THE FREEZER FOR TEMPS BELOW 32 DEGREES F
FROM YOUR EXPERIENCE AND TRIES HOW MANY POLLENATIONS OF A PISTIL WILL YOU GET OUT OF ONE ANTLER OF POLLEN JUST A FEW CROSSES OR LOTS JUST LOOKING FOR IMPUT ON WHAT YOUR TRACK RECORED IS AND HOW FAR YOU CAN MAKE THAT POLLEN STEACH TO MAKE YOUR CROSSES
IN THE CROSS PROCESS DO YOU PUT POLLEN ON THE TIP OF THE PISTAL RIGHT AWAY ONCE BLOOM OPENS OR DO YOU WAIT FOR THE FLUID TO SHOW ON THE TIP OF THE PISTIL
DO YOU EVER DO THIS CROSS MORE THEN ONCE ON THE BLOOM MEANING DO YOU TRY THIS SEVERAL TIMES AT DIFFERENT DAYS TO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A GOOD CROSS OR POLLENATION IN HOPES FOR THE CROSS TO TAKE
I LOOK FOWARD TO HEAR AND LEARN FROM OTHERS
THANKS
MARK
Hi Mark,
My practice has been to remove the anthers and store them in OOO size gelatin capsules. The gel caps are available in pharmacies or health food stores. I use a fine point felt marker to write the pollen name or number directly on the gel cap. The gel caps are stored in a wide mouth, screw top brown glass bottle that vitamins came in. I do use a desiccant packet (usually silica gel) that comes in most packing material used for electronic products. I put a packet in the bottle to remove moisture. The bottle goes in the freezer.
Stored frozen pollen remains viable for up to two years but viability drops in the second year. Most of us replace pollen annually. I do find that keeping it frozen until it is applied is important. Viability drops within a few hours after defrosting. Get the gel caps out make your cross and if you want to use the pollen later, get it back in the freezer quickly.
Six anthers from a single Standard size daffodil flower can easily pollinate a few dozen flowers. I use a paper match ripped from a book of paper matches. The end opposite the match head has sort of “feathery” fibers when the match is removed from a book of matches. I shake the gel cap which deposits pollen on the inside of the walls of the gel cap. Open the capsule and use the match to lightly scrape the insides of the gel cap. The paper match is used like a one shot, disposable, spatula. Black paper matches are my first choice as both white and yellow pollen shows up well on them. I try and pack the pollen into the end of the stigma or at the least brush the pollen onto the end of the stigma.
At optimum temperature, optimum age of parent flower, and dry, warmish weather the stigma will be sticky and the pollen will adhere to the end of the stigma as if magnetized. I often have successful pollination even if the weather is not ideal and the stigma isn’t moist. I personally do not go back and repeat applications on the same flower. Other hybridizers may. You might want to try “pollen cocktails” which is a mix of two distinct parent pollens (example: N. triandrus and N. cyclamineus) and placed on one stigma. Identifying resulting seedlings is usually very easy if you use two distinct types to make your “cocktail”. The theory is that if one type doesn’t “take”, the other might.
Do give it a try. I think you’ll find it much easier than you might imagine and obtain better results than you might imagine. My counsel would be to have a specific goal in mind (like a deep red/pink or a pure white trumpet, etc.) and try to keep to crosses to further that goal. That will help keep you from being overwhelmed with seed.
Please also feel free to ask any questions you might have. Every hybridizer on DaffNet will be delighted to help. Thanks for the good questions and do let us know how you do with your crosses!
Steve
Hello Mark,
Greetings and welcome to daffnet from New Zealand. On this page of Daffnet are two places where you may find help. You may click on Science or Hybridising on the main tool bar. This gives some correspondence from Daffnet. For more detailed info I suggest you go middle right of your screen and click on Daffodil Library. The artcles here are more in depth journal articles. Then come back to us with more questions. Kirby and I did do a basic article on the process of pollination in a recent ADS Journal. Maybe someone could forward that to you also.
David Adams