Saving Amaryllis Hippeastrum Pollen

Like many other plants Amaryllis-Hippeastrum flowers open at different stages even when planted at the same time. This can be a good thing when you want to stagger the display of flowers to last a long time but a downside when you want to hybridize your Amaryllis-Hippeastrum bulbs. Many Amaryllids can receive their own pollen but if you're interested in crossing two different bulbs to achieve a new Amaryllis bloom you'll need pollen from a different Amaryllis flower.

If you don't happen to have to different Amaryllis bulbs flowering at the same time you can always try to save the pollen from either flower until the stigma is ripened. Saving Amaryllis-Hippeastrum pollen is rather easy and anyone can do it. The biggest obstacle I've encountered in saving the Amaryllis pollen is combating humidity and moisture.

If you haven't already read my entry on how to pollinate Amaryllis flowers you may want to take a moment and read it. After you've familiarized yourself with the reproductive parts of the Amaryllis and can identify the anther and the filament enlarge the photo of the Amaryllis flower in this post.

Notice how the pollen sacks are open and ripe while the stigma in the background has not opened like the stigmas in the link above? When collecting Amaryllis pollen it is best to allow the anthers to open and ripen on the filament before you harvest them for the purposes of pollinating other flowers. When you harvest the pollen it is a good practice to pull it completely free from the filament (white stem) that is very supple and succulent. This will reduce some of the moisture that could contaminate the pollen and keep your hybridizing attempts from being successful. Steady hands a sharp instrument come in handy when removing the anthers because the slightest movement will sending much of the pollen flying.


As the photo here shows I used a pair of tweezers with a sharp point to remove the anthers. Enlarge the photo of the Amaryllis pollen to see how I managed to remove the anther and the pollen away from the filament.

Once the anthers were detached from the filament I placed them on a piece of cardboard to let them dry a little more just in case I had left any of the filament attached. To lessen the chances that moisture will cause your pollen to mold you can take a sharp knife and scrape the pollen off of the anther prior to storing it. The pollen is best stored in something made of paper as plastic will not absorb any excess moisture. You can store the pollen in coin envelopes or fold a small envelope out of a piece of paper. Make sure to label the envelope(s) so you don't forget what flower you collected the pollen from.

Some Amaryllis growers recommend placing your envelopes in the butter drawer in your refrigerator to keep your pollen fresh. Other Amaryllis growers say that the refrigerator will increase the chances of your pollen collection going bad so they keep it in a dry and cool area of their home or garage instead of the fridge. Ideally you'd like your pollen to be stored at 50 degrees with 50% humidity where it should keep for up to five months.

Even if you have two different flowers you'd like to cross flowering at the same time it is a good idea to remove the anthers before the stigmas ripen and open up. The reason for this is because if you're taking the time to cross two different bulbs you wouldn't want pollen from the same flower to accidentally land on the stigma and pollinate the flower.

Saving Amaryllis Hippeastrum pollen this way will ensure that you have plenty of pollen when you need it to experiment and create your own crosses to enjoy in about 2-3 years when they reach flowering age.

Related post:
Viable Amaryllis Hippeastrum Seeds
How to Pollinate Amaryllis Flowers