This might be an unusual question but I was wondering if anyone can describe Knock Out pollen. I have been collecting blossoms from several plants at different locations. The blooms have also been at different stages of development. For some reason, I cannot see the stuff so it always looks like there is nothing there. I can see it on the petals, but never when I am applying it in my crosses. So either I am not getting the pollen to release or I just can’t see the stuff and should just keep applying as if there was something there. I have run into this with Anda pollen as well.
“I can see it on the petals”: this sounds like pollen has already released from anthers.
If you are collecting pollen, you need to do it at an earlier stage of bloom development,
like just before a bloom exposes its center.
Is KO pollen different in appearance from other pollen?
‘Knockout’ pollen always reminds me of slightly old crumbed parmesan cheese that has gone a darker shade of yellow bordering on orange! It’s a strange colour really. My plant seemed to release it quite easily this season when it was uncharacteristically hot and dry. The previous year was the year of no summer and eternal rain and I had terrible trouble getting pollen out of it. I did collect pollen this year but in the end decided not to use it. Instead I focused on double knockout whose pollen looks very similar.
[quote=dwolfe]
“I can see it on the petals”: this sounds like pollen has already released from anthers.
If you are collecting pollen, you need to do it at an earlier stage of bloom development,
like just before a bloom exposes its center.
Is KO pollen different in appearance from other pollen?[/quote]
Sorry, I should have clarified. I see a little bit of pollen on the petals of the blooms I am not collecting. I have tried to collect it from the momment I can see color to almost open and it just seems that I cannot see it.
I am not sure if KO pollen is different than others but I do know that pollen does differ from variety to variety. I have noticed that a lot of the Mordens have very light colored and fine pollen while others like Altissimo have very “cheddar cheese” colored clumpy (for lack of a better term) pollen. I am just wanting to know what others observe so I have an idea of what I need to look for in Knock Out (invisible pollen, right?).
I decided to collect two blooms to test yesterday from a completely different area - outside my daughter’s daycare. These plants set a lot of OP hips with a better amount of seeds inside so maybe the pollen will release better - if that is the issue. Funny thing I did notice was the difference in anther color between blooms. They were collected at the same stage and same plant, but one bloom had reddish anthers and the other was a yellow-orange color. I have never seen two different colored anthers on the same plant before (only on different varieties). Doubt this has anything to do with pollen release but I did think it was worth noting. I’ll see if I can get anything out of it.
“How to collect pollen” might be a good topic for a future newsletter.
Hi David,
That’s a great idea!
Regarding KO and DKO pollen, they are very similar to me, though DKO pollen is more abundant. For both the pollen appears more of an “older” color to me - never is it bright yellow like many other roses produce. But if you are not able to see it, then it must not be releasing properly.