Shawn you have to take it before it opens, or the bees, etc. might get to it. I know you joined BGI, they have info there on all your questions. About gathering, drying, and storing. Great ifo. that is how I learned how. Check it out.

Shawn I've been collecting anthers for storage when the bloom has just fully opened and the anthers are fluffy. I also started collecting them at night because they seem fluffier. I just stick them in a small baggie or vial and store them in the freezer. I have no idea if that's the best way to do it or how long the pollen is viable.
Karyn

Edna when you take the anthers from an unopened bloom how do you dry them? I've tried allowing them to sit out but they just kind of dry up without getting fluffy. Sorry but that's the only word I can think of to describe the anthers that are full of pollen. lol
Karyn

In a nut shell, you take the anthers when the top portion of the bloom becomes swollen, but flower not open. I put them in a tube (centrifuge with lid) and leave lid open and stick the tube in a container of desicant (sp) to let it dry (3-4 days) put lid on desicant. If you get the anthers before they are ready, they won't get fluffy. Then I put it in the freezer. It will last about 1 year in the freezer. Sometimes, some anthers just won't get fluffy, I don't know why, and then there is no pollen... that's about all I know.. LOL

I take mine before the flower opens. I get a little piece of paper and fold it very loosely over the anthers. I let that sit on the table or in a cupboard for a few days. Don't wait too long or it will dry out too much.
Keep checking it, it will depend on how much humidity your house has. Here it takes about 3 days. If you directly freeze fresh pollen before it dries out, the water crystals in the pollen can freeze and it will rot easier.

Once dry, I put them in the freezer in a ziplock or centrifuge. I keep all my pollen in the lock-n-lock tupperware- they seem to stay much better in those for some reason and no one can knock the lids off lol. It is clearly marked 'pollen' because my dh tried to microwave one once thinking it was leftovers!

Thanks for the info. LOL SJN, microwaving pollen...... maybe thats what you have to do to it to get a purple brug, lol.
Shawn

I'm game Shawn, though the only pollen I have right now is arborea, maybe it's the sang you need to microwave?...LOL!!!

So, if I remove the anthers of an arborea before it opens like this, is that early enough to insure that it won't self-pollenate?

Crap, I didn't know you could only dry it for a few days. I have all those on the table I have saved and was letting them get dry. Been there a week or so already. I must have missed that part somehow.

I tried collecting the anthers before the bloom opened and allowing them to dry but didn't get much pollen. If I wait for the flower to just start opening then collect it they seem to be a lot fluffier when dry. My biggest mistake earlier was not allowing the pollen to dry prior to storing it. I just picked it and popped it in the freezer. Now I let it dry a couple days then pop it in the freezer. I have a whole bunch of pollen stored now. I've been wrapping it in parchment paper then sticking that into a little baggie. I've been doing the same thing with passiflora pollen.

Well now that I know I will watch for fluffiness and then freeze it. I had a few flowers get knocked off before they opened and I had the whole flowers sitting on the table for about a week or so. I had forgotten they were there. John ask me if I was waiting for them to make seeds, lol. I had planned to take them out of the flower though and thought I did but when I went to check and see if they were ok the whole flower was still sitting there. Dang memory. I wont have many more chances. I'll try not to mess it up this time, lol.