From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Woodward, Oklahoma

Can you get a little jar and save up your pollen off you male pumpkin flowers?

5/16/2017 3:50:59 PM

Rhode Island

bakers man

id say no. you can bring the male flower inside for a few hrs to let the fresh picked flowers ( pollen ) dry before using but, i would not feel effective regarding the freshness trying to hold the for the next day.it will dry up.

usually plenty of males every day during pollination because they grow earlier on the plant and vines ---way before the female (fruit)

pap

5/16/2017 4:31:32 PM

Mn

I don't know the answer yes or no, but if you have enough time to pick males and collect pollen you need to come to my patch and pull weeds, bury vines, trim vines, water plants,pick rocks, spray, open hoops, close hoops, etc etc you're welcome to stop by anytime :) I would spend my energy taken care of your plants :)

5/16/2017 5:03:29 PM

Ashville Ohio

Lol..Q-Tip

5/16/2017 5:41:24 PM

Walhalla, ND.

LOL, good one Qtip. I've read males can be refrigerated and last for a good while. How many days? I don't know, others I'm sure will chime in and give you days.

5/16/2017 5:48:00 PM

Walhalla, ND.

Never mind I see paps comment. I'd go with that.

5/16/2017 5:49:46 PM

Colorado

Short answer is no. Pollen is only good from males that open the morning the pumpkin opens.

5/17/2017 1:57:32 AM

Wisconsin

I picked them the night before and put in a glass of water and then used them next day. I'll use red solo cup, write on it with a sharpie, one for each plant and use it all season. After I feel that the I have keepers and back ups pollinated, Ill pinch all males off from developing after that point.

5/17/2017 4:56:55 AM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

Pollen viability decreases rapidly once the male flower has opened. It remains highest for the first four hours. Then decreases rapidly, to the point after 8 hours there is almost no viability. Heat and Humidity can be a huge factor.

5/17/2017 7:42:29 AM

Saegertown Pa.

Years ago when I wanted to make a certain cross I would start picking males days ahead of time so when the female opened I would have the cross I wonted. If I remember right three days of picking the males in the morning before work around three thirty In the morning and putting them in the refrigerator they would still take. If I remember right four days and they wouldn’t take, one to two days and I never had a problem and I used to do it a lot. Where I grow there are a lot of times when I don’t have males I won’t for an early pollination. If your growing in a colder climate that can be a problem. Now I make a list of three deferent crosses for each pumpkin and if I don’t have my first choose I go to number two or three.

5/17/2017 10:59:09 AM

Woodward, Oklahoma

Thanks guys Q tip as of now 8 plots weed free and all my vines are buried most of my plants are 4 to six feet long. Also my job is my patch so I have more time than most. I feed 3 times a day all 8 plants with 5 gallon buckets then I have a water system setup to do the rest of the watering. Also foliar feed 3 times a week by hand out of a 2 gallon sprayer. Wife has been mad says I live in my patch.

5/17/2017 12:55:50 PM

Woodward, Oklahoma

I am sure as they get bigger time will be much more and harder to take care of already thinking of doing only 4 next year.

5/17/2017 12:59:08 PM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

There are a lot of factors, which Quinn is not telling us. The closed/never opened male flowers are collected, placed in a glass containing cool water. Then placed in a cool refrigerator. I place a bag loosely over them to conserve moisture. The male flowers then need to be taken out of the fridge, and shown the right conditions to produce the pollen. I use a glass of warm water, a light and if needed a hair dryer. The flower will open and produce pollen to the anthers. You then take that pollen and hand pollinate the Stigma on the female plant. The amount of viable pollen grains deposited on the Stigma, Equals the amount of seeds your Pumpkin will eventually produce.

5/17/2017 1:12:33 PM

Hadley Ny

Sure Linus..I see how you are.. you told me to beat mine with a hair dryer last year for a few seconds. I thought it would crush them. Typo LOL. Heat in the morning works wonders.!

5/17/2017 2:51:39 PM

Colorado

Remember Lincoln mettler storing pollen in a semen tank.I don't think freezing it worked.I pick males the night before the big event-I put them in a window in a non heated porch-theyre ready to go in the morning.Ive used 48 hr old pollen kept in the fridge like Quinn but don't remember having luck using just older pollen-prob just used along with at least one fresh male

5/17/2017 3:18:31 PM

Saegertown Pa.

I picked the flowers at 3:30 to 4:00 Am and put them in the house in water with the lights on, and around 7:00 to 7:30 they went into the fridge and had been open for a while. It seemed to work up to two to three days like that.

5/18/2017 5:07:22 AM

Central Illinois

They say you can save Marijuana pollen by storing it wrapped in paper in a refrigerator, it has to be kept dry . I do not know if it works or is a common practice.

7/5/2017 9:29:48 AM