Have you ever wanted to save pollen so you could use it to make seeds with it later? It’s not very difficult (although it becomes significantly less potent over time). I’ve saved pollen for months in a fridge and for well over a year in the freezer.

The key to storing it is to prevent any moisture from coming in contact with it. Here’s what I do:

1. Collect your pollen on a piece of parchment paper (or another container to your liking).
2. Add some flour to the pollen so it’s about 10:1 flour to pollen – if you live in a humid area you may want to “dry” your flour in an oven at 300 degrees for a few minutes (and let cool) before mixing. You add flour so it’s easier to apply the pollen later without wasting it (a little goes a really long way).
3. Fold up your paper and toss it into a heavy duty freezer ziplock, add some rice to the bag (as a desiccant), and date/label the bag.
4. Stick it in the fridge or freezer. If you think you’re going to need access to the pollen on multiple occasions separate it into smaller batches so you only need to remove a batch at a time without removing your entire container from the fridge or freezer.
5. When you have that perfect female (or harem of ladies) that you want to knock up with your saved pollen, simply pull out the batch of pollen and use a paintbrush to paint the pistils of the buds you want to seed – remember, a little goes a long way. Most females that finish in 8 weeks are ready to be pollinated between weeks 3 and 4 (lots of white hairs), longer flowering strains may need another 2-3 weeks.

This is a great way to make seeds without pollinating your entire garden. Just make sure to do all of your “painting” away from the other ladies 🙂

If you start with great genetics, your own seeds can be as good as anything you spend top dollar on and it’s a whole new obsession you can deep dive into 🙂