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Date Posted

Hadley Ny

Will be pollinating tomorrow or day after and wondering when to cut and store male flower inside. Don't want to ruin BigNOrange pollination.

7/10/2016 3:51:56 PM

Hadley Ny

Also how long can you keep the male after cutting? Best way to store? Cup of rain or pond water?

7/10/2016 4:12:02 PM

Upa Creek, MO

I have always cut them in the evening and put them in a glass with a couple inches of tap water. I've had no issues

7/10/2016 4:17:03 PM

Hadley Ny

Are they alright for a couple days? I know try to use right away but females are sometimes finicky!!

7/10/2016 4:25:35 PM

Central NY

Use fresh males

7/10/2016 6:24:31 PM

Colorado

You pick then the night before so you don't have to wake up before the bees.Use them the next morning only. don't use 48 hr old pollen

7/10/2016 6:43:22 PM

Owensboro, Ky.

Also, if you want controlled pollination, be sure to secure you lil lady (they wake up early) the night b/4...bee's wake up early too!!! LOL Serious! Peace, Wayne Okay... I was talking about the female pkn!!!

7/10/2016 8:30:00 PM

Owensboro, Ky.

I wait till just b/4 sunset so I can look & judge which males are looking like they will open the next a.m. They sorta pucker at the top. Cut w/full stem & put in a jar w/water, tap water works okay for me. I leave them in a window that faces East, so the sun wakes them up in the early a.m. so pollen is ready when I get up. Early morning job as female is only receptive for a few hours, or so I have heard. Peace, Wayne

7/10/2016 8:33:32 PM

Hadley Ny

This will be a practice pollination on a kin 9' out on my 1912 Carter. I have 2 more fruit further out that I'm hoping to pollinate later in the week. I cut three males last night and they started to open when I turned the light on this morning. Female is covered with a bag. Thanks for the info. T

7/11/2016 6:35:10 AM

Upa Creek, MO

About 2-3 days before they are ready, males and females really start to put on size, and then the day\night before the flower petals swell up and turn a shade of orange and retain some green. In many cases they start to slightly split up top but not always.

This is critical to learn for both males and females in this hobby because timing is everything just to get started due to a short window on both being viable.

7/11/2016 8:23:10 AM

Hadley Ny

I've been keeping an eye on the males but could have kicked myself for culling early females..would have been nice practice. I learned from my PrizeWinners last year about being done by noon. I check all three of my patches a couple times a day. My personal BNO patch several times. Especially at first light. I be learnin'.

7/11/2016 8:30:25 AM