daylily??

Hello!I hope this is the right forum to post on.Well,here goes:How and when do you collect daylily pollen?How much do you need to collect to trade?Does anyone know how to store it?

Thanks,Chelsea

I am trying my hand at freezing it this year. This is a first try for me, so I don't know if it will be a sucess till next year when I trying using it to hybridize. I took a Q-tip and rubbed it on the pollen, so it would stick to the q-tip. I then put it in a zip lock bag, labeled it and froze it. Now, in the spring when you want to use it, you take it out of the freezer and let it thaw and dry for about an hour or so before you use it. I hope this helps. Like I said, this is a first for me. I am not sure this will work but going to give it a try.

Cindy

Okay thanks!

Trading the pollen is somewhat tricky, unless you are doing an in-person trade. (That works fine.) Apparently, pollen left at room temperature starts to become unviable within 3 days. That means that by the time it arrives in the mail, it may have lost its viability.

I received some pollen that took over 7 days to reach me. By the time it arrived, I was on vacation, which meant it was another 10 days before I opened the package. I didn't even try to use the pollen at that point.

For in-person trades or storing, I use pollen tubes sold by Earthstar. If you let the anthers dry for a day before you close the cap, you don't need any Q-tip or cotton in the vial. A lot of people report great results with the Q-tip method though, so use whatever you're comfortable with.