How Long Can you Store Pollen Anyway?

We’ve been harvesting, storing, and selling fruit and nut pollen since 1933. In that time we’ve learned a lot about how to store it and maintain viability for as long as possible. Our methods have progressed from Great Grandma Mina Firman’s root cellar canning jars in the 1940s to today’s commercial freezers with temperature alarms and backup power.

Pollen stored properly will maintain viability (+90%) for at least 5 years. We’ve confirmed that with thousands of viability tests conducted in our Yakima lab over the years. As part of our Certified Premium (https://firmanpollen.com/certified-premium/) process each lot of pollen (segregated by field, date and variety) is sampled every 6 months and germinated in a petrie dish filled with agar growth medium. We allow the pollen to grow for 12 hours at 70 degrees and then count what percentage of pollen grains are viable and growing. We document the results, and if viability falls below our standards, we dispose of that lot.

C.E. (Gene) McClure’s Peach Pollen – Harvested 1988

Deep in the back of one of our freezers, our oldest lot of pollen is marked by a handwritten note from my Grandfather Gene McClure – “Red Corah Peach.” We don’t sell or harvest all that much peach pollen these days, but grandpa passed down an unintended experiment that we open and test every now and then to see just how much viability pollen retains after extremely long-term storage. Even after almost 40 years of storage, 40% of the pollen grains in this lot of pollen germinated in our lab this spring.

“Red Corah” Peach Pollen from 1988

37 year-old pollen, 40% viable

10 year-old pollen, 90% viable

1 year-old pollen, +90% viable

Pollen Storage Tips for Growers

In-season Storage

Long-term Storage