Wondering about pollinia, pollen/seed parents.

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by RoyalOrchids

Just make sure that the silica doesn't touch the pollen/seed you are storing. I put a little layer of those silica crystals in the bottom of a clean mason jar. Then I put the pollen/seed in a film bottle without the cap and place the whole thing into the jar. After about a week or two, you can just stick it in a zip-top bag and store it in the fridge.

That's how it's done in the seed tech labs of breeding companies, and works well. Of course they don't use mason jars and films bottles, but it's the same principle.

Another method I used while doing my internship there was to dry the pollen(tomato) in the oven at 37°C for 2 hours. We would either store it in the fridge, the freezer or in liquid nitrogen. If the pollen is not dried out correctly, freezing kill the pollen. I don't know how orchid pollen would tolerate this. Solanacea have pollen which stay viable a long time and can take rough treatment pretty well. I prefer the method with the silica crystals.