breeding Hybridizing

I am going to try to cross some of my chillies this year, and was wondering if anyone knows how long pollen is viable for or how to store it for future use?...it had occured to me that some of the plants might be flowering and setting fruit at different times, making it impossible for me to cross pollinate them....i was thinking about saving some pollin from the different varieties in zip-lock bags (just the pollen, no flowers) and keeping them in the refrigerator until needed....does anyone know if this is a good idea or is pollen very perishable?

I think I remember reading about this somewhere. You should be able to keep pollen for up to a year in the refridgerator....I think....

I know nothing about saving pollen, but a smiple google search shows that generally you'll want to keep the pollen dry as possible and keep it at room temp, don't know though if that keeps true for pepper pollen specifically. If you want to read up on what varieties corss the best, check out http://www.fiery-foods.com/dave/garden8.asp

One thing I heard you can do is pinch off the flowers of the earlier plant until the second one starts to flower. This is my first year growing peppers and I don't know how well it works. I want to do some crosses also and I might end up in the same situation as you.

Thanks guys,...
IGG, I think I read the same thing somewhere about keeping pollen in the fridge for a year but I really can't find anything about it on the internet...
Thanks for the link Doc----I know I definitely want to keep the pollen dry, which is why I am just going to collect the pollen and not any parts of the flower....I don't know about the room temp though, I don't think it will last long...sounds like another experiment in the works for me.....
Alawn,I'll post my results here and let you know how it works out.

I don't know if this is any help Daisy but I copied and pasted it from another forum

I think Capsicum pollen might do well for some months, maybe longer.

I do store pollen, and I do freeze it. Usually, I store it 2 ways: 1) room dried, and 2) over a desiccation chemical (Drierite or silica beads).

I take the pollen as fresh as I can get it, just after the anthers open. I let it sit indoors for a day (24-36 hours) in an air conditioned room, and then I store it.

I often take the anther tips with the pollen attached and just drop them on a saucer and let them sit for a day or two. Then, I drop them into a coin envelope, or even the corner of a typical letter envelope.

Once in the envelope (if I'm sure the pollen is dry), I put the pollen (or anther bits) in an airtight tupperware-type container and freeze them. I find that they do best in a freezer that is NOT frost-free, but frost-free will work OK and can be useful for storing some pollen for a year or more. Frost-free freezers warm up a bit and then get colder, this is part of how they do their "frost-free thing." Old-type freezers just stay at one temperature and are quite useful as long as you don't open them often; if you open and close them they freeze the new air and made a lot of frost.

Anyway, sometimes I put Drierite or silica beads (as for drying flowers) into the tupperware-type container. Such beads pull even more moisture out of the air than you can achieve by room drying. The airtight container is important; it does no good to use a plastic box that lets air in and out over the months. The main thing is dry, dry, dry, and not to warm up the pollen too often. Some plastic boxes are not airtight and allow air to enter over time; the incoming air brings moisture. Fluctuations in humidity (in my experience) do more to shorten pollen life than do fluctuations in temperature.

I have tried a method that is very simple. Take a cotton ball, pull it a bit to make it twice as long as wide. Then, use the cotton ball and your fingers to pinch the stamens--be sure to get a lot of pollen on the cotton ball. Then, I dry for 1-2 days in an air conditioned room (because less humidity) and then I freeze as above (with or without a desiccating agent).

The actual longevity can only be determined by experimenting.

I have used taken fresh pollen and put it into a plastic baggie with a bit of silica beads (the pollen was in an envelope or on the cotton ball), and I have mailed it. The pollen was good for 2-3 weeks in the U.S. Mail and the recipient used it to pollinate plants.

So, just remember:
1) fresh pollen
2) dry for 1-2 days in a non-humid environment (not your garage)
3) dry at room temperature or approximately so
4) use a desiccating agent if you can find it (hobby stores)
5) use an airtight container (ziplock bags leak air over several weeks)
6) freezing can help
7) Frost-free freezing might even be more helpful if you can find an older freezer.

what rainbowberry posted is very similar to what i've done for succulents, i didn't use silica i just used a peice of newspaper tho, and now i've heard a woman say the same thing about african violets. put it in the back of the freezer (don't keep it in the door) and for some pollen once you take it out and warm it back up you can't refreeze it. no idea about the shelf life tho, av and succulents last quite a while tho so hopefully peppers are the same.

RB and Grumpy----THANK YOU!...this info saved me a lot of research and time...I will definitely try your methods for storing and collecting pollen.