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Pollen storage

Pyro

N=R* fs fp ne fl fi fc L
Moderator
So my N. ventricosa has set out a flower spike and it looks like one of my Sarrs might be setting out a flower as well. If my ventricosa turns out to be male I'd like to try saving some pollen in the event some one would want it and I want to try my hand a hybridizing my Sarrs.

Now, given all that, how do I go about storing pollen and how long is it viable?

Any answers or help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

Pyro
 
Pyro, I have NO experience with nepenthes, but I can tell you this about Sarracenia.
Two years ago I wanted to cross my Flava cv maxima with one of my Leucophylla's. The maxima flower was opening and the leuco stem hadn't even begun to grow!
I took as much pollen as I could and placed it on a small sheet of paper. I folded this up and placed it in a jar. I also placed a small bag of silica gel crystals in the jar and placed the whole lot in the fridge. It was about six weeks later when I used it. Pollination was succsefull and the seedlings are growing well! I wouldn't think the pollen would last much longer than six weeks though.
 
Sarracenia has already been explained well by RICHARD UK. I haven't any expirence in Nepenthes flowering,pollen,etc. But in D'Amato's book it says pollen can be stored in the freezer for up to 1 year for later use. It can be stored in foil packets and make sure they are labeled so you know what plant's pollen that is. In pollinating the spikes make sure you label the plant who's spike has been pollinated. You can take it from D'Amato and his book but I hope that may have helped. Try messaging Tony Paroubek and ask him.
 
Richard and NepG,

Thank you both for the info. I don't even know if any of my other Sarrs will flower (I got all of them between Oct and Dec so they were dormant) but I hope some of them do.

I had read that part in D'Amato's book but I have found that some of his advice is a little skewed (the best I recall is that N. villosa is an "easy plant in cultivation.") and I wanted to hear from other growers what their technique was so as to see whether 'wrap in foil and toss in freezer' really was the way to go.

Thanks again

Pyro
 
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