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| Collecting pollen Pollen is best collected in the late afternoon when its a nice cream colour, and applied straight away to female-stage flowers with their petals slightly separated. When collecting pollen, look for flowers that have just developed into the male stage for the best freshness and viability. Don’t bother with flowers where the pollen has gone very brown as it has little potency. The standard method for collecting pollen involves picking as many whole flowers as can be found (which may accidentally include flowers already pollinated naturally or by hand), and then shaking them in a sieve or in a bag, or removing individual petals and sieving. We’re currently experimenting with a new method of collecting pollen. With the thumb and two fingers squeeze the petals of male-stage flowers close to the base, hold a container underneath (to collect falling pollen) and pull the petals gently away from the flower centre keeping the pollen enclosed in the squeezed together petals. You’ll end up with a container full of pollen and loose petals from which the pollen is easily separated out with a sieve and placed in a small container (like a film canister). This method eliminates the time it takes to separate the pollen from the flower after collection, so pollination can be done immediately with pollen of the highest possible potentcy. This method also cuts down the chances of pulling off previously pollinated flowers (whether it’s already been marked or not), as the flower’s centre that develops into the fruit is left on the tree. Flowers collected for pollen can be held overnight (if necessary) in a paper bag with a damp cloth and placed in the refrigerator. The pollen is then removed the next morning and applied to receptive flowers, but the pollen is unlikely to be as viable so will be less capable of pollinating. Sometimes the way the flowers are developing will dictate this method being used. Studies have shown some incompatibility between varieties and so there appears no need to plant more than one variety in an orchard, as pollination appears to be most successful when the pollen collected is of the same variety as flowers being pollinated. Next – applying the pollen and marking the flowers
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