Nepenthes pollen, storage and sending

[coline]

I have this male Nepenthes gentle at home, it is now his second flowering, but I'm now willing to do two things, on first hand, save some pollen for myself as to use it later maybe on some female I may have, and also to send pollen to anyone interested on making seeds (offer opened, send me a PM).

But how do I do those 2 things correctly, store pollen and sending it?

[hcarlton]

Pollen is best stored after allowing it to dry in a cool place like the fridge. I collect it in wax paper packets to do this, and once dry I place the packets in the freezer, this can keep it good for up to a year. As for sending, again the wax paper packets work well, just send it as soon as possible after you've put it into an envelope to ship, and make sure the packet is well sealed so no pollen escapes. People often use aluminum foil as well, instead of wax paper.

[coline]

And to collect it, you have to shake the flower, or cut it and let it dry, then shake it?
Since it is raining more than daily this months

[hcarlton]

Most people shake the flowers over foil and collect the falling pollen, or remove and dry out each flower. I actually remove the pollen off the flowers with a toothpick. And, as the flowers mature over the course of a week or two, and die off at the same rate, if you cut the stalk you would have some dead pollen, some mature pollen, and some flowers not yet even opened.

[paulbarden]

I use small scissors to cut the anthers off ripe flowers and catch them in a folded square of aluminum foil, then place the foil in a covered dish to dry for at least 24 hours.* Then I fold it up, label it with a marker and put it in a ziplock bag and it goes into the freezer until needed. I find pollen can be stored for 8 months or so, and after that, viability starts to decline. I have successfully fertilized females with pollen that was 12 to 14 months old, however.

*my climate is fairly dry and anthers are usually dry after 24 hours or so. If you live in a humid place, it may take longer, or you may need to place silica desiccant in with the anthers in a sealed container.

[coline]

I see, will try all the methods, this week I think they should start making pollen, hope it goes all right.