Hello! I have in my limited years rose breeding used my finger to spread my pollen. Does anyone have more effective ways? I’m finding this year that it’s quite humid and the pollen is getting stuck to my finger more easily than normal, wasting precious resources! What do you use or recommend please 
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I also traditionally use my finger and then wipe it on my jeans to clean it between varieties. Mel Hulse, the long-time Volunteer Coordinator of the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden used to suggest sucking it off your finger then wiping your finger on your jeans to dry it for the next variety. You can also use small paint brushes. I’ve resorted to a small brush for pollinating Stellata mirifica and it’s worked far better than my finger due to the depressed area to receive pollen. I’ve known one person who used a Qtip. The pollen from “The Monster” 'The Monster' Rose arrived in California from New York on the end of a Qtip and that’s how it was applied to create Lila Banks.
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I use cotton buds (baby types), they are cheap, easy to get, throw them away after the cross is complete and very effective to use. But, at the end of the day what ever method works for you, is the best method.
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I found that brushes were awkward to deal with, and pollen piled up in the hairs, especially if the stigmas were sticky - it could create a real mess. Q-Tips had the same problem.
I settled on simply using my fingertip, and for a couple years I did as others suggested: lick your finger when you’re done with one pollen and ready to choose the next, and wipe the wet fingertip on your pant leg (or some cloth).
But a warning: after doing that for a couple of years, I developed a severe allergy to rose pollen that persists to this day. If I licked a pollen laden finger these days, I would be incapacitated by allergies for at least 24 hours. What I ended up doing was just wiping my finger off on a bandanna I kept in my pocket, but no longer did I lick the pollen off first. You’ve been warned!
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Interesting after working in a brewery and dealing with lots of hops I developed an allergy to them. Basically gives me the flue when I have a hoppy beverage
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I don’t doubt the allergy issues. I once lost a dentist who had to take early retirement as he’d developed a severe allergy to “tooth dust”. Too bad for him but no loss as a dentist.
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I usually use a cotton swab, change that when use other pollen. But if very few pollen or the stigmas are sticky, it doesn’t works.
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I have always used a 5/0 sable detail brush. I typically do only one pollination at a time, and wash in denatured alcohol between tasks (the alcohol evaporates quickly). It’s probably the slowest method if you have a lot to do.
Delicate work, care and attention not my forte.
Four and half ways tried settled on last for now.
A. Started with brush, lasted one season including honey to make sure pollen sticks.
1 dropped that quick and quick marched to saliva on finger, place in pollen bag and pick it up, then dab on stigma when doing 68 seed parents.
1.5 If pollen clusters falling off stigma, a dab of saliva on it and dabbed pollen again onto it.
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Fed up with above, stick pistil/stigma into tiny baggy of pollen and shake bag.
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Then said thats inefficient tedious and mind numbing when have lots of blooms around. Stripped pollen and seed parents, finger clipped pollen parent bloom ( minus petals) and painted seed parent stigma with pollen parent bloom anthers. If prize cross, l use a couple blooms of bloom anthers, over a couple of days.
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In the mid-2000s I used to do several thousand pollinations each spring. I had no time to finesse my technique.
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No kidding, impressive!!!
I’ve never found the need to wet my finger for pollen spreading. I harvest the anthers and stigma, spreading them over a sheet of paper (old bills and Explanation of Benefits from insurance work perfectly and are FREE) to be air dried in the formal living/dining rooms where they can remain unmolested from pets, breezes and being knocked off surfaces. To spread the pollen, I dump it from the papers into clean glass baby food jars I collected from my sister’s kids when they were infants 30 years ago (literally). All it requires is placing my hand over the opening of the jar and vigorously shaking it back and forth to dislodge the pollen so it collects on the jar sides.
It’s a simple matter to just swipe your finger across the interior wall of the jar to collect the pollen, then massage it into the waiting “mother”.
I have found the pollen sticks to the seed parent bloom well and very little remains on my finger. Any residual is easily wiped off on my jeans.
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I find that “fresh” (this year’s pollen) easily spreads on mother plants. My frozen pollen seems to be a little less receptive, loves to cling to my finger