Good morning-

I would like to know if its possible to collect pollen and store it for future use? If yes, do I just put it in a ziplock baggie and store in the freezer? Suggestions greatly appreciated.

Regards, Josh

Oh yes. Definitely possible.

Personally, I collect the anthers and let them dry (if I snag them early in the morning) for up to 24 hours. Putting them under light will help them open and release the pollen. I then put them into a microfuge tube and flick it repeatedly with my finger to release the pollen from the anthers. Remove the anthers and freeze.

To pollinate with this pollen I take the tubes out of the freezer and let them warm slightly. Then I use toothpicks that have a flattened end.

Great idea James

I use a method quite similar to James’. Where we differ is that I harvest the whole stamen (anther and filament) and take it into my house. (In late May or later, even at 7:30 AM it can be too hot here to work comfortably outdoors.) Then I separate the anther from the filament and let the anther and pollen dry in place together. The following morning, I place the anther containing the pollen into the micro-centrifuge tube and store in a freezer. To use the pollen, I tap the edge of the opened tube to get one or two anthers into a small dish or cup, allow it to warm to outdoor temperature, then pick up an anther with a tweezers and use that to deliver the pollen to the flower and dab it on. There have been a few times that the pollen seems to dry to the anther and can't be transferred, but I’ve been successful with this method more often than not.
Larry

I do roughly the same as Larry does and have decent success.

On this same line, I've always been curious how long the pollen stored in freezer would be good?

For my pollen dabbing, I'm a lazy gardener with too much work. I use a 7-day pill box container to harvest the pollen. I fill a cotten swab with as much pollen as possible and use that for pollenating. I cut the cotten swab in half or shorter so that it fits in the pill box.