From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Cologne / Germany

Are there reliable methods to save a male flower in case you need it later on or does pollen lose fertility? I was asked to send a male flower from my plant by mail to a friend in July. Has anyone tried this? Sounds interesting to me because you don`t need to have the pollinator plant by yourself.

6/6/2002 6:52:14 AM

South Hill, Virginia

I think last year John and Ken shipped males to Pappy. I'm not sure how they did. You may be able to look at his diary from last year. I've of people freezing pollen with some success.

6/6/2002 9:36:07 AM

North Ga

You're right svrichb. They shipped males overnight but none of the females set a fruit. Could be though that since the plant was a mutant they wouldn't have set anyway. The freak pumpkin I did get was pollinated by bees from a deformed male that was on the plant. Good luck floh!! Let us know how it turns out.

6/6/2002 10:52:54 AM

Grants Pass, Oregon

I froze the male flowers last year and took them out as I needed them. I had good pollination success this way.

6/6/2002 11:11:10 AM

Chester Co., PA

Last month huffs pumpkins posted some instructions here on harvesting and saving pollin. He claimed it would keep 7 to 10 days in a jar.

6/7/2002 10:33:08 AM

Cologne / Germany

I saw Huffs posting. He said pollen can be stored around 10 days in the fridge. Would like to know about Polka´s method in the freeze. What is your temperature in the freeze and how long do you let them in? If pollen survive in a deep freeze, that could be extended till next season??

6/10/2002 5:31:11 AM

Grants Pass, Oregon

Hi Flohberger: I have a chest freezer that is set on 3. I have stored male flowers for weeks in the freezer and then took them out when a female flower showed up. I have always used 2 males to 1 female. I have good luck with this method.
I might try to put some males in the freezer and keep until next season and see what happens.

6/10/2002 12:22:26 PM