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| Is it possible to save corn pollen? I read that some pollen is able to be frozen and then used. I used old seeds, used soil blocks to start some and later direct sowed some at 2 week intervals because I was getting such low germination rates. I only had one survive from my soil block attempt and it is the most mature and has a pollen tassel and no silk. The rest are at varying stages of maturation. I thought if I could save the pollen from this stalk I could use it to pollinate when I saw silk from one of them. This is just a small home garden consisting of about 60, 3 gallon nursery pots 15 planted with corn and pole beans. The good news is that I used up all my old seeds and will get a fresh start next season! :) Thanks for any thoughts you have. |
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| It's best stored after dessication in order to remove a lot of it's moisture. You can buy or build a dessication chamber which range from complex machines to a simple large jar with silica gel. After dessication it's best stored sealed in a near-air-tight container and inside another container. Small petri dishes (with covers) sealed with parafilm are excellent for this...then into a piece of tupperware (or similar). After that it's into the fridge or freezer. 1-2 years of good storage this way. If you want something a bit more low-tech and you're planning on a shorter storage time then you can collect tassels or knock a bunch of pollen off a tassel into a paper bag. You need to store this in consistently dry place without much moisture/humidity and give it time to dry. Once dried out it's generally good for a few weeks to a couple months without losing too much effectiveness. This method is a bit less consistent, but it's generally a good one if you have a quick turnaround for the pollen use and you can get the tassels/pollen dry + keep it dry. |
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| Awesome! Thank you so much for the detailed answer. I will try my hand at the low-tech solution and report back with how it goes. I think here in AZ drying it will be the easiest part. :) Thanks again for your help nc-crn! Karoleana |
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