New Grower A little fun with pollen

[DarKnight]

Great thread.

Call me a "pollen chucker" but I've had a lot of fun over the years with crosses. No, I don't have thousands of plants to work with but the only reason I have any of Breeder Steves genetics is because I have kept them alive through crossing and cloning.

You nailed it, it is fun to see what comes out of a cross. If both parents are stable or relatively true breeding then the f1 tend to be stable as well. This is what enables many vendors to offer f1 seed with fairly consistent results. Of course simply growing out a large sample size before selling is enough to confirm that you have that relative stability you are looking for.

Day 8 after pollination

 

[DarKnight]

The fragrance is getting strong citrusy and sweet smelling. Loving it.

 

[DarKnight]

I think I'm falling in love with this Purple Lemonade. Fragrance is off the charts wonderful and she is just getting started.

 

[DarKnight]

 

[DarKnight]

 

[DarKnight]

 

[DarKnight]

note, pollen was shipped out on 22 April and arrived on 26th of April. Pollen was stored in freezer till use on 27th once it arrived. Pollen spent 4 days in transit. Pollen was applied very liberally.

 

[Cardholders]

Are you thinking the pollen wasn't viable? I had that problem when trying to use week old, dried pollen and nothing took. Hope you get some babies out of it.

 

[DarKnight]

Are you thinking the pollen wasn't viable? I had that problem when trying to use week old, dried pollen and nothing took. Hope you get some babies out of it.

I have purchased pollen from multiple places. I know full well that pollen can be stored dried and frozen for many years. I also know that the best way to ship pollen is to ship it frozen. I.e. on dry ice or at the very least with cold packs and insulated boxes. But, you could also get away with shipping pollen overnight and still have decent enough fertility provided it was harvested fresh. When you look at places that ship pollen and the prices they typically charge, you want that pollen to arrive at least partially viable. If I only get 12 seeds per application I would say it has very low viability, but perhaps it is worth it if it gives you access to an f1 with the desired genetics that you can then work up. It is the f2 that gets tricky after all and that is where you want to see a huge production of seeds. The f1 is okay to have a lower number of seeds provided the f1 has traits you are after that are locked in a homozygous state.

Still, when you look at pollen viability when it is not frozen. You realize that pollen that is shipped must be absolutely fresh when frozen. When pollen is shipped it should be shipped and delivered overnight. Pollen that takes over 9 days to arrive will likely have less than 10% viability if it is not shipped frozen and that is if it is perfectly fresh and frozen that way prior to shipment. 10% viability if you actually get seeds from it might actually be okay. The first batch of pollen I had delivered actually arrived fairly quickly. The next batch of pollen as you can see that I will be testing is taking much longer to arrive.

 

[DarKnight]

Still holding out hope. This pollen has been utilized twice on the same places and marked appropriately both times. Fast service on this pollen compared to my other source... lightning fast. I have zero males of my own so all seeds will be from shipped pollen or not at all.